Thread: Heat

How do you think space heaters work?

edit: Or a toaster, for that matter

i think an arc welder is a good example of how you can generate very high temperatures w/ electricity.

What are you planning on using this for?

Anyway, Yes, this is quite possible. Not that I know of anyways to do this. Possibly hook the generator up to a metal coil? I don't know, my days of experiementing are gone. After an incident with the police. It included me and my friend making a bomb, we poured gasoline down a birdbath and put burnt tissues down it, the whole thing made a huge fireball. My friends shirt caught on fire, it was a big mess. But no serious injuries. Then the police showed up, it was nuts. So I dont do this kind of stuff anymore. So if you are planning on using this heating thing for something do it in a big field, not the backyard.

just connect positive to negative

Originally Posted by MadCow257

The reason I can't create something like a toaster is because I can't run the electricity through a metal as the temperatures I'm trying to achieve would end up melting the metal and creating a big mess.

Good idea, I'll see if I can find any schematics on how they work.

It's easy. Your generator will probably put out 120V RMS 60Hz AC at high amperage (assuming a generator for a US home or business; in Europe it would be 50Hz and Idon'tknowhowmany volts). You'll need to stick a transformer in the circuit to step the voltage up to a very high number. An increase in voltage comes, of course, at a decrease in amperage. Anyway, you'll also want a spark gap in the circuit ... I'll leave sizing the spark gap up to you. (If you don't know, a spark gap is simply a place where there is a break in the wire, with an insulator (usually air) in between the two ends)). Dry air has a rather high dialectric constant, so count on needing about 3 million volts per meter to achieve a breakdown (obviously, don't use a spark gap of a meter). Make your estimates for how much voltage you'll need to jump the spark gap, and then aim at a voltage a little higher, based on an engineering margin of error and the efficiency of your transformer. I'd strongly advise sticking some resistance in series with all of this as well, as a safety measure. A fuse is also a must if you don't want to accidentally ruin your generator and potentially (quite likely given the nature of your question) yourself. Size the fuse based on the amperage you expect in the circuit; if it gets out of hand, you want it to die as quickly as possible. All of the components I've mentioned should be wired in series. You're probably going to end up hurting yourself., so I take no responsibility for anything stupid you do, or any damage you do to your equipment, yourself or others. Please be careful; electricity is very dangerous if you don't know what you're doing, and surprisingly small amounts can be deadly.

That said, I'm studying Electrical Engineering and Physics at MTU, so my advice on building your death-ray or whatever isn't completely unfounded.