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High Voltage device Questions With Pictures

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lpstealth

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Hey Guys, hopefully someone here can help me. I am inching towards getting one of my xenon short arc lamps running and I got my hands on one of the HV exciters. I opened it up and got some pictures for you guys as well I drew up a schematic to the best of my knowledge.

Hopefully someone here can give me a better idea on how it works.

Before I get to the pictures, the whole system is out of a theater projector which is automated. , in the first picture you can see 2 push button switches in the top right corner. the one right in the corner is i presume a safety as the lid holds it down. The other switch has a cutout in the lid and if the bulb didn't ignite we could manually ignite using that switch.

Can anyone tell me what might be in the blue section?
IMAG0288_zpsb601eeea.jpg



Transformer information
IMAG0294_zpse0da8465.jpg


Underside: those re the 2 terminals coming out from under the blue box that wire attached, do you think that is a signal wire or does it serve another purpose? (it is attached to the negative side of the rectifier)
IMAG0295_zps4200f474.jpg


Schematic: (forgive the misspelling)
exciterschem_zps9c430ddc.jpg



So, the white wires you see coming out the bottom all attach to the 2 switched and I assume they are for the automation/manual use of this device one thing to note is inside the lamphouse this came from there was bank of terminals that the switched were attached to which I believe at least some went to the rectifier some of those had small ceramic disc capacitors attached to them. are they important or do you think they were just to filter the lines?

AND, the most important question (YES I WORK SAFELY) if I were to wire up the transformer, would I get sparks out the other side or am I missing something?

Thanks Guys!
 





The blue box is most likely an inductor, with 1 winding of large gauge wire that carries the arc lamp current and a 2nd smaller winding that is connected across those capacitors when the spark gap fires, inducing a high voltage spike into the arc lamp winding. This way the high voltage ignitor and the ballast system are basically isolated from each other. Very common way to produce a starting spike in many, many devices, including argon lasers.

Yes, you would get sparks out of the transformer, but be careful as it may not be current limited.

The 2 posts underneath look like the arc lamp connections.
 
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Things said:
The blue box is most likely an inductor, with 1 winding of large gauge wire that carries the arc lamp current and a 2nd smaller winding that is connected across those capacitors when the spark gap fires, inducing a high voltage spike into the arc lamp winding. This way the high voltage ignitor and the ballast system are basically isolated from each other. Very common way to produce a starting spike in many, many devices, including argon lasers.
Click to expand...

Ok, yeah that makes sense.

Yes, you would get sparks out of the transformer, but be careful as it may not be current limited.
Click to expand...

Meaning i could burn it out right? How do limit the current? And by getting it to spark i was refering to the 2 terminals on the underside

The 2 posts underneath look like the arc lamp connections.
Click to expand...

correct those 2 terminals are the ones comming out of the blue box to the bulb on my schematic.
 
Yes, you should be able to get a spark off the bottom 2 terminals, though be careful because ignitors usually aren't designed for extended operating times.
 
Looks like the ignitor section of the ballast. In automotive HIDs, this is the part that starts the spark. It's usually potted in those too, though, so not a clue what's in it. There are two "screws" peeking out of the potting compound. These are obviously meant to unscrew, apply screwdriver with reckless abandon. Nah, I kid. Like I said, no experience on my end, take my comments as simply comments from an outside observer, but with that said, I bet there is more than just a beefy inductor in there, because elsewhere there is only a transformer and a spark gap, and not too much more. You folks know more about these than I do, all I can find is that they were used as cinema projectors light source. Neat! (Edit: so, watched Cy's vid. Wow, pretty beefy inductor!)

Also, found this, had to pst somewhere:
All sizes | neumade xcn console with projector | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
 
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well I got it sparking! wow does it pack some power. I uploaded a clip to youtube but it doesnt seem to be up yet. I will update once I find it.

now that I have this side working how would I go about wiring the main dc supply up? I will probably be using a small arc welder. I don't have the money for it yet but when I do don't want to fry it.

Looking at my schematic (it is what I deciphered from inside the projector lamp house) it seems all that voltage would be going right into the welder.

Edit: thanks Cyparagon, I guess I should have youtubed it. I must say that simplex igniter is pretty weak. wait till you see my video
 
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As promised, here's the video


any help on how to integrate this wit ha high current low voltage dc power supply?

Edit: fixed youtube embeding
 
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