Safe source for High Voltage Wire?

[MrScrOggs]

Hello everyone, I was looking on ebay and Amazon for high voltage wire but I don't know if I want to trust either of them when my life depends on it. I was wondering if you guys have any trustworthy and safe sources for high voltage wire, or if I should really be trusting shady amazon and ebay listings...

[Da_Stier]

Hi,

I ordered cable from these guys before:
https://highvoltageshop.com/epages/b73088c0-9f9a-4230-9ffc-4fd5c619abc4.sf/de_DE/?ObjectPath=/Shops/b73088c0-9f9a-4230-9ffc-4fd5c619abc4/Categories/6/Hochspannungskabel
This is propably a bad idea if you are outside of the EU because of shipping cost, etc.

Another possibility might be to use ignition cable (like for cars and motor cycles).
This stuff is however not really rated that well, I beliefe.


Greetings,
Michael

[Mads Barnkob]

First, you should not trust your life on high voltage wire insulation. You do not touch high voltage conduction wires, you use a insulated rod if you need to more anything while powered up.

Second, look for neon sign shops / businesses in your local area/country. They usually have something rated for 20 kV.

Third, you can scavenge smaller lengths of HV wire from CRT TV sets and microwave ovens.

[johnnyzoo]

Car ignition cable is OK for moderately high voltages and low...moderate currents. Note that many ignition cables are made with carbon composite conductor which has relatively high resistance and you probably don't want to use such cable. Buy copper cable instead. It can be found in some car parts shops.

And as said above, trusting your life on cable insulation is usually not a good idea in these hobby projects. Many things can go wrong. Maintain distance and use a non-conductive stick for adjustments and drawing arcs. Make sure that the stick is really non-conductive.

[johnf]

We use RG8/ RG213 coax at work up to 70kV
this comes with a caveat we test cable to handle this before use, except for Huber Suhner coax which is good to go out of the box.
We generally use it with the earth braid intact ie that is earthed for safety but each end the inner is extended by 250-300mm past the outer braid but inside respective cabinets at this point.
I also use the inner conductors on their own up to 50kV these I protect with Polyethylene pipe or similar to provide a hint of double insulation

[davekni]

John,

Is 70kV for RG213 or RG8 DC voltage?  I presume so.  If AC, how do you handle corona degradation?

[johnf]

Dave
that is DC voltage as used in our ion implanters for terminal acceleration voltage