Inside a very British ioniser. (And how they fell out of favour.)

I've always loved the slightly mystical technology of ionisers. When I was a kid I asked for one for Christmas and had it open within hours.
When you turn an ioniser on it makes virtually no noise - just a faint hiss from the needles. There are no flashing lights and nothing moves. Maybe this is why the marketing of these things got a bit too creative. People were told that if they got one, their home would feel like a waterfall in the middle of a forest, and they would feel refreshed and energised by the "vitamins of the air".
The whole marketing blurb has permanently contaminated the word "ioniser" and it's now used to advertise all manner of devices which are absolutely not ionisers. Notably the rathed destructive ozone generators. (Real ionisers only create a tiny amount of ozone.)
I genuinely believe that ionisers do a good job of precipitating microscopic particles out of the air. The downside being that they do so indiscriminately onto every surface in a room, and make a bit of a mess as they do so. They have been shown to prevent cross infection in schools and hospitals, and it makes me wonder if a good technology has fallen out of favour without proper scientific evaluation.
Here's a link to the website with that picture of a huge (but non-functional) Chizhevsky Chandelier that is a tribute to the work of Alexander Chizhevsky's research into ionisation.
www.kp40.ru/news/accomp/62663/
A very intriguing Google image search for Люстра Чижевского (Chizhevsky's chandelier):-
www.google.com/search?q=%D0%9...
I've got an urge to make a big Chizhevsky's chandelier type thing now. Not such a great idea in a low ceiling bungalow.
If you enjoy these videos you can help support the channel with a dollar for coffee, cookies and random gadgets for disassembly at:-
www.bigclive.com/coffee.htm
This also keeps the channel independent of KZbin's advertising algorithms allowing it to be a bit more dangerous and naughty.

[@richardhallyburton]

I like the way you didn't clean a windowsill for several years in order to make an 18 minute video. That's dedication.

[@xenonram]

I picture Clive's house with hundreds of fairy lights, solar lights, disco lights, and ionizers dispersed throughout.

[@jabberwock95]

"I've made several ionizers before"

[@dj_paultuk7052]

Back in the 80's when i was a wee lad / teenager living at home with my parents, i had one of these in my bedroom that i brought myself.

[@restojon1]

My dear old Mum used to swear by Ionisers. I just cleared out her flat after she passed away and I found loads of them, I saved one partly because it was a nostalgic thing and partly because the design of the one I saved was all funky shaped.

[@niallwildwoode7373]

I built one of these in the late 70s from plans in something like Practical Electronics mag. It never had a casing, and I was amazed at how as you moved your hand closer to the discharge needle tip, it'd make a kind of screeching sound. There was a heck of a breeze that came off it too.

[@cheerfultrout4381]

I've seen some HEPA air purifiers with ionizers built in, probably where you'll see them most often these days, get the air clean two different ways at the same time (plus it confines the particle buildup into the internal filters which you're supposed to replace regularly anyways, makes it easy to deal with)

[@TheGramophoneGirl]

We had one in a pub I worked in in the late 80s and it used to work really well at clearing cigarette smoke. I wonder why they no longer sell ionisers as I do remember they really did seem to work.

[@GregBakker]

Excellent discussion, have always wondered about these, thank-you.

[@kommanderoffice5392]

The exhaust gases on factories are sometimes filtered by using gigantic high voltage electrodes. The dust sticks to the electrodes, which are automatically hit by hammer, to make the dust fall down into a bucket below the electrodes.

[@rustyaxelrod]

In the US (and probably elsewhere) there are air cleaners with a fan, air is brought in the front where it meets a conventional filter, then a charcoal filter. Behind that are charged plates and small wires with insulated stand offs that emit a crackle sound when the charged dust particles are zapped. After that is a ion probe with the clean air exhausted out the back and upward. The whole device is about the size of a cassette deck from the 1980’s. The filters can be removed as a unit and placed in the dishwasher. Years ago, when my daughter was young we had two of these in the house for her asthma. They got dirty quite quickly but the did emit that “after a rain shower” smell. These units were suggested by her Dr., bought from a medical supply retailer and were in service for more than thirteen years. They were still working when I passed them on to someone with a need and aside from replacing the fiber and carbon filters never needed repair.

[@reburdoc4647]

Having a neighbor with a smelly chimney I used to draw air into the house past an ionizer through a large towel used as the filter and the towel was filthy when it's summer wash came around. Another chap I knew used to stand his ionizer on a carpet tile and change tile yearly. Best to clean needles points with a match stick it perks them up.

[@nathanlucas6465]

When I was a kid I had an ionizer in my bedroom. My parents got it either from betaware or kleeneze, I forget which. It worked really well, and pulled loads of dust from the air, covering the top of the cupboard it sat on.

[@6F6G]

I remember ionizer adverts from decades ago. They said that your room would need redecorating every year because of increased dust deposits. The ionizers that came with a slightly positive charged mat didn't work well because the effectiveness was reduced.

[@jameslaine2472]

When I was young, I had a 120V Sears air cleaner which had a removable frame of flat plates, on which dust would collect and I'd need to remove and wash it regularly. It was by far the best air filter I have ever used in my entire life. Watching this video, I now realise that it was probably an Ion generator with a positively charged frame of collection plates. I wish I still had that, or could buy another one today. All I see now are either only ion generators, or units with physical filters that need constant replacement ($$). That old washable dust-collecting frame was way more cost effective than replacing filters.

[@Aco747lyte]

Super fun watching you tinker with these ionisers. Loved it.

[@W4BIN]

Tygon (clear vinyl) tubing deteriorates when the "binders" evaporate and a stinky sticky residue covers it and anything that touches it. Like all plastics, it is only good temporary. Ron W4BIN

[@Pyrolonn]

I remember I had one that came with an ionoscope so you cold detect the ions...and it worked! You could also get minor shocks if you listened to headphones close to the ion source. I had another one that was 12 volts for the car. It had little needles that had a purple glow. It created smelly ozone so I retired it to the up north cabin. I don't currently use one though.

[@MrBobWareham]

I made one many years ago when I was 20 I am now 73 and it worked very well the circuit was in amateur radio mag with a free PCB the same as the one in the video but the board was smaller but with the same layout caps and diodes I remember the table I had it on ended up covered in dust so thanks for the memory Bob in the UK

[@T2D.SteveArcs]

Hi Clive love these little look at older tech vids .. i remember building a high voltage smoke precipitator (filter) when I was a little kid, it was my first HV projects, I got zapped a couple of times of course but that just added to the experience lol