How to make sparks with foil [Published]
Katzenklavier
Regular
Since 98% of you are too damn lazy to follow my other guides, here's one that takes all of 5 minutes to do.
First you need to find a cathode ray tube TV, the bigger the better. Mine is 32".
Now you need some foil and tape.
Step 1: Tape the foil to the TV and press it on the screen. The more screen you cover the better. Then attach a wire, I used a clip lead but any kind of wire will work OK.
Step 2: You'll need an earth ground. Luckily your house supplies one. It is the "D" hole on an american outlet. This is connected to a water pipe and provides a path to ground.
You'll need to connect to that hole somehow, an extension cord works well. I didn't have an extension cord so I used a computer cord. If you use a computer cord the bottommost hole is ground. Stick a wire in there. I used a file and a clip lead.
Step 3: Now the fun part. Bring the ground wire close to the wire on the TV, then turn on the TV. You should get a spark! You'll get another when you turn off the TV. My spark as 30,000 volts, but don't worry, it can't kill you; not enough current.
How does it do that? well you need to know how a cathode ray tube works. There is a metal screen behind the 1" glass that is charged to about +30,000V. There is also a heated wire in back that makes an electron beam. This positive high voltage attracts the negative electrons.
when you turn on a TV, the high voltage anode is the fist thing to turn on. The heater turns on too, but it takes a few seconds to heat up. That's why you don't see a picture immediately.
For this few seconds that high voltage has nowhere to go and it usually just discharges to the air. That's the staticy sound you hear hen you turn on a TV. Since you have foil there, the HV has a place to go. The tube becomes a capacitor, with the glass as the dielectric.
Energy is stored in the capacitor now, and it needs a path to ground to get out. You supply this via an outlet.
A similar phenomenon happens hen you turn off the TV.
First you need to find a cathode ray tube TV, the bigger the better. Mine is 32".
Now you need some foil and tape.
Step 1: Tape the foil to the TV and press it on the screen. The more screen you cover the better. Then attach a wire, I used a clip lead but any kind of wire will work OK.
Step 2: You'll need an earth ground. Luckily your house supplies one. It is the "D" hole on an american outlet. This is connected to a water pipe and provides a path to ground.
You'll need to connect to that hole somehow, an extension cord works well. I didn't have an extension cord so I used a computer cord. If you use a computer cord the bottommost hole is ground. Stick a wire in there. I used a file and a clip lead.
Step 3: Now the fun part. Bring the ground wire close to the wire on the TV, then turn on the TV. You should get a spark! You'll get another when you turn off the TV. My spark as 30,000 volts, but don't worry, it can't kill you; not enough current.
How does it do that? well you need to know how a cathode ray tube works. There is a metal screen behind the 1" glass that is charged to about +30,000V. There is also a heated wire in back that makes an electron beam. This positive high voltage attracts the negative electrons.
when you turn on a TV, the high voltage anode is the fist thing to turn on. The heater turns on too, but it takes a few seconds to heat up. That's why you don't see a picture immediately.
For this few seconds that high voltage has nowhere to go and it usually just discharges to the air. That's the staticy sound you hear hen you turn on a TV. Since you have foil there, the HV has a place to go. The tube becomes a capacitor, with the glass as the dielectric.
Energy is stored in the capacitor now, and it needs a path to ground to get out. You supply this via an outlet.
A similar phenomenon happens hen you turn off the TV.
Comments
Interesting stuff dude, thanks for sharing.
When the fuck did that happen? I almost feel like I should put up a tombstone. Crt screens will light cheap hotel rooms and trailer parks for years to come, but I suppose they're pretty much toast. Oh well, it was a good run, in my opinion the most important invention of the 20th century.
C/O
"Old crt screens never die, they just fade away"
So, it happened fairly recently. Blu-ray still isn't the standard that dvd is, but within the next 2 years hopefully they'll drop in price more to become affordable. As it is good players still cost $150 or so. The cheapest I've seen for shitty players is $50. Once decent players drop to the $70 level, I imagine people will make the switch.
Fuck, my flybacks! NOOOOOOOOO!
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