Water Sparkplug

[gmeast]

Pf24-10

Hi Greg

New here.

Looking at the pdf on the transformer tells me that it is a PF24-24, not PF24-10. PF24-24 gives 24VAC. PF24-10 gives 10VAC (Series connection).
I might be reading it wrong , if so correct me!
Mike

Hi Mike,
PF24-10 gives 10 VAC with a series connection on the secondary, parallel connection on the primary. Secondary wired with center tap as the Input and primary wired parallel as the Output for this thing

Greg

http://home.pacbell.net/gmeast/VW/PF24series.pdf

[Kinetix]

Xack, those transistors (Q1 and Q2) have to do two jobs:
- oscillate
- handle a current that varies between 65mA (as in the original setup, with 220 Ohm resistor) and 288mA (as in Greg's setup, with 50 Ohm resistor). I assumed that the circuit is fed with 14.4V from a full charged car battery.
So, for this purpose, you may use any transistor that can both oscillate and handle up to at least 500mA.
I don't think they will switch faster, as this probably depends on the transistor's type also. I made that suggestion in order to help those of you that do not find the parts specified and would like to replace it with something else.
Best wishes.

[Jetijs]

Hi all.
I today I completed the oscillator circuit. Here is a picture:


It oscillates at about 2KHz. I used MJL21194 transistors as power transistrs, because it is easier to glue a heatsink on them At first I used 56 Ohm base resistors. This made the circuit consume 600mA at 13V in without any load. It was capable of lighting up a 25w light bulb at full brightness, but a 40w bulb light up only at about 80% brightness. So I reduced the base resistance to 41 Ohms. This made the 40w light bulb to light up at full brightness and a 75W bulb to about 60-70% of full brightness. So I guess that this setup can safely power loads up to 50w without loosing voltage. The reduced base resistance did increase the no-load current consumption to 750mA, but that is not a big problem. Now I need to run some load tests for longer periods of time to see if the heatsink can handle the transistor heat, I think that it should handle the heat, but if not, I can always attach a small fan to cool them. Rectified output voltage is 375V at 13V input. I guess that I don;t even need a voltage doubler. I might not even need a storage cap, because the oscillation frequency is high enough
Great simple circuit
Edit: The UPS transformer has three wires on the output - red, yellow and black. I got 375V out from the red and black wire, but then I tried the black and the yellow wire and got 420V This is great

Thanks,
Jetijs

[Kinetix]

Great job, Jetijs!
You have a really big transformer there, mate!

Would you like to try that little trick that I suggested to Greg also? It's about connecting a big "storage" capacitor between the center tap of the primary and ground. Start with, let's say 100uF/25V and increase the value to maybe 2200uF. Each time measure the energy consumption versus the generated energy. Stop when you get the best ratio.
I have seen this setup in a few different oscillators and it seem to improve efficiency.
Best wishes.

[Jetijs]

will try this
So far I have ran a test with 40W light bulb on the output and the transistors get only really warm, but not hot. I can easily hold my finger on them. Than means that there might even be no need for a fan The base resistors get really hot though, I am using 2w resistors. Does someone know what max temperatures can these common resistors handle?

[Kinetix]

I can't wait the results!
Those resistors dissipates at least 4Watts. Yours are way too small, if rated at 2W and will blow up sooner or later... Try at least 5-10W each.
All the best.

[Jetijs]

Thanks Kinetix
I will do the cap tests tomorrow, because my power supply is now in use. And I will see what I can combine with the resistors I have to get the power rating to 5W

[gmeast]

Oscillator

Hi everyone,

Nice job on the oscillator Jetijs. I got the same power characteristics you did. I am now transferring the prototype to the circuit board (actually just perf board).

Thanks everyone for chiming in on this effort. This oscillator may also come in handy for other projects as well.

Still working on my Bug's oil cooler breakage fix. Can't wait to put the oscillator to work when I resume testing.

Peace,

Greg

[pmonk]

Oscillator

Jetijs,

What kind of transformer is that and where did you get it?

Thanks,
Phil

[Jetijs]

Phil,
I am using a transformer form an old UPS, like this:

[gmeast]

oscillator

Hi everyone,

Just posting the oscillator / inverter on the board.

Thanks all for your participation. This thing is quite efficient given the type of circuit and components.

Thanks again pmonk for posting this to begin with.

Peace,

Greg

New and better Oscillator without cooling - free space for two fans for the transformer & 3055 transistors

[Dingus]

Where did arron's video go? It says it was removed due to terms of use violation.

[Aaron]

my vids

Hi Dingus,

Here is the new video account if my vids are what you're referring to:
YouTube - energeticforum's Channel

There are still some that I haven't put back up but will as I come across them.

[Aaron]

A. K. Oppenheim | Plasma Ignition

URL=http://imageshack.us][/url]
By maxcThis is from september of 1979. Professor A. K. Oppenheim was working on the plasma jet plug. But no details on how to build it.

Thanks for posting that Maxc - do you have the whole article?

I found this reference:

"A development that is still in the experimental stages is the plasma-jet ignition developed by Professor A. K. Oppenheim at the University of California at Berkeley which is described in the September 1979 issue of Popular Science beginning at page 74.

The plasma-jet ignition utilizes an ionized plasma which is injected into the combustion chamber. Initially, the ion cloud penetrates into the chamber and expands. As it expands very little combustion occurs. When the ion cloud has expanded sufficiently, combustion proceeds rapidly from many ignition points rather than from a single spark because the plasma comprises hot, highly charged particles. In this manner, almost the entire charge is ignited and burns smoothly.

There is no flame front which propagates from a single spark. Thus, the plasma-jet ignition permits the use of lower octane fuels and much leaner mixtures of fuel and air than internal combustion engines using conventional spark plug ignition. However, the plasma-jet ignition is not yet commercially feasible for operating an engine.

In the same article of the September 1979 issue of Popular Science, another recent development is described which is called the controlled-combustion system. Combustion is initiated in this system by simultaneous fuel injection and spark ignition.



By injecting the fuel into the vicinity of the spark, the air within the combustion chamber is caused to swirl about the chamber. The products of combustion, the flame front, and the combustible mixture are swept downstream and away from the spark by the air swirl. In this manner, cylinder pressure builds at a controlled rate.



The spark is discontinued, but fuel injection continues to feed the swirling flame front until the maximum power is reached. The fuel injection is then discontinued and the intensity of the flame front fades, but combustion continues until all of the fuel is consumed. This system has no octane requirements and operates efficiently and cleanly on a leaner fuel/air mixture than conventional spark plug ignited internal combustion engines require."


That reference was from this patent..this patent is NOT about the one in the magazine but a patent that references it:
Amplified radiation igniter system and method for igniting fuel in an internal combustion engine - Patent 4314530
and
Pre-combustion system for internal combustion engines - Patent 4319552


References Oppenheim:
Plasma arc ignition system - Patent 5568801


Seems like a lot of plasma references to this person.
"a. k. Oppenheim" plasma - Google Search

[Kinetix]

Nice work, Greg. Can't you use a drop of SuperGlue to stop that oil leak in the Bug? And you will be able to continue the experiments with plasma. We all wait the results.
Does your Bug have a PCV valve or a calibrated little air hole? If yes, you could use a water bubbler to introduce water vapour through it. On the intake pipe of the bubbler put an adjustable valve so that the bubbler will run with a little vacuum, to get more vapour. The bigger the surface of the bubbler and the smaller the many intake air holes, the more vapour also.
Jetijs, I think it was a good choice to use another type of transistors for Q3-4. In fact, I think that MJL21194 is better than 2N3055. They have the same amperage but MJL21194 has a much higher voltage. And, yes, is easier to mount on a heatsink! There are more possible choices for those two transistors, I think (e.g: BU208, BU508A, BU526A, BUS14, BUX80, etc). Probably any high voltage power transistor will do.
Aaron, nice piece of information. Too bad that we don't have all the details.
Best wishes.