I thought this was cool. [56k warning]

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bensonelectric

bensonelectric

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What would you do with one 1/3hp 208v 3-phase motor, one VFD, a chunk of aluminum, some coper-clad fiberglass, and a 12,000 volt neon transformer?

Well this is what my friend built:

sparks017lx.jpg


I'll post some dark shots tommorow.
 
The picture is of a spinning 1/4" PCB material, chemically etched so that there is only a ring along the outermost edge of the circle. This ring has several copper blades attached to create some air movement. This is then attached to a 1/3hp 208V motor via an aluminum hub (that I actually machined). The hub touches only the bare fiberglass part of the disk to isolate the HV from the rest of the system. The motor is speed controlled by a Telemecanique Altivar 11 variable frequency drive.

The back of the disk has a slip joint, which is then attached to one side of the 12,000 volt neon sign transformer, and a copper wire going around the disk is attached to the other poll of the transformer.

When the disk spins, and you apply power to the line side of the transformer, you get the pictured result.

Here is another picture of it working:
http://img363.imageshack.us/img363/1280/sparks031ou.jpg

I would have some more pictures but the guy who built it took it apart to re-mount it on a better base, and work on the Plexiglas cover. When it gets reassembled I will take some pictures of the whole thing assembled.
 
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