Discharge tubes with krypton, krypton+iodine, and xenon

[@massimookissed1023]

I love the slower contortions of the Kr+I tube.

[@gizmothewytchdoktor-419]

i don't know just how i stumbled down this particular rabbit hole but it's a good one. thanks for your efforts.

[@dorotas7837]

"the more charge, the more dynamics" :D Loved it

[@Carl_Willis]

Yes, I'll try mercury + krypton tomorrow. If it's impressive, I'll put up a video.

[@zyeborm]

Surprisingly hard to find images of the colours. Thanks a bunch for this.

[@Carl_Willis]

Hi Scott, I've tried to track down a contaminant that explains the green, but to no avail. The vacuum system is turbopumped, the gas delivery line is all-metal, and I have done a lot of tests with xenon+nitrogen, xenon+oxygen, xenon+air, xenon+vacuum grease, etc. to no avail in attempting to strengthen the green. It is a low-pressure, low-power characteristic that disappears above ~40 torr and when the filamentary pattern is fully established. I see it in other peoples' xenon vids too.

[@teslasintern]

Very nice tubes... From my limited experience Xenon is pure white when absolutely pure, developing a more blue color at lower pressures. I think your green might be a product of air contamination. Let me know if it stays that way, my last green one eventually turned dull grey blue... It was a mix of helium xenon, with contaminates of argon and krypton.

[@BackMacSci]

Thank you Carl! I'm working with the xenon plasma toroid phenomenon right now and I've been looking for an explanation for the formation of the intial loop discharge. I believe this is the explanation I was looking for. Like you said it's xenon's low number of DOF's that allow more energy to go to forming a discharge, compared to air. I'll send you an email soon, as I'd love to collaborate with you on this plasma toroid project!

[@Jennyitalia-u1f]

Hey, just saw your Plasma toroid, just happened to find your comment here, nice project

[@talmiller19]

I think it's just the effect of pressure, too high and harder to ionize.

[@NateGentile7]

Hi Carl! Is ultra high purity a must? What purity do you recommend?

[@edwincortes9136]

Mmm curioso..

[@attex24]

Do you still make these, I'd be willing to pay for a custom project.

[@ZeroPointZap]

Wow. Very nice. I have some vintage Violet Ray tubes with some exotic gases I'd like to identify and one plasma ball that has the greenish gas instead of Argon, I think it may be Xenon. One tube I think has Argon and Kryton layered. Maybe I will make a video to show you to help me identify them. Thanks, Donna

[@STONEDay]

I had a big krypton discharge tube like this til someone broke it a decade ago. Why are they so hard to find!? I like the addition of the iodine. So nice!

[@Durfenhurf]

I'd like to make a display using tubes like this. How can I get hold of you to talk about setting up the display I have in mind (including buying some tubes). Thanks!

[@TheFreak111]

That krypton iodine version is very ornamental! Love the slowness. Any other slow versions like this you know of? So far I can only find thatone.

[@Capnmax]

Can you affect the arcing filament if you change the airflow and temperature around the tube? Say with with a fan heater?

[@sto2779]

Jeeze these are awesome. Which vacuum pump do you use that can reach 200 Torr? Thanks.

[@teslasintern]

Very interesting. Just about all the tubes I make with xenon have traces of green, even at higher pressures, but like I said they have always faded with time. My system is much less tight than yours, which is why I assumed air. Must just be a low pressure thing, I'll have to try it!

[@blqkvo]

Very impressive array of tubes. Did you buy them or did you manufacture them yourself? If you did do them yourself, then I'd like to know if you are willing to sell them?

[@Carl_Willis]

You can make glow discharges in CO2, but I don't find them to be particularly beautiful.

[@ajetk]

Beautiful but be careful of the exposure for long duration. I think they all emit UV light. Esp those with metals in it like Iodine, Mercury emit hard UV.

[@alce-dinidae]

its not crystal glass though

[@RadioTrefoil]

Hey Carl, Have you ever considered putting a small amount (just a drop) of sodium-mercury amalgam into a xenon discharge tube? One day I want to make my own HPS lamp, it seems like fun.

[@jucerk6679]

En donde consigues el tubo de plasma Green?

[@motel-hb8wv]

Can you show how you rarefied element 18 into vacuumed tube? Or do you sell high resonate frequency glass vials?

[@acekiwi7184]

Hi Carl, love your work. Some questions for you. How thick are the glass tubes? What other chemicals like iodine could you use to get bright colours, ie lithium to get bright red?

[@marblemaker117]

Is it possible to make a license plate frame of this? It would be so cool!

[@AvZNaV]

I like how the second discharge tube looks...

[@MarcStollmeyer]

Does the iodine make the arc movement slower?

[@maxmccormick3376]

Marc Stollmeyer I think it's because it's at a much lower pressure than the pure krypton

[@Buckbuster88]

Carl how do you make these? I would like to make one the size of a nixie/vacuum tube for a steam punk lamp project.

[@xw591]

Where can one get tubes like this?

[@JennyZmn]

Impressive i must say!

[@englishguy1985]

Hi Carl, Two questions : how are you energising these tubes. Where did you buy the tubes from.

[@Carl_Willis]

I purchase heavy-wall borosilicate COE33 glass, usually Schott, for these tubes. (The Chinese options are too uneven and have too many defects; Corning tubing is too short). They are energized with a 30-50 kHz power supply containing a homemade oil-insulated transformer. Open circuit voltage is around 20 kV. Power delivery is 60-80 W peak.

[@OmegaMolecule]

Great video! Thanks for sharing!

[@petetheputaguy9211]

Hi Carl, I have recently acquired a number of different gasses and was hoping to demonstrate wireless discharge. Can you give me some hints for cheap power supply options. Can I use flyback transformer from old CRT? TIA

[@RepublicConstitution]

Beautiful!

[@savannah505]

Hi - I'm an artist in Florida, I have an idea for an art piece and would like to know if you can make me a tube and power set up for my work. I also wanted to know that in many plasma lights they have a more pinkish or red effect, how or what gas is used to create that look. Thank you.

[@dannydwyer3705]

What if you run music through these tubes?

[@ttvmarcyy7906]

Thanks this helped in a science project thanks

[@RWGresearch]

Nice one! Thanks again! ~Russ

[@ajetk]

Im using pure xenon strobe tube (XOP) with internal electrodes at each end, this can light up at voltages as low as 500v or even 200v with the right tuning (resonant) circuit. But the xenon gets used up pretty fast as it reacts with the electrodes, i think. And it needs higher & higher voltages to light up with usage. I suspect the China tubes are made to fail after a fixed number of hours. Im getting about 50-60hrs of continuous operation from each tube.

[@skystalker2]

I really want to buy same cathode ray kits but I don't know where and who would sell it. Mind telling how to get this stuff?

[@vhaldera]

I would be interested in getting discharge tubes if this type for a project. It is difficult to source them where I am. Do you have any recommendations?

[@BitGridTV]

are the tubes heating up during this?

[@Carl_Willis]

They heat up slightly.

[@crimsonmoon9404]

could you use radon for this?

[@jeekboi]

how much do you charge for one of these?

[@studywithsingh5065]

Hi carl "One standard metre is equal to 1 650 763.73 wavelengths of the orange − red light emitted by the individual atoms of krypton − 86 in a krypton discharge lamp."how came this particular figure for 1 m length .can you please explain

[@massimookissed1023]

Gurpreet Singh , The wavelength is a fixed universal constant dictated by the different energy levels of electrons in Krypton's electron 'shells'. By defining a metre as a specific number of those wavelengths, 1 metre could be very accurately reproduced anywhere without needing to compare to a Platinum/Iridium rod in Paris. 1 metre is now defined as "the length of the path travelled by light in vacuum during a time interval of 1/299792458 of a second".

[@iknowsstuff]

cool stuff how bout some bromine gas

[@templarjay]

super cool

[@analcuntist9669]

pretty awesome man. i wanna do this

[@--Parangaricutirimicuaro---]

Awesome!!

[@planetengineeringofficial8545]

can you make a murcyri one

[@dgeorgester]

very interesting :)

[@marblemaker117]

Can you make a license plate frame please?

[@자막깎는대학생]

how much voltage do i need?

[@derekwashuck7691]

How about bromine and xenon ?

[@maxresolution1495]

Awesome

[@Carl_Willis]

I made all these tubes and I have sold a few. If you see something you like, please send a private message and I can discuss making others.

[@Carl_Willis]

Sounds like a tall order to me!

[@тнєєє27]

Iodine and xenon and ceasium. Barium is 56 and this where the table splitz.

[@DavidMiddleton101]

What about Neon?

[@Carl_Willis]

Neon does not produce filamentary discharges like this under reasonable conditions of pressure and current density. Even at atmospheric pressure, its discharge is diffuse and unspectacular. For similar underlying reasons, helium also acts this way.

[@DavidMiddleton101]

Many thanks. I've just finished watching another one of your videos where you mentioned the prices for these gases plus neon which is why I was curious

[@dakillah6018]

nice bruh

[@xinchaozhu4297]

😅Does anyone know why pure xenon has this green, I made a xenon lamp, and after being energized with a vacuum leak detector, it also has this green

[@Carl_Willis]

The green color is due to the molecular band spectrum of the quasi-bound xenon monoxide species, XeO. I have annotated spectra if you are interested....send me a message. Producing XeO is fundamentally simple: you need some oxygen in with the xenon. Practically, the reaction is catalyzed. Nitrogen and phosphorus pentoxide are effective catalysts, and I have had good success with both. The amount needed is small and getting reliable metering of nitrogen requires a separate capacitance manometer. P2O5 can be "blown" into the tube during bakeout using dry argon.

[@planetengineeringofficial8545]

ok i wish you luck

[@johnbenedicth.agustin3328]

i like the fast one the krypton and the xenon becus the krypton is my section

[@juanluissolorzano8048]

Superman planet laight

[@Carl_Willis]

I sent you a private message about how to call or email me. Thanks for your interest!

[@cbschriks]

Carl Willis Hello Carl Willis, is there a way to get in touch with you for a paid consultation? Thank you [e-mail]

[@JJunkAFunk]

Juice Wrld be like…

[@Gojo101lol]

Stop trying to develop kryptonite to weaken superman