Cockroft-Walton Voltage Multiplier PCB Design and Test

[@melplishka5978]

One problem that might happen with a train off these boards is is that the input voltage and output voltage pins are too close together and may arc LOL.but awsome idea ty. I’m definitely making a bunch lol.

[@Jimwill01]

That was my thought too. He could have just used pads for input/output instead of a connector.

[@la6mp]

I once used this as a voltage doubler on an 800 V supply for a ham transmitter, but you really went all the way! Respect, and happy you didn’t torch the house :-)

[@learnelectronics]

I only ran it for a second because it scares the crap out of me.

[@la6mp]

@@learnelectronics I 100% understand! Great videos, but stay alive, please!

[@oldwrench4213]

Paul....thank you for taking me back to college with this build. Same for your sponsor PCBway. This brings back some great memories!!

[@newsogn5148]

I like the comment on PCbway, that is cool of them to sponser you, before I started watching your channel I watched great Scott so I have always gone to jlcpcb, but I might try pcbway out this next round.... also it would have been cool to spread apart the leads to try to see how much voltage it really was

[@YourMotherSucksCocksInHell]

@@Meganano Make a new account on PCBway in a private/incognito browser window and get a $5 coupon on the first (and only) order.

[@bblod4896]

LOL. It works, cool. You may want to increase the spacing of the traces and the ground plane. Thanks Paul.

[@GM-vk8jw]

This cct is often used for the basic drivers for Ozone generators and the ubiquitous bug zapper. Yep they could zap you! The voltage drop from the diodes means the theoretical multiplier value is just that. (Theoretical) Dave from EEVlog did a bit about these. The thing to remember is that this cct was behind the splitting of the atom. Got to say those boards look mint! No problem with Ads dude if they keep the knowledge being shared 🙏

[@indioflechudo6221]

commercials like this are fine, the video is not interrupted.

[@chrismarshall4523]

I can hear Brian Johnson from AC/DC shrieking High voltage!!!

[@conradh7659]

Hey Paul. THAT WAS AWESOME!!!!!!!! Nice work! Stay Safe!

[@jimbooth2010]

My wife calls me a mad scientist. I should show her this video!! Nice work!

[@royireland1127]

Why did you not use the variac to slow start the device?

[@kevinscollan8293]

Cos it's not so much fun. 😆

[@VEKTOR4477]

@Roy Ireland i guess he did, but it would not change much. After all it's still a spark gab and they trigger at a voltage level and not at a power level. Maybe with lower voltages the system wouldn't trigger smoothly with 120Hz any longer. Maybe just 60 or 30... that could be seen as a power limiting/controlling system, but i think the voltage range (within controlling of the trigger rate is possible) is quite small and unreliable. Greetings from Europe

[@willtipton]

@@VEKTOR4477 120hz? This circuit is half wave rectified not full wave. Its just 60hz. If each stage had 4 diodes then it would be 120hz.

[@VEKTOR4477]

@@willtipton Ah yes my bad, that's whats happens when you just think about spark gabs an not the rest, Thanks!

[@stevetobias4890]

You could mount that in a square PVC channel and at the bottom add a fan that blows up through it all and after giving a reasonable distance from the arc you have a very powerful negative ion generator.

[@deankq4adj125]

Great video Mr. Paul, kind of felt I was watching ElectroBoom for a second!

[@DavidSprings]

Great demo...keep 'em up!

[@paulp2089]

I couldn't help but chuckle on the first power on :-)))). Was wondering what the voltage rating is on the potting gloop ? You may have just exceeded it until you put have the can on it.

[@sirnukesalot24]

I remember seeing a photo of a super-massive C-K multiplier. It was outside of a national laboratory and used to run an early atom smasher.

[@learnelectronics]

Cockcroft and Walton used this to power their accelerator in 1932, it won them the Nobel prize in 1951.

[@stefanodidonato3892]

Very nice! Just a question about the 1M resistor: if you put a bypass to link another pcb section, we should have a short circuit between pin 1 and 2 of HVDC Out connector. It should be better to put nothing. It is not clear for me. Thanks for explaning.

[@BobMellor1954]

Thanks Paul, great video with scary results

[@mtkoslowski]

To ensure that it won’t arc when you pot it, make sure you evacuate a chamber with a circuit board in in by drawing a vacuum to get the air bubbles out. This is how HV circuits break down and fail. Good potting technique prevents this. (Taser technology). How does this compare to a Marx Generator? It looks remarkably similar.

[@TRONMAGNUM2099]

Somebody already made them available on PCB WAY as an 1850Volt bug zapper. I think I'll make it and have a use for testing my high voltage probe.

[@nathanbunten4299]

How did you connect the ac? Is there a transformer? If so do you have a part #? I have built the multiplier and it works, but I keep blowing hand built transformers. Can you show the ac setup for this. Thanks.

[@darylcheshire1618]

He used a Variac, I would start with it turned right down. I wouldn’t want to multiply 240V.

[@nathanbunten4299]

@@darylcheshire1618 There is no transformer?

[@N00T0N]

That sounds like A-10 Warthog

[@darylcheshire1618]

I have a small mozzie zapper, it runs of a small battery, I wonder if it uses a C&W multiplier? Would have to be AC.

[@b1zarre23]

How did the 1kv diodes not fail if the output voltage was ~3 times their rated capacity? Similarly, why did you not have arcing between other solder joints?

[@learnelectronics]

Each stage in only 2x the input voltage.

[@paulsharpe3794]

Hi there I'm in the UK and we have 240v at 60h so we get serious even faster. Ceep the fingers a long way back from eny part and give it time to discharge

[@YourMotherSucksCocksInHell]

The UK has 50Hz.

[@paulsharpe3794]

@@YourMotherSucksCocksInHell hi there your right I think that I probably pressed the wrong button

[@nabilbilo3912]

Amazing job

[@BrucesWorldofStuff]

Wow! Awesome! Now I'm going to Amazon and get some new speakers... Later! Thanks for the video! LLAP

[@ChrisFredriksson]

Is this like a stun gun or taser or something really much more extreme?

[@oldwrench4213]

More extreme. Get hit by this and it will kill you. Both the volts and amps are there. This is not a toy to be playing with. It has an intended purpose.

[@frankowalker4662]

Cool, But I would'nt have put a ground plane on the PCB's, There is more chance of them arcing.

[@2fan199]

Hi, I would like to make one, but can I have the data of the substrate?

[@macdonalds1972]

"Eletricity" "Everthing is bettter with cheese"

[@Rouverius]

Reminds me of the flyback transformers and voltage doublers on old CRT set. Yeah, you do not want to be anywhere close to a live wire with those things running. Plus the tube acted as a big cap… all in all, they were kinda dangerous to playaround with.

[@MrBobWareham]

Grabe with wires that will unblock your heart, no no I am just joking that looked fun a nice circuit well done you could put your scope on with a wire in the air to see how far it transmits

[@bigdog911PAradio]

How can voltage be bumped up to 14.7-15v constant on kinectic batteries?

[@learnelectronics]

Whats a kinetic battery?

[@bigdog911PAradio]

@@learnelectronics their used for sound systems i use it to power my amplifier

[@learnelectronics]

Ok, I've never heard of them. You could use a boost converter. But keep in mind you trade current for voltage.

[@bigdog911PAradio]

@@learnelectronics don't understand

[@hasn812]

Good

[@thebeginnerelectronicattac8320]

Why not just use a dc power supply instead of mains voltage?

[@interbudelblag]

You need a AC to make it work

[@willtipton]

@@interbudelblag You can use pulsed DC as well. The output of one stage to the next stage that's pulsed dc and it makes no difference if its AC or Pulsed DC circuit works the same

[@MrMattberry1]

Love to know the voltage of that

[@keithking1985]

Its a high voltage electric chu chu train. : ) Awesome! Did ya see how thick the arc's where on that. the flyback out of a CRT TV aren't that thick.(and they can be up in the 10's to 100k volts.) that would really hurt if you touched it...

[@melplishka5978]

Awsome.

[@kevinscollan8293]

Woohoo!!! That's about 10,000 volts bruv Yeah! Psst dont touch the pretty sparkly thing aww pretty pretty.😀💕

[@firstlast8252]

While using this circuit, are the amps increasing also?

[@drtidrow]

No, if anything the current sourcing capacity goes down as you add more stages. You're transferring charge from one cap to the next, which takes awhile to propagate through the whole ladder.

[@learnelectronics]

No, the opposite

[@willtipton]

(I am not a mean person like this might make me sound) Is it just me or does that not sound at all like a 60hz arc? It sounds and looks exactly like when you put a capacitor in parallel with a ZVS and flyback transformer or some sort of flyback circuit. I think back to all the times ive made arcs with NST's and MOT's which are for sure 60hz and this is nothing like that. Even rectified NST/MOT sounds nothing like this. I have attempted in the past to make this exact circuit and I never had good results from a 120v wall outlet. I will do it again though. I could only make CW multipliers work with higher frequencies... Your circuit is fine (besides that ground plane, undersized resistor and outputs WAY too close) but the 120v(170pk) at 60hz I have serious doubts. I sense some internet foolery going on. I think those leads you end up using for the arc are from the real transformer powering this device. I think the circuit didn't work well enough to arc so you have one of those cool tiny HV modules out of our view. LOL My Reasons: 1.) Input voltage 120V but has a peak of 170V x 2 x 12 stages = 4080V theoretical volts. Resistor 10M so that's ~2 watts? 2.) you say that arc is 1cm long which roughly requires 30kV in air. No way does 60hz

[@sempertard]

Certain things left out seem to point to interwebs phvckery.

[@seaham3d695]

I use Chineseium as well :D

[@melplishka5978]

Hahahah that was my birthday lol.

[@RicardoPenders]

I thought for sur that it would be arcing all over the pcb's but apparently it does not, good to know.

[@VICTORYOVERNEPTUNE]

Cool

[@bapikaushik15]

How do we use it ......

[@newsogn5148]

Lol if you have to ask please don’t use this high of a voltage lol

[@mtkoslowski]

Consider putting the output on your tongue.

[@bertbrecht7540]

If one stage doubles your voltage, why do three stages only triple your voltage rather than 8x voltage (2^3)?

[@willtipton]

@@bertbrecht7540 It doesn't keep doubling. It double the first time only and then goes up each stage by that amount. i.e. (peak voltage) * 2 * (number of stages) in the case of USA plugins. 170Vpk x 2 x 12 stages = 4080 theoretical volts. then subtract Diode drops, leakage, etc.

[@jonaoconnor8065]

U could make two trains both as a single signal carrier one plus one nega, double as a cockcroft Walton mulripliet

[@youwilldisobey]

I would consider this Low Power

[@michaelpadovani9566]

Lightning production!!

[@warrenking1815]

That puppy bites!

[@IAmABike]

Files??

[@interbudelblag]

I am not too brave to do it

[@BushImports]

Why in the world would you want that much voltage?

[@Ryuuken24]

Video is old but, those tiny pads for in and out is a terrible idea. One pcb is close to 1kv, after that everything will start arching, epoxy is not gonna help, the pads are too close, the explosions would be cool though.😂

[@pulesjet]

I think your calculating your voltage wrong. Each stage doubles what it's handed. After the first stage you. have 24o. Next stage 480. Next stage 1440v. Second board first stage would be double that.

[@merrittderr9708]

I was thinking the same thing. By the time you get to the end of that chain its lucky there's no current to speak of or there would have been a fire. :o)

[@kenholt2487]

Let's see... 3 stages per board, 4 boards, so we're doubling the input 12 times. That's a factor of 2 to the 12th power, or 4096. 170 V (RMS) * 4096 gives 696 KV. With a 25% loss we'd still be looking at an output of about 1/2 megavolt. Right?

[@merrittderr9708]

@@kenholt2487 RMS here would be 120 volts (typical in the US). The 170 is peak to peak. So the no loss voltage would "only" be about 491KV. It wasn't clear to me whether the first stage is a doubler or just a rectifier. In any case, the arc across that gap was serious for sure.

[@mobuildsstuff]

@@kenholt2487 25% loss is a good estimate for the first board, but the impedance increases with every capacitor and arcing would result in additional charge loss

[@kenholt2487]

@@merrittderr9708 Aack! My bad! 120v RMS; 170v P-P. 🤦

[@keithking1985]

"PAUL I NEED TO ASK YOU SOMETHING", I USE ADD BLOCKER ON YOU TUBE! SO IF IM WATCHING ONE OF YOUR VIDEOS WITH THE ADD BLOCKER ON WILL THAT MEAN YOU WON'T GET PAID FORM THE ADD'S ON THE VIDEO???? COZ IF SO I WILL TURN IT OFF WHEN WATCHING YOUR VIDEOS.. COULD YOU PLEASE LET ME KNOW HOW THAT WORKS IF YOU KNOW??? (OR ANY OTHER YOU TUBER WATCHING) THANKS, KEITH }B=[ >

[@PATRIK67KALLBACK]

I say as Beavis and Butthead, Cool Huh huh huh