These units were all the rage in the late 70s. I remember my parents having an Amcor model with transformer/multiplier combination. It came with a small 'tester' which was a neon lamp and a small value high voltage capacitor in parallel on a small PCB. You would hold one end about 2-3 inches away from the needles, and the other end between the thumb and forefinger. The charge would build up in the capacitor, reach the neon strike voltage giving a small blink of the neon, discharging the capacitor and so on. I was fascinated by Ionisers, and still am.

I have always assumed that an ioniser was the exact same as an ozone generator. Thanks for the video that helped me reevaluate my misunderstanding.

I good bit of my time as an electrician on submarines was spent cleaning and maintaining the ionizing (electrostatic) precipitators. What a pain!

Like you I was fascinated with Ionisers when I was young, I built a few and brought a commercial unit made by Crusair. While it worked very well, I was forced to stop using it because it covered the walls with the pollution it takes out of the air. A process that takes some time to notice, the clue is the clean vertical strips that develops in the corners of the room. The room corners providing the inverse potential gradient to that of spikes. A second observable effect of having the ioniser on, particularly on a dry day, is that the touch activated light switches trigger randomly on and off as clouds of ioniser air is wafted passed them by movement in the room. I too was concerned by ozone bring generated, as it has an an LD50 at least ten times less than that of hydrogen cyanide.gas. Fortunately my ioniser does not generate very much ozone. ( I have a powerful ozone generated used for cleaning pond water, fully capable of sterilising a whole room. It can actually corroded exposed metal parts if left on too long.) I am not convinced of the advantages of breathing in negative ioniser air, but it does feel fresher than untreated air. The difference maybe attributed to the effective removal of dust, pollen, fungal spores and dirt from the air, all of which act as allergens. So their removal clearly has health benefits to the human immune system. It seemed to me that most of the benefits of using an ioniser can be gained by enclosing it in a plastic box and blowing room air through the box using an equipment fan at the inlet. Fitting an earthed metal grill and dust trap at the outlet cleans the air and reduces the amount of negatively ioniser air that escapes into the room. My experiments suggests the system works reasonable well, to the point that the accmulated dust collected represented a fire hazard. Unfortunately the relative small size of the box and its earthing arrangements does not allow the the charged air to build up in the room in quite the same way as a free standing unit. So the choice seems to be clean air and dirty walls. Static electric dust collection has an advantage over nano or micro air filters in that they do not block and do not use any consumables.

For anyone playing along at home: acupuncture needles can be found on ebay for next to nothing and have an incredibly fine tip. You may want to experiment and invest in a name brand options if you want long lasting tips though - the cheapie batch I purchased (to clean the nozzle of a clogged 3D printer) claimed to be stainless steel but turn out to be highly magnetic...

My grandma had one of the later models of Ionic Breezes that were updated to fix the excess ozone production and it worked really well. She was a heavy smoker and it really did wonders for getting rid of the smoke and the smell. After she passed I used it for when my allergies got to the point the meds stopped working and it worked amazingly. Still have it but haven't used it in ages though.

10:40 Theres a limit to how many stages you can use since there is a lot of voltage drop thru them, depending on what diodes you use. We use them to generate 120 kV for oilfield tools, and about 26-28 stages is the most you can reasonably use, but this depends on the supply impedance and diode resistance.

My favorite use of this type of technology is the ‘electrostatic precipitator’ that uses metal plates and tensioned wires. A fan draws the air through the stack, you have metal plates spaced a couple inches apart with the wires strung between them, the wire is negative and the plate is positive, then there’s another stack of plates that alternate in charge behind this first stack. I prefer these because it contains and traps the dirt in the machine as opposed to just forcing it to settle around the unit for you to clean up later. All you do is remove the ‘collector cell’ as it’s called, and wash it with a mild alkaline cleaner, let dry and reinstall.

As a kid we had one of those pyramid style ionisers (without the crazy mat) Thanks for the nostalgia

We used to have a big version of something like that hanging from the ceiling in the smoking room at work, many years ago. No pyramid design and obviously no paper on top, but a similarly shaped base and mesh. It was designed for removing smoke from the air.

I built an ioniser from a kit here in Australia. Works a treat... Even after 40 years.

When you are a kid and want an air ionizer on christmas haha

Something that sits around, hisses, and makes an awful mess? I had a GF like that once, too.

Years ago, I bought one of the small Ionic Breezes (integrated plug like a night light) and used it very briefly. Visibly and audibly arcing in there made me nervous to leave it unsupervised. As it was plugged in in the bathroom, I was not about to continually monitor it. If I want to try again, it will be something Big Clive approves of.

I had a very old one with a fan and ultraviolet lamps inside, oh the air blowing out smelled so good! I miss that thing!

Awesome video, I always wondered about the practical functioning of these. I actually bought a few ionic breeze devices for my parents, they worked wonderfully to improve the air quality in their house, unfortunately, their pets shed way too much hair and quickly overcame the intakes. Also, I love that bit at 14:45 after counting 21 capacitors "That's odd..." Thanks Clive, we really needed you to tell us that 21 was odd.

"Let's look at this appliance!" *spends more than half the video giving a detailed explanation of what said appliance does prior to teardown* I love you, Clive.

I built one of these for 120V (Bag of 100 caps and bag of 100 diodes from AliExpress was like $5 delivered). The caps and diodes are all soldered together deadbug style (no PCB) in a long rod type form, reinforced with hotmelt glue, and stuffed into a 1/2" PVC pipe for a case. A few resistors (in a bit of vinyl tubing for add'l safety) and tied to the emitter. The emitter was a bit of aluminum flashing cut into a star shape with very sharp points, and it works fine in as much as on dark, dry nights you can see a faint purple glow at the tips and it makes bits of tissue paper fly around from the static buildup. Could likely be better/more efficient but it works! Been meaning to try adding a second electrode like the Dezac just to see how it would perform. Alternatively, I might modify my room filter to make the inner metal mesh of the filter element the opposite electrode, and have the ion generator near the filter unit inlet, so the crap gets caught directly in an air filter with some forced circulation. Hmmm!

"Before christmas was even finished, I had it open." That sounds a lot like me as a kid. I'd play with my toys until I was bored with them, then disassemble them. My dad got mad at me for it, and asked me why I was doing that, and I replied simply "I was bored with it and now I understand how it worked." He was unable to come up with a cogent reply.

I was also fascinated as a kid. I wanted one too - they were in Argos at the time (the beige Mountain Breeze). I just wanted to take it apart and see how it worked.

Very intriguing and interesting video Clive

I know less than nothing about these things but was interested in your story about your workmates adverse reaction. Any time we have had a cheap ionizer at home I get a headache within 5mins. Everyone gets pissed, says Im mad and just looking for attention. VERY interesting - I must check out something like the Mountain Breeze (smoker, asthma and cats so I could do with something!)! Thanks Clive!

Many thanks. I have a similar one without the metal grid base that I bought probably 20 years ago. I will dig it out of the cupboard and get it back into use. It has an orange neon, which I never liked! I reckon these could be designed as part of LED replacement lamps, especially downlighters. Now I know the current is in the order of microamps I can leave mine running continually. I will chop out that neon...

I slit a sheet, a sheet I slit, upon the slitted sheet I sit.

The amcor ionisers came with an indicator. It was a neon bulb that was mounted on a pcb with a capacitor. Similar to the screw drivers but it would flash when held (grounded). Like Mr Clive I persuaded my parents to buy one. I still use it, the carbon fiber thread in low light gives mini static 'bolts' and makes that high pitched static noise when you place a finger near. About 20/25 years on and it's still going. Model Multi 6/8, I'm guessing the highest version has 8 stages of filtration.

Had one when I was young. Recall the needles could make interesting blue glow in the dark. I also recall the mess could be hard to remove.

Those ones in Egypt are obviously broken.....

Speaking of low voltage powered ones, check out the Ioncare GH2151. 40mm muffin fan, tiny UVC lamp, positive spring tensioned corona wire before the negative collection plates, and the carbon fiber bristles also negatively charged, IE electrically in parallel with the plates. Oh and the potted HV supply has an adjustment pot for the output voltage. The HV is current limited to about 50 microamps short circuit, so it just barely pegs an analog multimeter on that range. The one I have was left behind at a rental property.

Im glad you mentioned the lighty up pink Himalayan rock salt lampy thing. My mum bought me one (cost a fair chunk of money) saying the lady in the shop said put it in a room with electronics and it will take away all the headaches and bad feelings caused by said electronic devices. Crap, I said. Its a lump of salt with a light inside it, at best it will slightly dehumidify the room but start melting in the process. So its sat in my kitchen and lo and behold. it has started leaving salty dribble marks down the wooden bit and done sweet FA to anything electrical. Besides the only thing it could do to electronics is have a corrosive effect if it ever got spludged onto them. LOL. 1 - 0 to us electronics enthusiasts against wacko hippy grass munchers.

Awesome video Cliveik

The tape holding the wires that go to the Neon is interesting. Only the tape that is 'exposed' turned brownish.

I have been considering something along these lines to serve a function in a fine dust particle separator. Managed to build a pretty good separator out of random things I had around and a lot of care with measurements. However more fine dust than I like is still finding it's way into my HEPA filter that sits at the tail end of the system. The idea I was thinking of is to use a small box to house an ioniser after depositing into the main dust collection bin, basically sitting in line between bin and vacuum source. Just worried the effect isn't fast enough for the intense air flow needed to serve as proper dust collection.

Thanks! Thumbs up Indiana USA.

Yeah, but the rock salt ones taste good. Go through one every few months.

In the early 60's I read an article in Popular Mechanics or mag like that about ion propelled helicopters of the future. Ever notice those futures never came? So I built one out of aluminum screen and an array of needles. The power supply was external. It never lifted off, but made quite a breeze. Current limiting resistors, we don't need any stinking resistors. Had my parents only known the stuff I worked on.

If you shit it on a seat of paper, you will see the shit stains around it. I dig it. Cheers Its 616 am I had to type this out 3 times to get it right.

Wow I use to have one of these when I was about 14 and was fascinated with ionizers and ozone. Good nostalgia. I remember I used to touch the pins and my radiator (ground) for fun to make sparks and get shocked. I am not a smart man.

Watching this while modifying my ioniser. Gonna give it a precipitating surface.

You asked for an air ionizer for Christmas when you were a kid? And I thought I was a little goofy!

I need one of those ... well something kinda like this ... might to have to build it myself....

I got to build on of these winter in Kansas is cold.

You've just bought back a long-lost memory with that Dezac. I'm 95% sure that my Dad had a similar model in his office. (he was a manager in a shopping center in the 80s). I remember seeing the pyramid with the needles sticking out, and he explained what it did. Well, not quite in the detail you've gone into here, but I got the gist. lol I knew it probably wasn't a good idea to stick a finger near or on the needles, but I of course did try it once, and the current was incredibly low. I'm guessing the pyramid was available without the grid + paper? I don't recall seeing that at the time.

Thank you for saying something about energy crystal salt lick lamps

2:27 😂 “Shit on a sheet of paper” 🚽

Clive, we do also have household 240v in America, primarily for large appliances. But I doubt anyone would ever think about using it for such physically small things as an ionizer.

14:40 I didn't realise these things were filled with jelly beans!

You can draw sombrero’s really well 😂👍🏼

I long for the days of the crt television sets. they were the perfect air cleaner. If you ever opened one that had been working for a long time, you would find a massive amount of dust and dirt packed into the high voltage area.

Curiously, I also asked for an ioniser for Christmas (in the 80s, from DAK industries in the states)! Mine was fairly sealed, though, so I didn't try taking it apart until a couple years later when it started arcing between the emitter and collector (this was an oval cylinder with the midsection as the collector and one side of the tilted top as an emitter with a fibre pad doing the emitting -- wish I could find a photo). During the pandemic, I've been keenly interested again in ionisers, as I found a study that showed active ionisation as extremely successful in preventing virus transmission in mice. I've been thinking of building powerful ones with separate collector plates (ideally self contained and hanging on an opposite wall) to have friends and family install in their homes and local restaurants put in to keep themselves safe.

Have you considered modifying the unit to increase the length of the path from the needles to the mesh? Block the existing holes and drill some more round the top? Add an insulating square spacer to jack the pyramid up? Make it from perspex and you could see the works safely.

16:13 It can sound counterintuitive to say that the neon's resistor was in fact *over-rated* but that doesn't stop it from being correct. It only takes a few seconds of thinking before the pleasing moment when the penny drops and then you can't wait to tell everyone.

Ionizers...yep..have had a few myself and was always wondering how come some gave the mountain breeze effect while others did #ff all...I was always hoping to find a way of keeping my vinyl dust free...vv informative informative vid

If you need a dust-free "Clean-Room" where you don't spend a lot of time then this kind of unit can be quite useful to keep dust particulates to a minimum.

My first experience of an ioniser was touching one of the needles, that certainly woke me up with a zing... :P

Making my parts list now.

I have a potted ionizer module which runs on 5V, the output do want to be arcing to the 5V input side so I think the 5V side is tied to 1 side of the output transformer, I guess we could just connect the 5V side to earth so it will create a better imbalance between grounded surfaces and the high voltage output?

Fascinating! I also just realised that THIS might help massively with my allergies! Any recommendations, range from £35 upwards....any better to spend more? Thanks Clive!

I picked up one of those Ionic Breeze things from a thrift store. I'm not really sure if it ever worked right. I need to open it up one of these days.

I've got an ionic pro, which was a clone of the ionic breeze. They do seem to help with my roomate being allergic to everything, and the plates inside do seem to collect a fair amount of stuff out of the air... It has three super thin wires at the back and three plates inside that are removable for cleaning. We had it too close to him and he kept getting shocked while using his PC because it kept charging him up

I'm sure Puro would love this video uwu

"beige", we had it, it was off white and gradually got beiger as time went by!

Clive I hope you don't mind but I listen to your videos when I can't sleep. Very soothing. informative as all hell but I never make it to the end. Sorry and thank you.

Purple Sharpie!

Deja Vu...Thanks again : )

*Electrostatic Precipitator!* (I want something like this!)

Given how dirt precipitates around it, people probably put them in a section of the room that's *easy to clean* yeah? Like way out on it's own sitting on the middle of a rug or something.

I'm still learning about ionizers but correct me if I'm wrong but isn't a jacobs ladder effectively the same ? Positive or negative ? Hmmmm.... I'm still learning 👍 great vid again 😉

For dust collection I prefer Fan with a water , and non- sudzing soap..(laundry soap to break the surface tension.. wondering is grounding the water would add to it tho..

Clive can you Mod this one with a needle where the neon is and demonstrate the way it collects dirt/dust on a piece of paper. Compared to how it does with the needles on one side. Cheers Garry.

An up to date version would be Air purifier / ionizer Viktor, Stadler Form.

'Down to Earth ioniser.' Groan!

Presumably a different Ion Tech to the one that built those very good ion mills used in electron microscopy? (They were justifiably famous for their saddle-field ion beam sources, with their very rapid beam abrasion performance!).

Could be interesting to stick the small ioniser unit in a vacuum might make the visually effect easier to see or do nothing~

Given the low current draw, I feel like you could design a battery powered version. Would a joule thief be powerful enough for it? 2nd thoughts, maybe the power supply has to swing negative for the voltage multiplier to work. I also wonder what an increase of frequency would achieve.

I don't know Clive. If I found myself shitting an ionizer, I think I'd be fairly concerned. I'm guessing I would be pretty prompt in my visit to the ER to make sure I wasn't going to shit out any more small household appliances. Then I would probably get around to finding out exactly how it got in there in the first place... :-)

Just use the garden blower and Hoover combo like the rest of us. Particulate intake will spike while near road traffic much more than at home.

You’ve just gota love a big Clive video!! 👍 so Clive I know you don’t work for “Which” but to put you on the spot, in your opinion best ioniser???

The reason why a negative charge is used is because both Carbon and Oxygen have either half or more of the secondary ring of electrons filled (2,8,8....) which basically means they gain negative charge easier as the atoms want to fill those electron rings more than it wants to lose the electrons from the rings

Regarding negative vs positive it helps to remember that all electrons are negatively charged so they are always chasing positively charged atoms to make that atom neutral. Conversely protons are positively charged and are always chasing negatively charged atoms to become neutral. Charge is quantized thus a system won't necessarily achieve neutral atoms (there is resistance). It also means free electrons can be trapped in an atom at high voltage or called electrically charged ionization. Or in other words it increases the negative charge of an atom because electron is just another way of saying negative.

Once upon a time there was the ionic breeze slug!!

Nice one thanky :))

Any chance of a treatise on static electricity for ionizing and dust collection?

in the US all homes have two separate 120 volt lines going into them so they can be combined to create 240. 120 is often not enough for quite a few applications most older homes will have 240 sockets in there basement it might be a good place too put an ioniser. I wonder if the uk ones would run okay at 60hz. Just to avoid certain replays i'll mention a lot of people have the misconception that one line is 240 and one is 120 but that is not the case

good vids .any chance of more projects?

What would you suggest for controlling dust in a plastic cyclone - piped with pvc? Its high velocity - with a 5 horse motor. I think the static is causing the particles to cling and not drop out. Thank you!

I've mentioned my old pyramid ionizer before, it was black, and about 2/3 of the way up, there was a carbon fibre like 'string' made by Amcor, and it came with this strip of PCB material with a bulb on, that you held with your finger & thumb on pads on the PCB, it was kept on my desk, about 2 ft from my bed, and the sooty marks would form around it. My parents bought it to try and help with my asthma, which was an issue as we had a coal fire, and no central heating in the house at the time, what are your views on this for asthma issues Clive?

Do you know any good options for an ionizer on the cheap that will work within the US power standard? I have an extremely dusty room and this kind of thing would be potentially very helpful in mitigating that situation...

Could you open up a Philip's hue ke light? They claim they run at under 5w, wondering about the wifi too

So that faint purple glow would be plasma then, cool!

Nice video Clive, just wondering if you've received the KiloVolter and Avo MultiMinor I sent?

haha I just yelled out "No don't!" at a youtube video when you decided to test-touch the needle

Another awesome vid there, chap! Always wondered how ionisers did their thing, and now I know! :-) Now, I wonder...Would it be possible to build a battery powered one? (Perhaps still using a mains lead for ground reference only. :-)

Could this be turned into a stationary vacuum cleaner substitute? Collect the dust before it can settle everywhere else?

I built one 14 stage i used a 120 - 200 volt and 6.3 volt tube preamp transformer my caps are way bigger than needed 47uF 600v and 2 3 meg 4 watt resistors

Do a video on ozone water makers. They are cheap enough to take to pieces.

The commercial grade ioniser we installed where i worked had a small pcb with a neon on it, one end of the pcb had a pad to hold, it was used for checking if the ioniser was working Alternately you can get electrostatic meters, i have one, it's set up with an antenna to see if i can detect charge in the atmosphere from approaching lightning. Isn't it to do with electron flow (not conventional) ?

So that is why car HT ignition leads and coil attracts a black dirt around them and crt TV tubes do as well..

I wonder if something like a small fan behind a filter with a shroud pulling air across a set of these ionising needles would work well to contain the mess and maybe improve the efficiency. Anyone had a go or got any insight?

So you're saying that all you need to make one of these right, is to have a low volume fan + a dirt trap that's in the way of the needles and the exit from a tube?

for the non mesh type, would it make more sense to mount one of these pointed down/upside down over an easily cleanable surface (or a dollar store/poundland rug that can be trashed) to keep the area cleaner?