Author Topic: Pre-built plasma toroid safety and understanding the bead chain effect  (Read 564 times)

Offline CuriousAndAfraid

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Hello! I'm new to electronics (I forgot everything I knew about circuits after high school...) so I'm sorry I have so many questions. I've always wanted to know more but never had the time between other hobbies so I'm here to learn now and ease some of my fears as I jump into the deep end.
My interest picked up last year when I stumbled across BackMacSci's plasma toroid videos while I was developing a light producing alien concept for sci-fi horror. I immediately fell in love but I didn't want to jump into building one myself with limited experience. When I found Simon Liu's open source project had pre-builds on sale I couldn't resist and snapped a music-reactive one up to dabble with. I can't see this one on the Diagon Alley Magic Shop Tindie page, but it's on the Diagon Alley Magic Shop Aliexpress store if anyone else is interested. The reviews looked good. It hasn't arrived yet, but I wanted to go over some safety concerns long before I consider switching it on. I don't want to immediately break it and/or die. It'll likely sit around for a while until I'm sure I know what I'm doing.

The DIY instructions mention installing a current limiting module set to 3.5A to a 24v power adapter if intending to use it without an adjustable power supply box. The pre-build descriptions don't mention this. Some of the review photos for the DIY kit show the current limiter, but others don't. When I messaged the store for clarification they said the pre-builds are plug-and-play devices and a suitable power supply is provided for each region. In my case, a standard fused UK plug, but no ground wire which has me nervous. Is there a good reason for that? There was also no mention of a current limiter, so I'm hoping it's already been installed or the provided power supply can limit the current without this module. If it arrives without one and I need to install the limiter myself, would it be overkill to 3d print an enclosure for it afterward? Will the limiter need adjustment over time or does it stay consistent once set? What else can I do to ensure I use this safely? Am I better off buying a beginner's dc power supply and if so does anyone have any UK available recommendations?

Worries aside, I still have more questions. While the toroid formation is gorgeous, I really want to understand how to produce the string of beads effect in a small art piece. Can this be produced any other way, such as using an arc lighter or a small tesla coil? It looks like that results in the chaotic stringy plasma ball effect in most of the clips I've seen so I'm guessing it's not that simple and that the emf and alternating current is an important factor. Is it easier to produce with certain gases more than others?

 Thanks for reading! Please be gentle with me, I know this might not be a topic suitable for a beginner but I find the fastest way to learn something is to find an aspect you're passionate about and I haven't been able to stop thinking about these all year haha. I have a lot of reading to do.

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