From: "Michael Painter"
Newsgroups: sci.electronics.design
References: <3E185A66.7020204@dplanet.ch>
Subject: Re: High Voltage from car parts. Help me please.
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Date: Sun, 05 Jan 2003 19:28:43 GMT
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NNTP-Posting-Date: Sun, 05 Jan 2003 19:28:43 GMT
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"Rene Tschaggelar" wrote in message
news:3E185A66.7020204@dplanet.ch...
> P!erCer wrote:
> > Hello,
> >
> > I am working on a "lifter" project (details at
> > http://jnaudin.free.fr/html/lifters.htm)
> >
> > First, I tried powering my lifter with a monitor, but burned up some
> > of the components. Then my dad put together my current power source,
> > a 12 volt battery running a distributor that drives a car ignition
> > coil. Unfortunately, my lifter still didn't lift. For weeks, I
> > worked on getting my design lighter. I am under 2 grams now for 36
> > inches of lifting surface, and have *almost* achieved lift. The
> > device skitters a bit across the table, and when suspended from the
> > ceiling moves sideways enthusiastically. Unfortunately, I don't see
> > any way to remove more weight. The foil doesn't even have balsa wood
> > under it anymore, it is supported by its own curve and the tension of
> > the top wires. My dad and I began investigating our power source, and
> > found it might have some issues. Here are a few questions:
> > [snip]
> > C) Any other suggestions for improving this power source?
>
> Almost 20 years ago we tried a similar experiment, different geometry.
> We had a friend working at a high voltage lab who found our tries
> interesting. With capacitors in the region of 1 m^2 we couldn't measure
> any force up to the breakthrough voltage of some 50 to 70kV.
> While we never believed in a measureable effect, we found the
> introduction into the high voltage technology rather interesting.
>
A google search on lifter yields quite a few pertinent hits.
http://pages.prodigy.net/bpool/ seems the only one that is looking at it in
a serious manner. They even mention the power supply and need for a high
voltage and ground wires near the device.