Post by Ray (Flock Man) on Jun 5, 2011 10:34:14 GMT -5
I’ve been sent a few emails from people using old computer monitors as electro-static generators. I looked at a few around my shop and one night rigged one up. It’s basically cutting a hole in the top of the monitor and pulling out the suction cup at the top of the picture tube and connecting it to an electrode. It runs around 30kV (the amps I’m not sure of they may be enough to kill you).
My suggestion is do not try this. At first it seemed to work very well and very powerful. The electrode was around 7 or 8 inches away from the ground plate and the flock flew very forcefully into the glued up Joe head. After that test, I said, “Wow!” I then sealed everything up and began to make a usable unit (figuring that I could use this for large projects.) All was well- until the 4th or 5th use. At this point the positive static charge seemed to find flaws in the wire caps and the rubber insulator tubing I used and my work shop looked like a lighting storm. Though it looked pretty cool- it was a little scary and if I didn’t have safety in mind before hand I may have been electrocuted, but I set up a few power shut offs in various places around the shop just in case something went wrong.
I didn’t want to be near the unit if it went crazy.
All of this may be avoided with the use of High Voltage wire, caps, equipment. This of course costs more than just buying a pre-made electro-static generator that runs at 30 to 50kV. The reason for the test was to see if I could make the same from junk parts. It’s a yes and no answer really. Yes if you have full knowledge of fly-back units and use the proper wire and equipment. No if you’re a weekend warrior trying to flock a few Joes using junk parts around the house.
This thing just seemed too dangerous for the average Joe (and myself even though I’ve been testing this stuff for a while now) and with the moisture in the air it acted uncontrollable, much like my main unit if I set it past 20kV.
I post this as a warning because from what I saw it looked like the jumping spark would kill you if you touched it. It was hissing like crazy. My strong advice- Use the lower voltage negative Ion generators found around the web or (if you want more voltage) order a pre-made generator that has safety in mind. You’d be much better off.
My suggestion is do not try this. At first it seemed to work very well and very powerful. The electrode was around 7 or 8 inches away from the ground plate and the flock flew very forcefully into the glued up Joe head. After that test, I said, “Wow!” I then sealed everything up and began to make a usable unit (figuring that I could use this for large projects.) All was well- until the 4th or 5th use. At this point the positive static charge seemed to find flaws in the wire caps and the rubber insulator tubing I used and my work shop looked like a lighting storm. Though it looked pretty cool- it was a little scary and if I didn’t have safety in mind before hand I may have been electrocuted, but I set up a few power shut offs in various places around the shop just in case something went wrong.
I didn’t want to be near the unit if it went crazy.
All of this may be avoided with the use of High Voltage wire, caps, equipment. This of course costs more than just buying a pre-made electro-static generator that runs at 30 to 50kV. The reason for the test was to see if I could make the same from junk parts. It’s a yes and no answer really. Yes if you have full knowledge of fly-back units and use the proper wire and equipment. No if you’re a weekend warrior trying to flock a few Joes using junk parts around the house.
This thing just seemed too dangerous for the average Joe (and myself even though I’ve been testing this stuff for a while now) and with the moisture in the air it acted uncontrollable, much like my main unit if I set it past 20kV.
I post this as a warning because from what I saw it looked like the jumping spark would kill you if you touched it. It was hissing like crazy. My strong advice- Use the lower voltage negative Ion generators found around the web or (if you want more voltage) order a pre-made generator that has safety in mind. You’d be much better off.
