Ignition Coil Drivers

In this video I show the differences between an ignition coil (pulse transformer) and other types of transformers, and a few different ways to drive them to get a high voltage output.
An ignition coil is an induction coil that has a relatively high primary inductance, but low turns ratio. It generates high voltage by building up a large magnetic field in its primary, and then suddenly collapsing it when current is shut off. The sudden collapse causes a voltage spike in the primary, which is stepped up even further in the secondary coil. These devices can easily produce 30,000 - 40,000 volts with a 12 volt input, and a modest turns ratio of between 15-20.
In the video i show how to drive one with a relay, single MOSFET, inductively coupled MOSFET half bridge, and a 600V IGBT, which was by far the most powerful and effective circuit.
Some important components:
-555 Timer
-LM7805 Linear Regulator
-IRF640 200V / 18A MOSFET
-12TQ200 200V / 15A Diode
-MUR120G 200V / 1A Diode
-STGP20H60DF 600V / 20A IGBT (Best results by far)
-1N4148 Diodes for duty cycle adjustment
Ignition coil used:
www.amazon.com...
Music:
Serge Pavkin - Modern Technology
Kevin MacLeod - George Street Shuffle
Heatley Bros. - Otherworld
Serge Pavkin - Intergalactic

[@hopelessnerd6677]

Fascinating! I have no real use for any of that, and yet I feel a strong urge to go buy an ignition coil.

[@victorbruce5772]

Amazing how well the old set of mechanical points and condenser distributor worked, and rotor & cap delivered spark to each plug at the right timing. Much improved by early electronic ignition control, and powerful magnetos.

[@pontiacg445]

I've replaced a lot of those with igniters, which I assume are just IGBTs and some sort of hall sensor to detect the lobes on the distributor shaft. Because points flat out suck and nobody wants to be stuck on the side of the road...

[@theshauny]

@@pontiacg445a cheap points distributor is more reliable than a cheap eBay electronic distributor, at least with points if you are stuck on the road side you can clean them up with a pocket knife adjust them by eye and drive home. In saying that good quality distributor modules last up to 40 years it’s only the cheap eBay/Amazon rubbish that can be unreliable (I’ve had them fail straight out the box)

[@edinfific2576]

A video that doesn't skimp on the necessary details but also doesn't overburden the viewer with too much detail or too much math - that is a recipe for a good video. I have fixed a couple of the electric fence generators which were made too cheaply with crude soldering skills and solder with too much lead (cheap Chinese solder with a lopsided ratio of 40/60 instead of 60/40). There are many schematics on the net for this, but they basically involve charging a high-voltage capacitor of 10-30uF to around 200 something volts and discharging it through an SCR into the car ignition coil primary. This produces a powerful and painful high-voltage spark (No, I haven't tested it on myself, thank you very much!). The circuitry is crude and simple, it is surprisingly efficient at 12V (uses about 200mA, to step it up to 200+ volts), but by my calculations it is still using about 3 times more energy than it should (the efficiency maybe around 30%). It is using a standard iron core transformer with a 555 driver and a MOSFET and then going through a very high resistance to charge the main capacitor, which is a waste. I figured I could use a much smaller ferrite core transformer with pulses calculated to charge up the capacitor in one second, without using a resistor, which would greatly increase the efficiency.

[@georgezadanski1403]

I am totally amazed at individuals such as yourself that have the ability to understand the principles of electrical current. Just fantastic !!!

[@jacobyunderhill3999]

Don't sell yourself short! :) Electricity is one of those things where the basics are pretty easy to understand, yet still incredibly useful/fun. If you start learning art and stop at stick figures, well that's not all that interesting. But if you learn some basic circuits, you can make/repair all kinds of cool stuff.

[@ahmdabdallah5811]

@@jacobyunderhill3999 What Is Islam? Islam is not just another religion. It is the same message preached by Moses, Jesus and Abraham. Islam literally means ‘submission to God’ and it teaches us to have a direct relationship with God. It reminds us that since God created us, no one should be worshipped except God alone. It also teaches that God is nothing like a human being or like anything that we can imagine. The concept of God is summarized in the Quran as: { “Say, He is God, the One. God, the Absolute. He does not give birth, nor was He born, and there is nothing like Him.”} (Quran 112:1-4) Becoming a Muslim is not turning your back to Jesus. Rather it’s going back to the original teachings of Jesus and obeying him

[@jacobyunderhill3999]

@@ahmdabdallah5811 Why don't you go gargle a can of cheez whiz you spammy piece of crap. Every religion is "just another religion", that's why we call them religions. Religion: a fairy tail manipulated by psychopaths who have established a large enough power structure to oppress mass populations. I marked a black cross With the heel of my mother's shoe I won't tell a soul Blame it on the man this afternoon The internet is dead The internet is gone It can't get you here

[@georgezadanski1403]

@@jacobyunderhill3999 Oh, don't get me wrong, I've totally rewired several homes in my time, and I'm one of those people that are ADD when it comes to neatness and sometimes overkill the applications but I'd rather be safer than sorry but when it comes to just how some things work and their theories, I'm lost. 🤨😆

[@jakefriesenjake]

Ha ha ha. Just imagine the brains of the men who invented this!!

[@victoryfirst2878]

This is hands down a top notch showing of an arcing circuit. I have so many questions for you that you would probably tell me to take a hike. I tip my hat to you SIR !!!!!!!!!!!!

[@fjs1111]

One of the best produced e-engineering videos around

[@zionfranz]

Great video man, I really appreciate the fact that you include formulas.

[@snowdaysrule]

RIP all you neighbors enjoying their nightly AM programming

[@kbee225]

So no one.

[@timgrant8729]

🤔👀😆

[@x35gaming]

Who cares about them anyway?

[@00djferni]

How far do you think that would transmit 😂

[@DR-mp4gv]

😂

[@Buzzhumma]

This was a super cool walk through the world of inductance, coils, resonance, resistance and all the other components at play in the relationship to this spark energy system! 2 learnings in as many days....Electroboom just released a new video with a very good in-depth about capacitive coupling with wires. I hope to see more of these deep dives into common systems . Nothing better than learning something new about something you thought you about already.A walk through how Tesla bifilar coils and circuit to demonstrate its purpose would be great......Thanks so much for the great journey!

[@Leviathan15s]

Ignition transformers are great, one time I had 2 of them in series being driven by the output of a MOT, it created massive 6" plasma arcs between the output terminals.

[@Leviathan15s]

@Joseph Bunn "1 ft arc" NICE lol, yeah I was just driving them with a spark gap off the MOT secondary.

[@Leviathan15s]

@Joseph Bunn I think I used the can cap that was in the Microwave, don't remember what size it was though.

[@dandruff7807]

Do you have a schematic of what you just mentioned???

[@dandruff7807]

Can you please draw a schematic of your two ignition transformers powdered by a MOT? I am a one of your subscribers.

[@Leviathan15s]

@@dandruff7807 It's not much to draw, it was just 2 ignition transformers in series with the output of the MOT.

[@TheExplosiveGuy]

I've done some sketchy stuff with these ignition coils, in fact I was almost killed by one a few decades ago lol. My 15 yr old genius mind hooked one of these up directly to a wall outlet, I had to dunk it in motor oil to prevent arcing and cool it since I was running gobs of current through it lol. I was fooling around with the 2" arcs it made, which were hot enough to melt steel wire, when it shorted out to the metal table I was working on and holding on to with my right hand (genius move, I know, I was staggeringly intelligent in my youth🤣) and the electrode in my left hand, my right hand clamped down on the table so hard I couldn't pull away and my left hand was squeezing the wire, I was stuck on it for about 5 seconds before I could get my legs to start kicking and push myself away. I pulled so hard I ripped the transformer out of the jar of oil and sprayed used motor oil all over myself and my shop, but more importantly ripped the outlet out of the wall and saved myself from an awful death. My entire body was cramped for days and I'm not sure how it didn't stop my heart, I think it must have been making 20k-30k Volts based on the length of the arcs it made, which were very similar to a flyback transformer arc but noticeably hotter. Moral of the story, don't hook these up to unlimited current sources, you might die...

[@HyperspacePirate]

*ಠ_ಠ*

[@Buzzhumma]

You can be a Hip Hop Rapper and call yourself 50hertz.😂 dun dun .... dun dun !

[@TheExplosiveGuy]

@@Buzzhumma 🤣

[@randomhuman1965]

Lol i did the exact same with a big neon sign transformer

[@Buzzhumma]

@@randomhuman1965 it's scary but it goes another level if you add capacitor! Don't unless you have approved and appropriate training and I mean properly taught !

[@tiggywinkle1000]

That last frame showing the electric arc burning relentlessly into the insulation reminded me of the 'Id' beast in the last scene from the SF film 'Forbidden Planet'. Useful video - especially the explainer on IGBT's. My favourite field has always been power electronics, from building an OpAmp driven bank of triacs back in the 70's to power a discotheque sound to light show.

[@flaplaya]

Wow you are a God. I've played with this stuff my entire life. You just dove into the physics of why these coils don't like AC only true pulsed DC. VERY nice job.

[@stevem1081]

Many years ago on my 67 Mustang, I added an MSD ignition unit and an upgraded Accel coil, That combo could make some strong and long sparks!

[@paulstubbs7678]

I had some great fun many years ago, I was using a version of a capacitor discharge ignition (CDI) that were popular electronics kits many years ago. I had the same issue as you as in the centre insulator kept breaking down and killing all the fun. Luckily there was a few very rare coils with ceramic insulators on top at the local tip. These did not punch through, however the spark would still make it directly between the output terminals and not my target terminals. I fixed that by extending the centre insulator with some plastic pipe. In the end, I had a 500V cap dumping into two coils in series, anti-phase, one producing a positive pulse, whilst the other did a negative pulse. The best spark I was achieving was 7cm. However my inverter took about 20 seconds to recharge the dump cap, so it was a long way from a continuous arc. The discharge was by a heavy duty 'starter' press button, so no diodes or caps were used to limit the voltages. Unfortunately that was one of the things that didn't make it when my parents moved houses.

[@1crazypj]

That was kinda fun. 😁 As a motorcycle instructor I've checked back EMF on motorcycle ignition systems a few times. One I particularly remember is mid 90's Suzuki VS800 (Intruder) The back EMF maximum was 318V measured with a peak voltage adapter on regular electronic multi meter with input around 13.8v DC (regulated voltage when charging battery) Output voltage around 45,000v but had no means of checking max voltage accurately (I'm a motorcycle mechanic not electrical engineer/hobbyist )

[@alexjenner1108]

6:02 some O.E.M, ignition systems use a NPN Darlington such as a BU941 or MJ10012, which might take a little more current to drive than a MOSFET, but have a higher voltage rating. Might be more expensive in a TO-3 package than the TO-220 ones you're using, but they have to work all day in all climates located near a hot engine. Thanks for the video.

[@Motor_Cackle]

In your attempt to drive at resonance (8:07), the parasitic drain to source diodes were probably the main problem. Many years ago I worked with high voltage supplies that used a near resonant H bridge driver to deliver a little over 1 Amp at up to 145KV. The H bridge used SCRs, and the transformer primary with a series cap was placed across it. As you approach resonance, the series tank impedance goes lower, resulting in more output power. There was no second chance if you made the wrong mistake while working on it... ⚡

[@iblesbosuok]

Similar principle of induction furnace.

[@ike5276]

An amp at 145kv?! Jesus what do they even use that for? That sounds terrifying to work with

[@Motor_Cackle]

@@ike5276 X-Ray tube power for a CT scanner.

[@InssiAjaton]

One little addition to the ignition coil construction description: There is also a few pairs of core material sheets curved around the winding pack. That serves to provide a return path for the magnetic field, reducing the air gap in the loop. As a side effect, it may also shield against some of the noise radiation. On the old automotive implementation, there is a small, maybe 0.5 ohm series resistor to limit the primary current. The capacitor was usually across the breaking contact, with an explained purpose of reducing the sparking of the contact. However, the contact spark erosion stiil was a common trouble issue.

[@cosmicyoke]

the capacitor also converts the initial Pulsed DC into Pulsed AC aka Damped Waves, so if you want to keep DC Impulses can't use the capacitor or maybe you would have to set up a bridge rectifier.

[@pontiacg445]

Old car starters usually have a second terminal which is there just to bypass that ballast resistor because old starters and engines were stupid huge and would drop the voltage significantly. Running with no ballast was OK when the voltage was low, but all other times just put unnecessary heat into the coil and wear on the points for no good reason. Modern vehicles use resistor spark plugs or wires, those also help to cut down on radiated EMI. Now, EV's just remove the AM radio entirely to "fix" their EMI issues...

[@MrElapid]

I used to love playing with these coils as a kid, I used a doorbell buzzer and I'm guessing around .5mfd across the contacts. Thanks for the fun memory.

[@stevesfascinations1516]

Nice job on the video! You explained everything, had amazing editing and photography, and I enjoyed every bit of it. Thank you, thumbs up and subscribed.

[@johnsanchez8029]

Great demonstration bro. Thanks so much for explaining the theory.

[@prestonburton8504]

well done sir! great explination for determining component values and also - explaining impedance matching (analogous to mechanical transmissions as well)

[@jackpatteeuw9244]

Déjà vu ! Many, MANY moons ago, I worked next to the people who actually designed the the circuits to drive ignition coils (and injectors) in electronic engine controls. IIRC, they just used a MOSFET. There was no capacitor across the coil (there WAS in old "point style" ignition systems). The important thing was a zener diode across the driver transistor to protect it from back EMF. The zener voltage had to be high enough (57V?) to allow the primary coil to collapse quickly but not too high to to allow damage to the transistor. When gasoline engines are running at low RPM (

[@alexjenner1108]

There seems to be a myth that you must add a capacitor, because points based systems had them. The GM HEI ignitions were based on an MJ10012 NPN Darlington or similar and I don't remember seeing a capacitor there, but those transistors were rated to 400v or 600v and some versions might have used a 350v zener to protect the transistor. The carbon trace is a good demonstration of why you shouldn't run your ignition system with a spark plug lead removed. That high voltage is going to want to go somewhere and there is a good chance it damages something when it does.

[@idus]

This is like a simplified msd circuit. Not good for inductive heating but looks great for boosting the spark on your turbo car. I get spark blow out and I am thinking this could really help with that blow out at 13psi boost. Thank you for sharing this. Answers a lot of questions I had.

[@GlennLittleford]

I spent a week playing around with a car coil to make a TIG welder. The MOSFET driver was terrible, like yours, and I ended up just using a relay. I like your improved IGBT circuit, might have a go. Thanks.

[@zachchristensen1104]

I'm glad I checked this out but I have no idea what you're talking about I've got a lot to learn

[@TheElectronicDilettante]

I just stumbled upon your channel and let me just say... Holy S#$T!!! Absolutely awesome! Well done Sir! That’s crazy carbon tracking that happened when you opened the gap of the electrodes. Very Cool! Thanks for the Video(s).

[@Inteligento]

Cool video. To prevent the arching through the insulator try running a wire from the ground screw over top the center of the coil, also maybe use some insulated ignition wire. That should cause the arch to happen straight up and down.

[@johnrobholmes]

How did I miss this channel? Great stuff!

[@urboyaristox8661]

I was trying to understand if these coils work with dc or if they need ac the video was very helpful thank you

[@alocin110]

I subscribed your channels and cannot miss any videos. Your presentation is perfect and well experimented. Thank you for sharing. I liked your video. Keep up the good sharing.

[@ThePaulv12]

You could use 2 coils in parallel - one firing, one non firing. Pot the output pole of the non firing coil with epoxy. See what happens. The reason I say this, is because on Jaguar HE V12's, 1982 - 1988 there were no low impedance coils available and they did indeed use 2 coils wired exactly as described above. Funny thing is the non firing coil was wired after the firing coil, so the HEI module was switched on the firing coil and the non firing coil was connected after. They used 2 coils because these engines had nearly 12:1 compression, ran on lean mixtures and turned 6500RPM which is a big ask for an ignition coil. After 1988 when low impedance coils became available, standard fitment for a V12 was a single coil DAC6093 but the rest of the ignition system remained the same. In fact you can delete your twin coils for that part number coil.

[@vidxs]

Did!the. Dual coils have dual points or was the magnetic pick used? Points won't function correctly after a few thousand rpms, back in the day points could barely keep up after 3k rpm if I remember correctly. Onan used a dual coil on its gen set with the side shaft twin , I believe it only ran at 1200rpm. It ran on point ignition system. Just curious why the jag had dual coils.

[@russedmonds227]

That's a very interesting idea! I think the energy in the non firing primary wound go into the firing primary.

[@peterrodell4582]

Thanks. Genuinely a very well presented and informative. Like the calcs. Regards. A guy that just got a car coil to make an "anti rat" fence around the house [ yes > 7ft ]

[@francescotrevisan4453]

Great video, thanks. What if your circuit was to be used as an ignition box in a 1cylinder motorcycle 4stroke engine? The 555 timer and duty pot would not be needed, and the trigger signal would come from the magnetic switch on the flywheel. What part of the schematics would not be needed?

[@HyperspacePirate]

I think you could remove the 555 timer and just connect the magnetic switch from the flywheel to the IGBT/MOSFET gate with a protection resistor/zener diode for safety

[@sailingcapedissappointment2012]

@@HyperspacePirate you guys are getting into the swing that Tesla talked about and the mechanical spark gap he used to tune to the optimal frequency hence Mechanical Resonance ..

[@curiousviewer5991]

Nice! Love the circuit diagrams as usual.

[@NeverEvil1]

PWM is the best way to drive a circuit when you need pulsating current. You are the right path. I need to dust off my books and refresh my 20 plus years since learning memory.

[@wadewingfield4606]

While taking a course many years ago on the then new Sun diagnostic scope, we were using an Oldsmobile test engine with the HEI ignition. The scope was calibrated to 100,000 volts. When a plug wire was pulled with the insulated pliers, the firing line went off the top of the scope. To this day I still have not found the max output voltage for an HEI ignition. I have seen rotors and plug wires fired through. As well as a racing engine that suffered from detonation. It had blown the ground electrodes off two plugs , but was still running on all eight cylinders. have you ever measured the output of an open HEI system.

[@alexwang007]

The fly back transformer also uses the collapse to transfer energy, but the small inductor enables more power density because the switching frequency can be much higher (it also must be higher to avoid saturation). The flyback's transfer of energy is not continuous. If you remove the diode then it is no longer a flyback topology

[@user-rs8zg8ey2b]

I forgot to mention, that coil I made a shock box back in 7th grade (1977), it was simply a hobby train power supply, it was rectified but not filtered and a variable resistor to control the output voltage, started at 60v and max was 490v, it was a blast, we get 5 to 10 peeps in series, start low, then slowly increase till someone let go, remove him and start again, then the teacher wanted to get in on it, I started at max and that got me kicked me out of school for bringing it, haha, the good old days.

[@n4120p]

Very good schooling on this subject that is not very well covered otherwise , Thank you very much for your contribution to Knowledge !!!

[@martyscholes119]

5:42 is the secondary coil discharging through the MOSFET?

[@domsadragon717]

What type of capacitors you used for the igbt driver?(I would be most interested in their voltage)

[@CXensation]

Polyester caps 600V. 470nF should do fine.

[@chbonnici]

Thank you for sharing. Will try this circuit. Very well and clear presentation.

[@davidfalconer8913]

A stud type high voltage rated SCR discharging a 1 or 2 microfarad capacitor ( charged to 300 to 500 Volts ) at 50 / 60 Hertz is the basis of some electronic ignition systems ... this has the BIG advantage of no worries damaging any semiconductor ( such as your MOSFET ) and gives sturdy sparks ..... tried - n - tested ..........

[@markhenderson9069]

The presentation here and knowledge base is incredible, and very much appreciated. I have one question though. As I tend to keep things as simple and yet efficient as possible, how do you think a fast solid state relay would work with the simple relay driver? Maybe one that is 2x the power capacity so it's only run at 50-60% power for long life (hopefully). Or would a simple reed switch relay be even better for higher switching frequencies? I would really like to try this on a couple of coils I purchased from summit racing. Thanks.

[@bmw7z]

Those off the self solid state relays (SSR) are usually garbage unfortunately. The components in his diagrams are basically a solid state relay with added protections and efficiencies you won't find in an off the self SSR. Reed switches will suffer from the same issues as the mechanical relay shown in the first example.

[@randymueller2349]

Thanks for the informative Video. I'm currently working on the Bosch ECM of my 2015 Sea Doo (260 Rotax 1503 cc Supercharged 3 Cylinder), issue is that the ECM isn't Firing the #1 Ign Coil. I've ordered some IGBT MOSFET Transistors (10PCS V3040D 400V, N-Channel Ignition IGBT ISL9V3040D3ST TO-252) and some H-Bridge Chips (5pcs TLE8209-2SA Automobile computer board chip). My plan is to swap out the IGBT MOSFET Transistors first and hope for the best? H-Bridge is the second option which would likely require a Re-Flash of the ECM? I'm a Retired Professional Wrench (Audi's are my Specialty). I'm certainly not an Electronics Technician but I'm not afraid to try to repair my ECM. Randy AKA randog311 (FYI, I was unable to to read the numbers on the original IGBT MOSFET's, so I took a wild guess as to which one to order)

[@pontiacg445]

I highly doubt anything that new uses a "dumb" coil like this one. Most anything with an ECU has moved all the high current control circuitry for the coil into the coil itself or an external igniter for EMI reasons, to protect the sensitive microcontrollers. How did it work for you?

[@TheTubejunky]

Falstad circuit simulator love it my man!

[@RixtronixLAB]

Cool video shot, well done, thanks for sharing :)

[@dandruff7807]

Could you stop the arcing by placing the ignition coil in mineral oil? Or completely remove the ignition primary/secondary coils & place them in mineral oil?

[@HyperspacePirate]

It might help, yeah

[@TheExplosiveGuy]

It 100% helps, I've done it. It can also help cool it depending on how much current you're running through it.

[@Broken_Yugo]

The can type coils come oil filled, just drop the whole thing in more oil. Using the proper connector and boot would probably also help with arcing through the tower.

[@EightiesJames]

... I've learned over the years, the term "Dial In" has a LOT of unintended consequences and amazing discoveries.

[@ianinholland8390]

Excellent video, thanks for taking so much trouble to set it up, film it and explain it. Really well done, and great to see the math behind it.. What would your thoughts be on turning this into a really effective electric fence driver? Also, the ignition coils that you're using - are they just off the shelf car coils (the old type, as many cars now have one coil per spark plug). is anything usually visible on the coil unit to indicate its rating?

[@bedford61]

First of all, thank you for sharing this knowledge with us. I hope you can clarify something for me. On the diagram with the relay as driver, the ignition coil has 4 contacts. The ignition coil you used has only 3 contacts. For the diagram that would mean, contact 2 and 3 are directly connected within the coil and that there is no direct link between contact 3 of the ignition coil and GND. Is it still working with the link between ignition coil contact 2 and 3 as manufactured? At time 4:34 I could see a small yellow piece a the bottom of the video. What is this piece? I would really appreciate if you could help me out on my questions.

[@HyperspacePirate]

Yeah, 2 and 3 would be directly connected inside the casing because the primary and secondary coils share a common ground.

[@bedford61]

Thank you very much for the clarification! What is the small yellow piece that I see at time 4:34 (bottom of video)? Is it another electronic device? Sorry, for bothering you....

[@kennethnevel3263]

I saw a chart once that said it takes 70,000 volts to jump a 1 inch gap at normal air pressure. If you increase pressure it takes more volts to jump same gap . I have seen this on a spark plug tester as air pressure is increased to the point that the spark will not jump the gap anymore .

[@glasslinger]

Depends greatly on electrode type. Two needle points about 20 kv per inch, two 1 inch diameter balls, about 60-70 kv.

[@jarvislarson6864]

You may find this interesting In race engines with static compression of 13:1 in order to have a solid spark up to 7-8k rpm you need a capacitive discharge ignition amplifier around 135+milli joules output and 50k volt 100:1 turn coils and those figures go up. I just mentioned electronics on the level I race at.

[@ashkananisi5181]

9:40 this coil is iron core and your frequency is around 20khz. you need iron powder or Ferrite core(like the first transformer which you winding wire on it) to see big and powerful spark in 20khz not 300hz. Great presentation. thanks 🙏

[@VixNoelopan]

Due to isolation reasons, the primary of cylindrical coils with a single HV terminal usually is wound atop the secondary. The secondary's beginning is connected to the HV terminal as well as to the core.

[@MadScientist512]

All the traditional coils I pulled apart had a laminated iron core, afaik only the new oil-less coils actually use ferrite cores. Also, coils can handle way more than 20-40kv internally, as amply shown by putting transparent PVC pipe and Vaseline over the central HV posts, and using a light dimmer/motor speed controller and HV capacitor in series with a coil to pulse it with 320 volts from the mains supply gets about 60-100kv from a single coil.

[@vidxs]

Your a madman, here I thought running a neon sign transformer through a series of HV capacitors into a 3/8" copper pipe primary my secondary coil was a four foot piece of schedule 40 pipe with 1000 turns of magnet wire. Great emf at low amperages. What your talking is something similar to high voltage transmission lines potential or did I miss something?

[@MadScientist512]

@@vidxs a motor controller at 50% running a car coil in series with a capacitor charges/discharges the capacitor into the coil/s every half cycle, creating powerful 100hz spikes at ca 100kv for a good coil. The same circuit can be used with microwave oven transformers to get much higher voltage out of them, and the capacitor conveniently also acts as a changeable ballast; normally people use 3 MOTs to do what this circuit does with one, check my channel for videos with a description and demo of this circuit used with car coils and MOTs for Jacobs' Ladders, etc.

[@mikes9117]

Great video. It also proves why you ground the coil secondary wire instead of just pulling it off. What program are you using for your scope?

[@ernstviljoen1441]

[@WXSTANG]

Keeping the system simple, and yielding a high output spark are even more difficult. High performance ignition systems really is like black magic.

[@troygrant5418]

Wapn Perfo: science, physics, electrical engineering, I understand this. not magic, definitely not black magic, at least not this one...

[@jjnuni7811]

What voltage rating of capacitor do you use for the relay circuit? Much appreciated, great video!

[@bmw7z]

Hey great job and explanation! I wish you would have gotten the resonance working. In your final deaign, I wondered, what purpose does the 220uH inductor serve? Does it slow amp flow for the circuit? also it looks like the 330uF capacitor might be charging it before it releases? If not, would changing the ground to the other side of it (to charge it when the transistor is on) have a voltage boosting effect?

[@Dragon90815a]

Good for charging super caps? Zener diodes when at 300v then add step down with mov. Finish with a 120v @ 60 hz. loving the schematics

[@chbonnici]

I noticed that in the last circuit the pot is 20K but in the life video is 10K. Also, before you had a 3.3mf cap and after you installed 2 x 330 microfarad electrolytics. What are the 4 grey components on the right side of the board. Sorry for so many questions. I also intend to install another inductor of 220 micro-Henries between the point of the 2N3904 and the 15K resistor to introduce a second earth due the output will be connected to a Tesla coil. Do you think it will be OK? If you can find time to answer I deeply appreciated. People like you make a difference. God bless you and thank again.

[@dsauce8780]

I’ve messed with a lot of hv lab supplies. A lot of them that rely on ferrite core high frequency transformers actually run a constant voltage to the center tap of the primary and alternately ground the ends. Just some food fer thought.

[@kensmith5694]

I destroyed an ignition coil in much the same way many years ago. Basically my circuit was a capacitor discharge ignition system. Without the load (spark gap) connected, it very quickly made a track like the one you got. I also got the resonant design to work but it too was at the cost of a coil. The trick on that was to find the resonance of the high voltage side and tune the primary to match.

[@bmw7z]

So you're saying to pulse the Primary at the resonance frequency of the secondary?

[@kensmith5694]

@@bmw7z Yes the drive on the primary can be pulsed at the resonance of the secondary. You can make this happen automatically by how you design your oscillator for the primary side. You can do even better with a capacitor on the primary side. Basically if you drive the primary with a weak signal and sweep the frequency you can see the impedance drop when the secondary resonates and starts taking away energy. It won't drop to zero because there is some leakage inductance and some resistance. That is the load your driver is working into.

[@timgrant8729]

Love this video! Now im gonna go shock myself real good! Thanks! 😊

[@electronictim007]

Incredible video!! I do enjoy learning things! Is a schematic of the Moffett circuit available? Thx

[@abbiebeast]

At time 5:00 what are the PNs for the 1uF Cap and SPST RELAY use also there is a 3rd component is it a Switch?

[@jihellechat1785]

interesting and very well explained. Congrats !

[@GPT-n-Me]

I'm having excellent results with a ZVS induction driver commonly used for flyback transformers. It required a capacitor across the primary, but doesn't even get warm and makes big arcs @ 6.8khz.

[@nlo114]

This is the seed of an idea that gives my MIG welder an HF start function for use as a TIG welder... Cheap and reliable is what I want! 🤪

[@empyreansentinel3434]

I wired up a relay coil with a 1uF cap in parallel with NO contacts as shown in your schematic. Contacts buzzed, then glowed red then stuck from melted contacts. Do you think a resistor in series with the NO contacts would help?

[@Jamebonds1]

Nice!That is awesome project!

[@beforebefore]

Where did you get the idea of using diodes across the switching transistor as a means of over-voltage protection? Using the revsrse breakdown voltage of a silicone diode is just going to cause it to fail... the inky thing those will do is protect against Hugh reverse voltage... just like the body diode.

[@gurudattapanda]

And we got a whole spectrum Jammer. Someone can show the Spectrum analyser and the noise level at different frequencies.. That should be enough to put a resonant antenna at frequency range you want to jam.. and it might work.. Jack's ladder will work, not sure if this configuration can be effective.

[@Acidshok]

I know this is an old video, but I would be really interested in finding out if this circuit could actually do fractal burning on wood.

[@maizlandart2798]

Hi, what is the voltage value of each capacitor?

[@jefferykaighin7039]

Love your knowledge Brother, Thank You!

[@victoryfirst2878]

Could making an inductive spike machine increase the efficiency of somehow increasing the output of the initial amperage HP ??

[@cosmicyoke]

For the first solid-state driver why cant you just use the spark gap in parallel to the "primary" (since its an autotransformer), and add HV diodes?

[@ratatouille941]

Will you tell me what kind of application are you using in order to see virtually how all components behave?

[@ecash00]

Grounding mat under the welcome mat, and this attached inside to the door knob?

[@skfalpink123]

Love the reference to "Look Around You"

[@leyasep5919]

Great explanations, thanks !

[@hubercats]

Awesome video. Thanks!

[@electroautoinc6075]

10:02 you made my night !😅

[@delbandung4801]

Thanks fòr upload this video. Good explanation. What is the outpùt frequency at ignition coil output? Thanks

[@sudeshbhar1117]

Please advise why you have used 2.2 uH inductor and capacitor of 3.3mF. I am a bit confused

[@tacotimeracing6638]

This was awesome! Nuff said..

[@NorthPoleJeff]

I guess that there is something that I don't understand. The MUR120G's seem like they would have to be Zener diodes or they would basically short out your FET. Am I missing something?

[@farmvids8385]

I have a need for a device that will create a snap spark that will burn an approx 1/4 inch hole in clear shrink film every few inches as it travels by at 15 inches per second. A standard GM LS ignition coil is prefect except it does not have nearly enough power to do this. I am contemplating using several of these ignition coils in parallel with each coil output likely running its output through a 30kv diode to the probe that fires the arc through the film. The diode would be to stop any back feed through the coils. What are you thoughts of this method to create a snap spark device with readily available parts with significantly more power than one ignition coil.

[@thephilosopher13]

In case you need to know, for future tom foolery, high performance automotive coils can hit 65k+ 😬 they hurt in case you’re wondering.

[@PyroPupX36]

Would there be any chance you could supply a parts list for this circuit? I really would like to build it for a student project at Embry-Riddle where I work and the schematic seems insufficient to purchase the correct parts? Very much appreciated !

[@AnalogDude_]

4:15 Never thought of this usage of the Falstad. i use the voltage controlled switches.

[@jasonchristian6057]

What software was you using to do the layouts/simulations with? Thanks!

[@ohmedarick1]

Hi Did you find out what software he is using? let me know Thank you

[@yelectric1893]

Java circuit simulator. Runs on a website. No license, no downloads. It’s amazing. Does digital, so many crazy things . Really just plain amazing

[@chance2029]

4:42 is this why headphones and speakers pop when plugged in/unplugged?

[@BackYardScience2000]

Can this be used to make Lichtenberg figures of any kind? My son, who was in 8th grade at the time, was tasked with making Lichtenberg figures in wood and acrylic as a large part of his grade. The teacher seems to not understand just how dangerous doing that can be. So, I am trying to do it myself so that he can have some Lichtenberg figures as it broke his heart more that we couldn't do it in time for his project. I'm still trying to figure out how we can do it and do it safely. This seems much safer than using microwave transformers, which I refuse to do for now until I can learn more about them and get more experience with them to make using one as safe as possible. Any help letting me know if this would work or not would be much appreciated.

[@dsd5586]

would love to see a how to video making the circuit/s especially the simple relay one

[@francescotrevisan4453]

I built your circuit, the one with the IGBT, with a little difficulty because I know very little about electronics. I am using it at 12V, not daring to increase the voltage. Could anyone tell me what the maximum safe voltage could be? I am using a heatsink and fan. Greatly appreciate help.