Really thick wire for Jacobs ladder

8 posts / 0 new
Last post
martakz's picture
Offline
Last seen: 13 years 7 months ago
Joined: Dec 20 2003 - 10:38
Posts: 634
Really thick wire for Jacobs ladder

I keep melting 240V wire with the huge currents...so I need something a bit more beefy. Any suggestions?

martakz's picture
Offline
Last seen: 13 years 7 months ago
Joined: Dec 20 2003 - 10:38
Posts: 634
Oops. Seems we had a short.

Oops. Seems we had a short. I wonder why the breakers did not go? Also the current is not that high...just the voltage.

Offline
Last seen: 2 months 4 days ago
Joined: Dec 19 2003 - 17:40
Posts: 566
Re: Really thick wire for Jacobs ladder

I keep melting 240V wire with the huge currents...so I need something a bit more beefy. Any suggestions?

get some of the thick wire used for the electricity meters ... most hardware stores selling mains electrical components (sockets etc) should have it ... that stuff should handle abit more voltage/current than the standard 240v wire ...

TOM

Offline
Last seen: 7 years 8 months ago
Joined: Dec 20 2003 - 10:38
Posts: 455
Whats a jacob's ladder?

Whats a jacob's ladder?

GEOS's picture
Offline
Last seen: 2 years 2 weeks ago
Joined: Dec 20 2003 - 10:38
Posts: 334
Well, the kind he's making is

Well, the kind he's making is 2 tall wires that are about 2" apart about maybe a few feet tall. You run a charge through then and a large spart runs up between the wires to the top. another kind of jacobs ladder is a toy made of 5 wood blocks put together with ribbons. One more jacobs ladder is a carnival game, a ladder suspended by ropes that can flip over, the idea is to climb from the bottom to the top and grab the prize. Google them for pics. Now you know 3 kinds of Jacobs ladder, and i've wasted some of my life..... cool.

boby_dg's picture
Offline
Last seen: 18 years 2 months ago
Joined: Jun 8 2004 - 15:14
Posts: 102
Go to the High Voltage sectio

Go to the High Voltage section of epanorama.net .You'll find a lot of high volatile info there. Smile There's also a section for the old horror movies visual effects and in it you can find a lot of info on making jacobs ladders.

martakz's picture
Offline
Last seen: 13 years 7 months ago
Joined: Dec 20 2003 - 10:38
Posts: 634
Using a neon powersupply work

Using a neon powersupply works great. We were going to attempt to use microwave transformers, until we read the amount of amps they put out.

I'll let the physics boffs play with the ladder...I want to build a metal halide HID driver instead Biggrin

woogie's picture
Offline
Last seen: 7 years 10 months ago
Joined: Dec 20 2003 - 10:38
Posts: 267
Ladder

Back in high-school days (40yrs ago)
we built one of these in the lab using
an old high-voltage power supply and
some good old-fashioned coat-hangers!
The hanger wire held up just fine to
the current. No melting or sagging.
Maybe you can use this today?

Log in or register to post comments