The thing my mom bought for me at Spencer's gifts when I was 10 that inspired a lifelong passion for not only science but just finding out how things work. 👍👍👍👍👍

Can we talk about that absolutely savage Parliament t-shirt?

over 20 years ago I had a good friend who ran a magic shop, he had ordered one custom made from USA that was 24" in diameter as a display piece for his store.. but he passed away soon after it arrived and never got to unpacking it.. his wife thought I should have it.. and I still do. It was made by a company that made custom props for magicians.

I wish the "reverse screw method" was taught to everyone, everywhere. I happened to develop it by accident during my young teens and I've not stripped any of the thousands of screws I've worked since. Kudos to you for promoting it.

Fantastic! These plasma balls are not completely harmless. Many years ago, both tweeters on my hi-fi system burned out because I played something close to them with my plasma ball. The high frequency high voltage from the plasma ball managed to get into the old amplifier and speakers. (Obviously the amplifier didn't have a good high frequency cutoff filter.) I didn't hear anything, the tweeters just overheated.

You looked like a little girl at Christmas :) (Props on the Parliament shirt) Always fun and interesting things going on at Franlab!

"bahbabababaditdababababa... Ok, well, I guess were gonna break all those rules..." Crackin me up!

I remember seeing one of these when I was like 7 in a RadioShack and being completely obsessed with it. I couldn't stop talking about it to my parent's (I was obsessed with all things science as a kid...still am!). Even though my parents didn't have a lot of money, they somehow managed to get me one for Christmas. Provided many, many years of joy. I still have it, but the gas seems to have mostly diffused out of it.

My entire interest in electronics was sparked (pun intended) by visiting "gadget stores" all through the 90s. Lots of amazing LED doohickeys and of course, the most common feature were the plasma lamps. 31 years on this planet and I somehow still don't own one so I'm jealous; I'll have to fix that soon! Getting to watch someone else experience the wonder of unboxing and looking at one of these reignited my love for them! Thanks Fran! Genuinely awesome, as always!

Thanks for sharing this with the audience,Every time I visit the science museums locally I'm always fascinated with the plasma balls and more plasma items,I'm a big kid when it comes to things like this.

my mom got e one when i was in midschool. im sure it was over a undred back then.. its a little dimmer now, but still works. probably 30 years or so nearly constantly on.

Staple at Radio Shack in late 80s/early 90s. Fun stuff.

I just found this exact model at a second hand store last week (sans power cord), and I've been tempted to take it apart. Thanks for the walkthrough!

Best reaction video to date! Love the way you enjoy it! And just as i was wondering how i could generate some nice high freqency for a project i have in mind.. but i could never dismantle one of those now that i know the joy they bring!

I just got the urge to listen to an audio book read by Fran 🎶 📖

I am going to plug in my Illumastorm Jr. today for the first time in honor of this video. I've had it since the 1990's when it went on clearance but have never found a place for it.

Hi Fran I have an almost identical one which has been running for about 17 years now. Was stored in a damp garage for 5-6 years and still works just fine. Tried running on a 15v linear DC to give it a bit of a boost!

I have a smaller version of this one. I'm looking at it now. It's been continuously running for over 30 years. YAY, Science!

I had one in my living room operating continuously for about 15 years and as far as I know it still works fine, I have it in storage. They are great decor/mood items. Cats enjoy them too. And yes, you don't even need ground, just a metal object sitting on top of the globe is enough to generate a spark and a shock when you touch it

Plasma balls, turning adults into big kids since 1894.

A plasma ball was the first gift my wife bought me and it still works! Back in 1988 at Spencers Gift in the mall. My wife saw me mesmerized by one of those plasma balls. (Than again anything shiny fascinated me as a young adult - LOL) I've grown since then. I'll always cherish it. Thanks for tearing one down so I didn't have to!

12:50 “All together now!” Thank you, The Beatles have never been forgotten! I know this song from the Yellow Submarin movie, I love it. And I've had a similar plasma ball for 30 years, also that big, and it's still working. Of course I opened it too! The high-voltage transformer is different, round and with a ferrite core like it used to be in tube televisions. And I think without SMDs. Fran is inspiring, now I'm even more excited about my plasma flashes.

Very cool! My friend had one when we were kids, but his was much smaller, so this one is very impressive, especially for $40!

Big props for that Mothership Connection tshirt, Fran!

As an enormous fan of anything 80's... I am a huge fan of plasma balls... and Fran! Perfect Saturday evening stuff. Please keep doing what you do.

You are such a dork, and I love watching you enjoy your work. Thank you, and keep it up!

Fran, if you haven't visited the Theater of Electricity at the Boston Museum of Science you should definitely plan a trip. Besides having a giant plasma globe, they also have Tesla coils and the world's largest Van de Graaff generator, which are all demonstrated in live displays daily.

I had one of the little USB desk ones for a while. The thing that started to fail on that was the connection between the high voltage supply wire and the center of the globe. I think there must have been some arcing or or maybe mechanical forces from moving it or the vibration that wore the conductive coating off the glass. It was just the bare end of the wire touching the glass same as this one.

That was fun! As a teenie I mostly couldn‘t hold back not opening all kind of devices to look onside. Just my fathers things I didn‘t dare- I was scared getting beat the cr*p out, if damaged.😅

That was fun. I got the feeling you were enjoying it so much that you didn't really want to risk breaking it by taking it apart. There was a corresponding moment of relief when it sprang back to life! You must have a neon tester in your kit, or maybe even some loose neon bulbs. See how far from the globe you can get them to light! I worry about my CMOS components when I have mine on! :-)

Years ago, Spencer's sold mini versions of that, which I put on each side of a Halloween prop chair that I built for an execution electric chair, that with stome relays and timers synchronized to a custom audio that cut off the room lights and started the bulbs up. Then all the lights off and the victim/ actor could disappear with a doppler scream effect & start up a fog machine. Great fun!

I love these, I used to have a big one till my niece broke it. I have a small USB powered one I play with sometimes. Lighting flouro tubes with it is fun. You might find some LEDs will light up from it too. Seems the phosphor is somehow excited by the high voltage. I believe the colours are due to neon and argon gases.

NICE!! Love the Mothership Connection shirt!

friends and I had a cool one..it had an intensity knob. you could crank it down until only the spots you touched produced the tendrils. it was pretty much always on and it lasted for years

we used to have a cylindrical one, about half a meter high, it even had an "interactive" mode where it would turn on based on sound. it looked really good, i always wondered how precise the tolerances need to be to prevent the 'wigglies' from bunching up on one place.

I have one the same size as this and it had 3 position switch which made it react to sound, and it also had a half glove plastic back on it to show off the display inside similar to what you did at the beginning. I also have a small one and it has a Neon ring around the base of the tube, havent used it in years it was green from memory.

Reverse screw method is awesome fran, thanks for telling me it as it has saved me a bunch. :)

The very 1st plasma balls I ever saw was back in the early '80s at an art exhibit. It was quite large, about 18-24" in diameter. And cost around $2700. It's amazing how cheap (low cost) and small these plasma balls are today.

Back in the '70s I met a guy near Madison WI, and he built very large Tesla coils. Those things were awesome!!!!

I love Plasma Balls! Cool video Fran!

It's so wonderful that it was much better than you expected! And now..........I have to get one.

I have a 30+ year old Realistic (Radio Shack) hippie-ball still working fine. Never taken it apart but there are some differences to Fran's. Unit is pretty heavy for it's size, no power adapter, straight AC input (117V 30W says the sticker) power cord is a heavier gauge than my refrigerator. Throws out a bunch of IR for sure. Any IR controlled device in the same room will wig-out when it is on. Fun for the whole family!

Radio Shack had one that also could be set to react to sound. I still have this one and it is over 30 years old.

I have one shaped like a bong (bigger ball at the bottom and a pipe that goes up a couple feet). Came from sharper image couple decades ago, still works.

I just had a crazy idea, /question , has anyone recorded one of these with a slo-motion camera? Especially on start-up!

I had one from I think The Sharper Image when I was a kid. It was sold at one of our numerous family garage sales over the years after I got bored with it and wasn't using it any more. I wish I still had it!

I liked it when they used this as a prop in the movie My Science Project.

Always gotta do the reverse screw method! I teach it to everybody I can, thanks to Fran :)

♥️♥️♥️ thanks, @franblanche!

I have one from Radio Shack I bought about 40 yrs ago and it still works but there is one thing you HAVE to do when not using it, unplug it from the wall socket, for some reason the switch does not isolate the circuit board from mains voltage, so as long as it is plugged in to the source it has a voltage on the board which will kill it after a few months if left plugged into the wall socket. I also have the dome shaped one and the flat plate one with the glass beads in it, When the mood strikes, I plug them all in and enjoy the fun for a couple of hours..

that close up of of the plasma ball made my brain go, "x-files, remember x-files, it was in the opening, you should rewatch that", me going "no, we just rewatch Twin Peaks and that is only 48 episodes, x-files was 218"

If you wrap in aluminum foil then put your hand on it . Totally different result : )

It wouldn't be a real Fran-video without the use of a screwdriver ;-). I am very excited when people live out their play instinct!

One could construct a nice Jug Head hat out of that dome protector !

Poor college student back in the late 80s, saved up my minimum wage monies for one of those called "Eye of the Storm." Loved it's effects, made for great dorm fun, with some good tunes...just had to make sure not to break the glass.

I rember one of these in a movie in the 80's , it was part of a spaceship/timeship, it had to be before 88, when I saw it anyway, on HBO, when HBO was one channel, 17 I think!

Y'all remember when radio shack had those illumi storm lighting plasma toys? Those were so cool

The heat you felt was a rf burn 😃👍and you were correct the frequency changes were from loading the OP lowering the frequency Steve

That's something I've meant to get for years. I could lose weeks playing with that thing! Love me some Parliament!

They are so cool. They also block the use of infra red remotes in the same room.

Fran, mine is called Eye of the Storm and is at least 40yrs old if my memory serves me correctly. It was made in Hong Kong for what that is worth and it is still going strong.

At the top inside of the glass tube/ mini Ball that the fly back wire goes up into. There is metal foil like scowering pad material in it that the wire touches the bunched up foil brillow like ball.

Always use the reverse screw method to minimise crossing threads; however, if anyone is watching their are always comments that I don't know how to tighten a screw - I just don't bother explaining anymore as people think I've made it up as an excuse! Love the videos!

I have a $15 5" plasma ball that I've had for over 9 years...still works fine!

"Well, I guess we're gonna break all of those rules!" 🤣 And we expected nothing less of our Fran! I'm sitting here now wondering what the heck my parents ever did with the one we had in the 80s when I was still in school. I think it did come from Spencer Gifts like someone below said.

"DO NOT OPEN! VERY DANGEROUS!" But here, we put standard phillips head screws in here for you. 😂

Cool shirt. Mothership Connection. I still have and listen to my original piece of vinyl. Ahh, memories.

Now I want to buy a plasma ball !!

" All together now! " Great song, Long Live the Beatles!!

For some reason my first inclination after watching this was to search for "cat and plasma ball" on KZfaq. Worth it!

Do not taunt happy fun ball !

you should try placing a coin on the top of the glass then placing another object close to it will cause the arc to continue outside of the glass. I've done this with my finger a few times, it went black from what looks like carbon deposits / burning

At 8:25: "do not open under any circumstances" ---- but the unit was factory-assembled with ordinary Philip screws and not some kind of special security screw which the average person wouldn't find a screwdriver for in their toolbox or kitchen junk drawer.

We had one of these on a side table for years. It was set to activate with sound so every time this big beast would bark the globe would fill with electric fingers. However, nothing lasts forever. Probably three years later it sorta died. It would only produce tiny little strands of electricity when touched and they were very dim. I am guessing the gas was exhausted. Might get a replacement.

Very cool, thank you.

Have the exact same ball. Always wanted one and could not believe my luck when I found my $200 of fun for $2 at a Red Cross thrift store.

I always wanted one badly as a kid after going to the Boston Museum of Science back in 1980!

2:00 "nails for the win" Pure Fran :·)

So cool. Lovely video.

Everyone should have one of these.

As an animator I heartly approve of this lovely opening titles :D Cheers Fran!

Your shirt my friend, gives me the feels

Once the novelty of your fingers wears out off. Hold a compact fluorescent bulb on the side of it. It’s fascinating.

Wow! They really cheaped out on that board, not even bothering to solder any unnecessary joints. 😂 Unfortunately those balls doesn't last a life time... I hade one go dimmer and dimmer after a year or so of heavy use. But at least the electronics didn't quit and I still keep it for various high voltage experiments. 😊

I have a plasma ball that I bought at a garage sale for $5. I used it about once a month for a few hours at a time and it's lasted for five years now.

Got a place that gives me free electronics. Mostly monitors, TVs, printers, DVD players and stuff like that. Had one of these in my bin today, and another monitor. I can depend on you to open things up so I can see what's in my stuff.

I have a smaller one I got at Wally World in the Halloween seasonal section. It's held up very well. It's at least 10 years old. Watching a cat interact with it is funny. So far, no shocks from mine.

As someone who works on computers, the Fran Blanche reverse-screw method has changed my life

"A couple hudred dollars of fun for forty dollars!" . So good!

I just bought the same one and love it

I also really wanted one of these as a kid.

i have one that is over thirty years old and it works great...

I loved your enjoyment of this, it realy made me smile.

Now you can build a Borg regeneration pod!

I got this identical one btw (at least its the same lookin circuit board, glass, and base, different box) I had it on for 3-4yrs strait before it started dying by losing HV, which I think is the capacitor building up resistance and needs replacement. One of those 5 min. projects you put off forever. While you got it workin, you can light up LED lights by touching the base to the glass, or nearby, CFL's light up near it, I made a simple coil attached to a LED to see how far away I could get it before the light turned off, it messes with cell phones nearby too. I wondered about making an unbalanced coil antenna with a diode up to a sheet of aluminum to see what kind of static charge I could build up on it but got distracted with something else shiny.

Beautiful!

"...That's a good hat". I love the way you think Fran. xx

Nice I had one of those about 20 years ago. It did crap out on me after a year or two though. Did you take a fluorescent tube in your one hand and touched the ball with the other yet?

It originally cost $199.00. My gf gave me one for an anniversary present just because I touched it when we were in Spencer's one day. That made her think that I wanted one. I didn't...I made her return it and get her $$$ back !!! At $40 it might be worth the little bit of entertainment that it provides. Mine had two slide adjustable settings

If you limit the current, you can reduce the number of streamers. You can even cut it down to the point where it can only sustain one streamer, and that single streamer is still capable of dimly lighting a fluorescent tube.