🚀 go-pugleaf

necessary disclaimer: high voltage is dangerous.
I've always kept a fair distance from the neon transformer while it's live,
thus you'll see no postings from me about "shocking stories" because
I have none. (1)

Back in high school, I found an old neon sign transformer (7,500 volts),
so I used an old TV "rabbit ears" for the ladder.
I mounted it on a wood base, but the sparks favored the bottom too much.
I cut a slot in the middle and inserted a glass plate,
thus forcing the spark higher on the rods.
The sparks were very satisfying - thick, white-blue and made
that wonderful zidding sound as they rose.

In a darkened room, I could see a glow all over the wires from
the transformer to the rods.  This on a bare wood floor!
That's when I realized that rubber insulation has very real limits,
and that power lines are really not insulated (the rubber coating
is not an insulator at such voltages).

In the movies, you'll notice that the jacob's ladder is usually inside
a glass tube.  This is probably for safety, as well as for
making it work better (eliminates wind/breezes and contains the ozone).

- Jeffrey Jonas
jeffj@synsys.uucp

(1) a good source of shocking stories is the "Hobie hotline" magazine.
Hobie cats are small (14-20 foot) catamarans.
Their aluminum masts are over 20 feet tall and are raised as the
sailboat is set up on the beach.
There are often power lines along the beach, thus the warning sticker
on every mast to watch for overhead power lines.
-- 
-- 
Jeffrey Jonas

jeffj@synsys.uucp