An experiment too far? (off-topic)

"PD" wrote in message
ups.com...

Bazza wrote:
"Dan Tilque" wrote in message
...
wrote:


A description taken from a book published in 1899 describes
the Leyden Jar thus:
...

The question is ...once I've captured the electricity what do
I do with it???? Thoughts???

Okay...we spent 3 hours in the Church Yard with zero lightning storms

The North West of England weather was playing havoc with my plans by
behaving itself. We did get through a crate of Bud Ice in the process
though, and only just made it home on our bikes as we were all over the
freakin road! lol

Once back at the flat I decided to lower my expectations of the
experiment
and resort to testing out the properties of the :Leyden jar in a more
controlled manner. I had an old power supply from a computer and
carefully
bared some of the wires. I then fastened a positive wire to the exterior
of
the jar and the neutral to the brass spike. Everything was fine at this
point until my friend Spike plugged the device into the mains socket.
Stig -
who was holding the jar at the time - convulsed in a strange manner and
then
there followed a loud bang and all the lights went out in the flat. And
in
the flat below.

At present we still haven't fixed the fault and the lights are still off
even though we have now unplugged the device from the electrical socket.
Any
clues as to how to fix appreciated. A nail in the fusebox just gets hot
and
smells so that's no longer an option.

Stig suffered minor burns but overall doesn't appear to be too badly
injured - just a little shook up (literally).

That might be it for the Leyden Jar experiments for now. (At least until
we
can get the power back on.)

If anyone can suggest as to what went wrong I would truly appreciate it.
I
suspect some kind of polarity problem or a damaged sine wave in one of
the
inverse coils of the transformer. I don't know what that means but it
sounds
REAL bad.


The mistake was changing the venue from the churchyard, where at least
you could have dragged out a few pews for bleachers and charged an
admission fee to a substantial number of spectators. Proceeds from the
box office would have funded future experiments, no doubt to larger
crowds. With any luck, you would have made it to experiments in outdoor
ampitheatres before Stig turned black and tipped over.

PD


A possible future business venture but I am sceptical about the law in these
matters. I wouldn't want to inadvertently breach some stupid helath & safety
guidelines by appearing in some pre-planned event.

Baz

Bazza wrote:
"PD" wrote in message
ups.com...

Bazza wrote:
"Dan Tilque" wrote in message
...
wrote:


A description taken from a book published in 1899 describes
the Leyden Jar thus:
...

The question is ...once I've captured the electricity what do
I do with it???? Thoughts???

Okay...we spent 3 hours in the Church Yard with zero lightning storms

The North West of England weather was playing havoc with my plans by
behaving itself. We did get through a crate of Bud Ice in the process
though, and only just made it home on our bikes as we were all over the
freakin road! lol

Once back at the flat I decided to lower my expectations of the
experiment
and resort to testing out the properties of the :Leyden jar in a more
controlled manner. I had an old power supply from a computer and
carefully
bared some of the wires. I then fastened a positive wire to the exterior
of
the jar and the neutral to the brass spike. Everything was fine at this
point until my friend Spike plugged the device into the mains socket.
Stig -
who was holding the jar at the time - convulsed in a strange manner and
then
there followed a loud bang and all the lights went out in the flat. And
in
the flat below.

At present we still haven't fixed the fault and the lights are still off
even though we have now unplugged the device from the electrical socket.
Any
clues as to how to fix appreciated. A nail in the fusebox just gets hot
and
smells so that's no longer an option.

Stig suffered minor burns but overall doesn't appear to be too badly
injured - just a little shook up (literally).

That might be it for the Leyden Jar experiments for now. (At least until
we
can get the power back on.)

If anyone can suggest as to what went wrong I would truly appreciate it.
I
suspect some kind of polarity problem or a damaged sine wave in one of
the
inverse coils of the transformer. I don't know what that means but it
sounds
REAL bad.


The mistake was changing the venue from the churchyard, where at least
you could have dragged out a few pews for bleachers and charged an
admission fee to a substantial number of spectators. Proceeds from the
box office would have funded future experiments, no doubt to larger
crowds. With any luck, you would have made it to experiments in outdoor
ampitheatres before Stig turned black and tipped over.

PD


A possible future business venture but I am sceptical about the law in these
matters. I wouldn't want to inadvertently breach some stupid helath & safety
guidelines by appearing in some pre-planned event.

Ah, good point. Must move to viral.
- Hold the event but do not advertise or charge admission
- Videotape the event. Make sure cameraman giggles like a jackass at
the appropriate moment.
- Post a teaser clip for free on youtube.com and video.google.com, and
charge 99 cents for a download of the full clip.

PD


Baz

Bazza, your a nutter after my own heart.

What next, Ball lightning from a microwave?

SV

Bazza wrote:
"Dan Tilque" wrote in message
...
wrote:

A description taken from a book published in 1899 describes
the Leyden Jar thus:
...

The question is ...once I've captured the electricity what do
I do with it???? Thoughts???

Try to avoid getting killed by it.
Leyden jars can be extremely unforgiving of mistakes when charged.

Okay...we spent 3 hours in the Church Yard with zero lightning storms

Ben Franklin got away with it, but you are headed for a Darwin award.

The North West of England weather was playing havoc with my plans by
behaving itself. We did get through a crate of Bud Ice in the process
though, and only just made it home on our bikes as we were all over the
freakin road! lol

Or possibly by other means...

Once back at the flat I decided to lower my expectations of the experiment
and resort to testing out the properties of the :Leyden jar in a more
controlled manner. I had an old power supply from a computer and carefully
bared some of the wires. I then fastened a positive wire to the exterior of
the jar and the neutral to the brass spike. Everything was fine at this
point until my friend Spike plugged the device into the mains socket. Stig -
who was holding the jar at the time - convulsed in a strange manner and then
there followed a loud bang and all the lights went out in the flat. And in
the flat below.

If you must play with EHT start with Tesla coils. They can be very
impressive without quite so much risk of getting killed. It is a
non-trivial undertaking to make a good one and is wise to have a
deadman's handle rather than risk having a dead man. Jacobs ladder
looks particularly good as a special effect. Almost certainly banned
for broadband interference these days. There was an article on making
them in the UK elecrtonics press in the last couple of years (with
suitable disclaimers on safety).

At present we still haven't fixed the fault and the lights are still off
even though we have now unplugged the device from the electrical socket. Any
clues as to how to fix appreciated. A nail in the fusebox just gets hot and
smells so that's no longer an option.

Lucky you didn't have a nail in the fuse box earlier or you would have
roasted Stig.

Stig suffered minor burns but overall doesn't appear to be too badly
injured - just a little shook up (literally).

That might be it for the Leyden Jar experiments for now. (At least until we
can get the power back on.)

If anyone can suggest as to what went wrong I would truly appreciate it.

You don't have the first clue what you are doing!

Regards,
Martin Brown

"Martin Brown" wrote in message
ups.com...

Bazza wrote:
"Dan Tilque" wrote in message
...
wrote:

A description taken from a book published in 1899 describes
the Leyden Jar thus:
...

The question is ...once I've captured the electricity what do
I do with it???? Thoughts???

Try to avoid getting killed by it.
Leyden jars can be extremely unforgiving of mistakes when charged.

Okay...we spent 3 hours in the Church Yard with zero lightning storms

Ben Franklin got away with it, but you are headed for a Darwin award.

The North West of England weather was playing havoc with my plans by
behaving itself. We did get through a crate of Bud Ice in the process
though, and only just made it home on our bikes as we were all over the
freakin road! lol

Or possibly by other means...

Once back at the flat I decided to lower my expectations of the
experiment
and resort to testing out the properties of the :Leyden jar in a more
controlled manner. I had an old power supply from a computer and
carefully
bared some of the wires. I then fastened a positive wire to the exterior
of
the jar and the neutral to the brass spike. Everything was fine at this
point until my friend Spike plugged the device into the mains socket.
Stig -
who was holding the jar at the time - convulsed in a strange manner and
then
there followed a loud bang and all the lights went out in the flat. And
in
the flat below.

If you must play with EHT start with Tesla coils. They can be very
impressive without quite so much risk of getting killed. It is a
non-trivial undertaking to make a good one and is wise to have a
deadman's handle rather than risk having a dead man. Jacobs ladder
looks particularly good as a special effect. Almost certainly banned
for broadband interference these days. There was an article on making
them in the UK elecrtonics press in the last couple of years (with
suitable disclaimers on safety).

At present we still haven't fixed the fault and the lights are still off
even though we have now unplugged the device from the electrical socket.
Any
clues as to how to fix appreciated. A nail in the fusebox just gets hot
and
smells so that's no longer an option.

Lucky you didn't have a nail in the fuse box earlier or you would have
roasted Stig.

Stig suffered minor burns but overall doesn't appear to be too badly
injured - just a little shook up (literally).

That might be it for the Leyden Jar experiments for now. (At least until
we
can get the power back on.)

If anyone can suggest as to what went wrong I would truly appreciate it.

You don't have the first clue what you are doing!

Regards,
Martin Brown


Thats why I'm on here asking for technical advice....

Bazza

On Tue, 29 Aug 2006 17:36:04 GMT, "Bazza"
wrote:

Thats why I'm on here asking for technical advice....

Asking where? I'm seeing this on an amateur astronomy forum, and it
looks like you are also asking a bunch of Dr Who fans. Are these the
people you want to give you technical advice on a subject where the
tiniest of errors could kill you?

_________________________________________________

Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatory
http://www.cloudbait.com

Bazza wrote:

///

At first I took it you were writing an extremely fine example of a
peculiarly English style of whatever it is you are writing, which I
can't explain, but recognize when sighted.

Now, you have created the horrid idea that you just might be seriously
executing these experiments. Although your skill at simulating amateur
idiots out to electrocute themselves in fact belies your implicit claim
to be idiots, and puts into very grave doubt your affectation of
stupidity, I just imagine your obvious literary talent might be coupled
with suicidal tendencies and a liberal supply of beer and boredom.

Perhaps you have merely taken a fine adjustment on the verisimilitude,
to maintain an critical equilibrium between plausibility and hilarity.
But I feel sure beer and boredom are involved, at any rate.

"Edward Green" wrote in message
oups.com...
Bazza wrote:

///

At first I took it you were writing an extremely fine example of a
peculiarly English style of whatever it is you are writing, which I
can't explain, but recognize when sighted.

Now, you have created the horrid idea that you just might be seriously
executing these experiments. Although your skill at simulating amateur
idiots out to electrocute themselves in fact belies your implicit claim
to be idiots, and puts into very grave doubt your affectation of
stupidity, I just imagine your obvious literary talent might be coupled
with suicidal tendencies and a liberal supply of beer and boredom.

Perhaps you have merely taken a fine adjustment on the verisimilitude,
to maintain an critical equilibrium between plausibility and hilarity.
But I feel sure beer and boredom are involved, at any rate.

Yes...and large amounts of hashish also play their part. I have too much
time on my hands right now having recently been made redundant. This
newsgroup and my experiments have become my purpose in life.

Baz

Bazza wrote:
"Edward Green" wrote in message
oups.com...
Bazza wrote:

///

At first I took it you were writing an extremely fine example of a
peculiarly English style of whatever it is you are writing, which I
can't explain, but recognize when sighted.

Now, you have created the horrid idea that you just might be seriously
executing these experiments. Although your skill at simulating amateur
idiots out to electrocute themselves in fact belies your implicit claim
to be idiots, and puts into very grave doubt your affectation of
stupidity, I just imagine your obvious literary talent might be coupled
with suicidal tendencies and a liberal supply of beer and boredom.

Perhaps you have merely taken a fine adjustment on the verisimilitude,
to maintain an critical equilibrium between plausibility and hilarity.
But I feel sure beer and boredom are involved, at any rate.

Yes...and large amounts of hashish also play their part. I have too much
time on my hands right now having recently been made redundant. This
newsgroup and my experiments have become my purpose in life.

Baz

God Baz, i didn't know things we're that bad!

Don't fry yourself man, and if you do the microwave thing, do it near a
window!

SV