SpudFiles

well i don't know if you remember but there was recently a theory titled <a href="http://www.spudfiles.com/forums/plasma- ... l">"Plasma Power"</a> upon reading it i became instantly interested in the topic, and set out to make it a reality.

i ended up with this "cannon" (if you can even call it that) well basically its a Christmas tree light, completely unmodified i might add. the important part was the other side of it, two 1000uf 300V capacitors (overkill )from an old coil gun rig. i do not have a picture of this becuase i put it into hiding. this would be becuase the "cannon" was confiscated after explaining the concept behind it to my dad (he knows so little, it is a one time use cannon and cost all of 3 cents to make)

when i first tested this device i was expecting it to explode the thin glass bulb. you know because it would be sweet to see tiny glass shards go everywhere with a tremendous flash. but when i actually engaged the relay the bulb was removed from the socket, completely. there was no broken glass or melted socket just a clean hole. initially i though the bulb had been vaporized but knew it was highly unlikely then i spotted the bulb approximately 2 feet from the "barrel" (that term is used very loosely). then i closely inspected it, the filament was gone but the bulb was not destroyed and there was a very big scorch mark on the back of it. so what happened...

a huge amount of current traveled through the bulb and blew up the filament but the capacitor was not completely drained, so the remainder of the energy shorted the leads that connect the bulb to the socket, and in the process melted them (they were designed to take maybe 10 Amps not the hundred or so i put through them) once they were melted the air which had been super heated by the spark which occurred shot the projectile (the bulb) from the barrel (the socket)


[youtube][/youtube]

--specs--
range - 1 to 2 feet
velocity - too low to measure
voltage - 300V
theory - air is super heated forcing the projectile out of the barrel
lifetime - one shot per bulb


<img src="http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/i ... CN3176.jpg">
the cannon in all its glory (after it was fired

<img src="http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/i ... CN3178.jpg">
a spent projectile (aka Christmas light bulb)

<img src="http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/i ... CN3179.jpg">
the barrel (aka light socket)

<img src="http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/i ... CN3180.jpg">
the cannon in firing position

this cannon is not meant to have ridiculous power or range, it only meant to work, and to be completely honest im very surprised it did. sure it used a few hundred joules of electric energy and only managed to fire 2 feet but who cares about efficiency, it worked!!!

Any chance of a video?

I like it I think thats a clever concept and I will try to do something similar.

ill try to get one tomorrow afternoon

Would make one hell of an ignitor for a combustion

so wire up 400 of these in a chamber to make a mini. put them in parallel with some huge ass capacitors. 4 Capacitors rated at 350V and 4200uF.

http://www.freeinfosociety.com/site.php?postnum=256

I need to read the whole theory behind it in that link you added but it seems really cool.

Kinda reminds me of testing used computer motherboards. Every once and awhile I'd get a really bad one whose capacitors would blow right off the board. Lot's of noise and fun but hardly any velocity. Freaked out my boss every time though!

Congratulations for building the first "plasma gun" on here singularity, even if it only shoots 2 feet and has no barrel, valve, or magnets. Lets hope we see some more in the coming years.

Well we need to start another discussion area and showcase (I hope)
Very nice though. 1 small step for man, 1 giant step for New-Ways-To launch-stuff-kind. (As in man kind)

I know, its really bad and too much of a cliche.

Amen. Next time I dare ya to touch it as it shoots

I think that although this may not be too spectacular, it really has potential. Like other fields of science (none of which I can think of), now we have something that works; all that is left to do is make it work better.

jackssmirkingrevenge wrote:Would make one hell of an ignitor for a combustion

there is an istructable on using christmas lights as an ignitor but as instructables won't work on my computor i can't link

If you would have a combustion gun, and ignite it with a thousands-of-Joules spark, you would heat the air inside so much you wouldnt even need fuel.
New type of spudgin indeed

I would call that an "Electrothermal spudgun"
I think you''ve made the first one ever, although its a very small, lowpower and inefficient one.

Now we have to wait until someone with a bigass-lightningstrike-capacitor-array who can do this.

Why dont you just use a disharge to melt copper while it is in a coil gun barrel and use another discharge to send the molten copper flying throuh the air. Cant rember if copper is magnetic or not though.