They're in many boiler ignition circuits and ioniser modules, but still quite an exotic component.

I recently had to repair the spark generator in my cooker (no replacement available). Instead of sidacs, it uses neon indicator bulbs!

I took basic electronics in the service and these were never mentioned.

@@tncorgi92 You may have heard about their low-current relatives, the Diac, used in many triac-controlled light dimmers.

I found some sidac inside sodium lamp igniters, in a weird TO-220 package @@tubastuff DIACs are also found on CFL bulbs ballast and halogen electronic transformers

Otherwise the body will be found by others

Hmm nobody told this to Nikola Tesla

Not always the volts that count, it’s the current that will tickle the pickle.

@@TheShutterNinja To push enough amps to kill you, you need voltage. A 12V car battery can deliver hundreds of amps. But at your body resistance there won't be enough current to do anything. Skin resistance can also vary widely, depending on whether your skin is wet or dry for example, or depending on frequency for AC. Another thing that counts is the total amount of energy, in other words time.

@@M4RC90 Duration and resistance are definitely keys, which is why static electricity also doesn’t kill, but to your point, it’s not voltage alone.

And replace the nose with a firecracker too 😆

Nha, make a double woofie device, left and right plumes.

Lmao

Bruh 💀, Haha!

that begs the question... What might that other channel be? The mind wanders... Or is it wonders? or in my experience stumbles, stubs it's toe, bangs it's knee, gets up and looks around to make sure no one bore witness to that s#it... then feels kind of lonely that no one in fact did... simultaneously being glad there isn't some other a$$hole around a muck things up. Cuz I don't generally need any "help" with that... peace. or whatever floats your dingy... barnacles aside. Yeah, peace. and may your enemies' crops wither, and their tents become a dunghill... or upon the unlikely instance that they like those things: then may they find themselves wealthy, on their private jet, in their water bed, on the balcony of their new Mercedes-Benz... and love too. don't forget about love. that makes the world... do something... I can't remember.

The ones filled with delicious Ammonium salt, or a modernized type?

I doubt the transistor was selected for any other specific reason than being one of the cheapest TO-92 package transistors being able to handle more than 1A. There isn't anything else special about an SS8550 and I've seen it used in tons of devices. It might be possible to protect the transistor by putting a diode in series with the first transformer's primary, because the back EMF can kill the transistor's collector base junction. It will increase the input voltage needed to account for the diode drop.

I have one of the electronic ballasts here. I should really make a video about it.

I see a spud gun firing solution :-P

Considering the "1.5-3V" input, this is probably correct. Lots of grills have a socket for a single AA cell to run circuits like these, though some will produce larger sparks at lower frequencies. My recommendation to use disposable lithium cells (such as Energizer Ultimate Lithium) goes double here; they have much better weather resistance than alkaline batteries in terms of both durability and performance.

@@marcussoininen2084 A dual cannon at that. =]

Or two...

Exactly. Battery operated and likely the center black common ground is attached to the grill chassis and the two sparkers go to a burner or sets of burners. Those sparkers often ground to the frame metal.

Clive keeps us company. 💡👍

That would make sense. A hall effect device to switch the operator circuit could run a 4 cylinder engine, with 2 idle-sparks.

I've featured some door entry systems in videos. I wonder if they're similar.

Could be a tad too high. Don't poison yourself!

​@@gregbailey45 stop being brainwashed. we have used 4 ozone generators for 20 years. still alive. reason they are vilified by bigharma who dont want it used for medical purpose as it there profits would plummet as not a consumable and not patent-able. i hope you got all your jabs and boosters and made some money for fizzer .

@@gregbailey45 I actually would like semi poisonous levels. My actual application is deterring rodents, and keeping mustyness at bay in a solar powered off-grid RV. I'd only have the circuit running when not occupied, and only in the cabinet/utility spaces.

Not ideally, but you can get classic neon power supplies from China quite cheaply. Maybe not totally compliant with our standards though.

That application would benefit from a high voltage diode and capacitor like they use in ioniser modules.

The problem with this kind of “inputs” to enable is the “unknown” paths the hv will take. According to the schematic you will get some hv on the not enabled input.

There's all sorts of high-voltage stuff you can get. These technically use the same circuit as a nuts nug, but much smaller, a pathetic little capacitor with very little energy. There's a video online of a real nug nuts, and the caps are big chunky things, the transformer is bigger and better too.

Theoretically you could do it with just a diode and some resistors, but the output would not be fully isolated from the mains.

He knows we're ElectroBOOM followers. ;)

@@DickHolman no no no no, why would anyone ever wish for someone to be electrocuted, that's just mean! Or would you say you expect mehdi to have a funny electrocutions every time? It's dangerous! What a naughty person you are...

@@WillTellU >blush< I cannot tell a lie, I am that naughty person.

I dunno, motorbike coils are another source of high-voltage madness, and they're a lot bigger than those puny coils. I think more current capacity is needed, spark-plug sparks are much thicker and brighter, as well as having to cope with damp rainy air without shorting away to nothing.

The "trigger" circuit has to take the entire primary side current, an integrated hall switch couldn't do that. You could add a Triac to do the switching, but as the other guy said this likely isn't a high enough energy design, plus a motorcycle would be at least 6v and usualy 12v these days. I suppose it might be enough to power one of those model four stroke engines with a small enough plug gap.

That's what I initially tought - that it's some dodgy chinese motorbike ignition module. But it runs on 1.5-3V - being a stove igniter makes way more sense.

@@greenaum I was primarily thinking chineseuim made so as bodge and nasty as possible. Might work on a small rc model as a plug driver but reliable? probably not!

It would make a tube glow, but not brightly.

It varies with voltage and is quite high.

The output spark will always be the same, because its energy depends on the capacitor and SIDAC (capacity and trigger voltage). How often the output spark occurs depends on the input voltage.

Not ideal for neon tubes. They'd be very dim.

@@bigclivedotcom OK worth knowing thanks

For a normal brightness neon bulbs run at 30 mA. That's a lot of current for a tiny module.

@@d.t.4523 Thanks yes you are correct . 👍👍

Someone commented it might be the heart of an actual taser weapon, with that fact omitted to get past customs.

You could theoretically double the voltage.

Not significantly. It would be an issue with audio transformers.

The main high voltage stress is on the potted output transformer, so oil wouldn't help. It may operate at 3V though. The output voltage is set by the sidac voltage, so it would most likely just result in a faster spark.

To use it as an ioniser the output would need a high voltage diode and capacitor. You can buy dedicated ioniser modules on eBay. Don't use the low voltage ones as they can create a high voltage differential across power supplies unless the negative is grounded.

Some high voltage relays have a vacuum in them.

Thank you kindly Sir.

Yes, but with a higher voltage there is extra stress on the first level step-up circuit.

Great idea! I would buy a couple for my self as a christmas gift.

I'd definitely buy a mug with Clive's logo and "one moment please" underneath

@@ceeboneee5632 😁 Perfect! ☕️

You can find logo and embroidery files on the merch page of bigclive.com to get your own custom merch made locally.

That's ace! Might order some printer transfer paper and have a go at making my own BCDC mug then!

I doubt it. The timing might not be good at high speed.

General ignition.

Please beware that a coil vibrating it's own power switch has 2 classic uses: 1. As the "motor" part of doorbells, with an extended arm being the hammer striking the bell. 2. As the classic arc radio transmitter outputting on a mostly uncontrolled frequency.

Search for plasma lighter. The crossed spark is probably two separate windings.

The coil generates a high voltage with respect to the negative rail.

Yeah those things are NASTY!

Clive had a look at one of those several years ago. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/n6p6o5WlrdOpgaM.html

@@greenaum I know 😅

@@threeMetreJim I saw it.

This is better suited to gas than vapour.

@@bigclivedotcom In Germany many older Houses used to have single room oil powered furnaces many decades ago. This was an easy and convenient replacement for coal and wood furnaces. They were terrible from todays perspective but a great thing back then. Because most houses already had the exhaust passages already built in and a propper water based central heating furnace was more expensive to add to an allready existing Bildung. However most of them were manually lit by a match so you had to turn on the oil and wait for the burner pot to get wet. But not too long otherwise you won't get it started. But there were some more fancy units with automatic ignition systems. This was basically a device like a glow plug and a spark plug combined. A small ceramic based cotton-like material was soaked in oil, heated by a wire until the oil starts to vapourise and a spark genetator above ignited the fumes. And I want to build something similar with an diesel engine glow plug and a spark genetator like this for my mobile oil heater DIY project. Because "OEM" replacements for these furnaces are very specialized to fit the device they are built for and they are heavily overpriced.

Anything can be used for that. 😁

Diode Gone Wild might call it siyooper double dodgayee.

It makes me wonder how they discovered all the different components, and then thought about how to use them!! Did they say "we need something that short-circuits when it reaches a certain voltage", or did they say "we've found something that ... - what shall we do with it?" ;)

@@stepheneyles2198 I like how you think. My guess is that they tried something, the result was interesting and they thought “I wonder what this can be used for?”

@@stepheneyles2198 I think a little of both.

I don't believe it can generate enough continuous current for a Jacob's ladder. You may have noticed that it doesn't arc constantly --- it arcs repeatedly, every time the capacitor discharges ---- I don't think that would allow for the ionization build up a ladder needs.

It doesn't have enough voltage. A few eons ago, I played around with the hv of a 13" b&w crt. It was probably 13kv or so. The max, IIRC, arc was under 1/2". Compare that to a large neon sign transformer of the 70s that could arc up to about 4".

@@adamf663 OK, still cool - I've got a B13S8 scope CRT, it'd be perfect for that.

@@adamf663 I bought one of the old-fashioned neon transformers on eBay a few years ago with the intention of making a Jacob's ladder. But each time I look at the thing and think about it, I get cold feet!

@@TheGodpharma Same here. If you get a shock it could your last. Better left to the pros ... although escaping death can be exhilarating for those who want excitement.

The listing is :- Automatic Gas Igniter Unit Gas Oven Pulse Ignition Controller Lightweight

Cooker ignition.

Sidac. Like a triac with a trigger threshold.

@@bigclivedotcom Thanks! But like a DIAC, perhaps ;)

Which object serves no purpose?

@@ferrumignis I can't remember anymore and I don't have time to watch the video. I say stupid shit alot too so it's probably that haha

It won't be from a boiler -- there's no flame detection. A boiler igniter has a timing circuit to purge the firebox before the gas valve opens, then hold the valve open for a few seconds; during which time, if a flame is sensed, the gas valve stays open, otherwise it goes into lock-out.

Thinking about it 🤔 id assume a twin cylinder engine given the 2 outputs with the 2 signal wires for some sensor or some management system to fire 2 plugs at different times.. could also use it to run 2 seperate electronic fences (2 units total 6v and would run 4 fences) but unlikely to be a fence based on the size of the unit and how it wires up and is triggered i really think it might be a cheap aftermarket product to add a coil pack ignition to something burning petroleum or LPG like a BBQ or motorbike as it's battery operated.. the potential uses for this are huge.. something from China thats not 100% landfill e-waist lol..

the circuit is a classic car ignition type, you pull the primary, then let go and it puts the secondary in series with the primary. Car ignitions put a small capacitor across the contact and fitting one here may help reduce switch burn.

Primary is defined as the energy input side, not the lowest voltage side. Big power stations often have huge transformers between the dangerous generator voltage on the primary and the secondary output to the long distance part of the grid using 100kV or more to allow thinner wires between cities.

@@johndododoe1411 This is a step up circuit so the roles are reversed.

@@amojak No, they are not. Stepping up reverses the scale ratio and related components, not the primary/secondary terminology.

@@johndododoe1411 the primary is the driven side, the secondary is what is coupled to it.

I'd suggest using a generous amount so it's easier to handle, and try to tie a knot to attach it to other wire.

@@bigclivedotcom I'll try that. Thank you