Ppt

9 VOLTS OF PAIN! (MARX GENERATOR)

Alvin TungCeasar Hurtado

What is a Marx Generator?

Voltage Multiplier Cockroft-Walton

generator-Constant VDC

Stage Multiplier High Pulse Voltage

Relevant Equations:

V(out) = n(Vin)

Where n is the number of stages

Applications

Ignitions High Voltage Insulation

Test Large Scale Generators

are used in the Aerospace Industry to examine what Lightning pulses do to outer skin of Jet Aircraft and Passenger Planes.

Building something dangerous due to overall boredom.

Supplies

-1 Ballast Resister (pulse timer) = 6.8MΩ (2 Watt)

-30 1MΩ (0.5 Watt) Resistors

-16 1nF (3,000 volt) Capacitors

-1 $7 Electric Flyswatter from Walmart (2.75kV)

-1 9V DC Battery (Duracell is a good brand)

-Alligator Clips-Patience

Problems

We had trouble with finding an appropriate high-voltage power supply

There was a point where only about half the stages would spark

Solutions

Instead of attempting the high voltage transformer, we used a high voltage, low current transformer from a fly swatter

When we couldn’t get sparks all throughout the generator, we tried tweaking the spark gaps, replacing components, etc.

Replacing the battery did the trick!

Expectations

We wanted a 1 cm spark (roughly 30 kV)

We wanted our experimental value to be consistent with the theoretical value

We wanted all spark gaps in every stage to light up

Results

Our transformer output was measured at 1,780 V

At 16 stages, we achieved 1 cm of sparks 16 stages X 1,780 V = 28,480 V The experimental result was well within

theoretical bounds (30,000 V)

DEMO!