I go camping every year in Vermont. I use a traditional lighter for the camp fire. But inevitably it will run out of lighter fluid and I will have to buy another one, or more lighter fluid. The cost will add up. However, I have heard of these arc lighters that use high voltage arcs to ignite things. It would be a good experience to make one and the electric version would have many advantages. It could last me many years if I use a rechargeable battery for it and design a good circuit. I also may want a HV generator for a demonstration jacob's ladder or something like that.
But I am concerned about safety. I either want it to be limited to less than 5 mAs or for it to be in very short pulses so that it is not too much worse than static discharge. I am okay with the risk of burns, but not of fatal electrocution. I also do not want excessive UV or other damaging particles emitted. I understand many of the circuits used, but do not know too much about what is required for arcs. I know you need a certain voltage for a certain distance, but I do not know too much about the current requirements.
So is it possible to design a circuit that will get continuous arcs (not just one when you initially press a button or release it) and not have the dangers I mentioned? I also want the biggest arcs possible for something that is portable and safe enough. More voltage (hypothetically) means more current limits and bigger arcs, which would both be good. I want it to arc across at least 1/2 an inch, so that means 10-15kV with dry air.
This is my idea for one that has very short pulses. I am not sure if it is practical though. As a bonus, it should have a long battery life. A capacitor gets charged by a 9V rechargeable battery (I have a few lying around). It gets charged very slowly through a high value resistor. It should take about 200mS so that it is only short bursts. Then it quickly discharges through a HV transformer after it gets to a certain voltage. There is a schmitt trigger that is high if it is above 7-8V and low if it gets below .5V. This way it starts discharging at 7-8V and stops at .5V. Then it gets slowly charged again. It should cause inductive spiking in the primary and even bigger voltages in the secondary. I am not sure how to get that spiking without the risk of damaging the components though. Any ideas? Or maybe another circuit that can get HV, pulsed or continuous? And would I be able to simply add a megaohm resistor in series to limit the current but still get the same arcs? Also, how long can you handle a few amps? Is it 1-2uS or 1-2mS, or somewhere in between? This would be important in designing it to be safe enough. And what about a few uS but multiple times per second?
I used this online calculator to find out the time it would take to charge and discharge a cap through different loads. It should help me find the right R and C.
http://mustcalculate.com/electronic...arge.php?vfrom=0&vto=7.5&vs=9&c=20u&time=200m
http://mustcalculate.com/electronic...ischarge.php?vfrom=7.5&vto=.6&vs=0&c=20u&r=.4
But I am concerned about safety. I either want it to be limited to less than 5 mAs or for it to be in very short pulses so that it is not too much worse than static discharge. I am okay with the risk of burns, but not of fatal electrocution. I also do not want excessive UV or other damaging particles emitted. I understand many of the circuits used, but do not know too much about what is required for arcs. I know you need a certain voltage for a certain distance, but I do not know too much about the current requirements.
So is it possible to design a circuit that will get continuous arcs (not just one when you initially press a button or release it) and not have the dangers I mentioned? I also want the biggest arcs possible for something that is portable and safe enough. More voltage (hypothetically) means more current limits and bigger arcs, which would both be good. I want it to arc across at least 1/2 an inch, so that means 10-15kV with dry air.
This is my idea for one that has very short pulses. I am not sure if it is practical though. As a bonus, it should have a long battery life. A capacitor gets charged by a 9V rechargeable battery (I have a few lying around). It gets charged very slowly through a high value resistor. It should take about 200mS so that it is only short bursts. Then it quickly discharges through a HV transformer after it gets to a certain voltage. There is a schmitt trigger that is high if it is above 7-8V and low if it gets below .5V. This way it starts discharging at 7-8V and stops at .5V. Then it gets slowly charged again. It should cause inductive spiking in the primary and even bigger voltages in the secondary. I am not sure how to get that spiking without the risk of damaging the components though. Any ideas? Or maybe another circuit that can get HV, pulsed or continuous? And would I be able to simply add a megaohm resistor in series to limit the current but still get the same arcs? Also, how long can you handle a few amps? Is it 1-2uS or 1-2mS, or somewhere in between? This would be important in designing it to be safe enough. And what about a few uS but multiple times per second?
I used this online calculator to find out the time it would take to charge and discharge a cap through different loads. It should help me find the right R and C.
http://mustcalculate.com/electronic...arge.php?vfrom=0&vto=7.5&vs=9&c=20u&time=200m
http://mustcalculate.com/electronic...ischarge.php?vfrom=7.5&vto=.6&vs=0&c=20u&r=.4