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high voltage problem

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wjyates

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I have a 15kV DC power source and I would like to convert it to a
veriable square wave. I think I have the circuit figured out.
My question is? if I parallel 3 6500V IGBT Modules do you think they
will handle the voltage or will one draw more and burn up.
let me start from the beginning. witch was'nt to long ago
I built a wilmshurst mechine it works great it will produce arks 9 to 10 inches long. but the archs are not what I am interested in.
what I'm trying to do is recreate the power of the wilmshurst mechine using solid state electronics.
I built a tesla coil but soon learned that it produces an alternating current at the termenal.
so on to my next project, I have a 15kV 60mA 60Hz NST
I want to build a 10 stage voltage multiplyer to bump my NST up to 150kV
the only problem is I'm still running at 60Hz I would like to be in the kHz or gHz range and maybe even lower the amps. so what I thought I would do is recitify the AC to DC, use a 555ic to cop it to a ajustable square wave,then ad the voltage muliplyer. It works in my head but is a little more difficult in the real world. as far as to what I'm doing all I can tell you right now is I'm trying to producs as much voltage as posable at my terminal without having any ark jump.besides if I tell you now all you electronic wizards may build it and take all tha fun out of it for me
 
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wjyates said:
I have a 15kV DC power source and I would like to convert it to a
veriable square wave. I think I have the circuit figured out.
My question is? if I parallel 3 6500V IGBT Modules do you think they
will handle the voltage or will one draw more and burn up.

Parallel (increases current)? or series (increases voltage)? Do you know the difference between the two? I'd suggest you look long and hard if you don't because that indicates you aren't prepared for such a high voltage project. It is the most basic things in electronics: parallel vs series...and you don't seem to understand it.

You also do not "draw" voltage. You draw current. That is another thing you should go over again.

And no, you can't. If you put them in series they would block the voltage while they were off, but they turn on and off at different times and rates. So as soon as they started to turn on, the slower ones would be trying to block more voltage than they can handle and fry.
 
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Where are you getting 15kv from?
Square wave; What frequency?
Variable; What frequency range?
How much power? Current?
There are ways but we need more information.
 
I'm not meaning to be rude but what is the point of this?

What exactly are you trying to do?

This isn't one of the things that you would normally do in isolation; it is typically part of a larger project. It is easier for us to provide help if we can see the bigger picture.


It sounds like you're better off building your own 15kV power supply using a fly-back transformer with a driver transistor pulsing it with a square wave.
 
let me start from the beginning. witch was'nt to long ago
I built a wilmshurst mechine it works great it will produce arks 9 to 10 inches long. but the archs are not what I am interested in.
what I'm trying to do is recreate the power of the wilmshurst mechine using solid state electronics.
I built a tesla coil but soon learned that it produces an alternating current at the termenal.
so on to my next project, I have a 15kV 60mA 60Hz NST
I want to build a 10 stage voltage multiplyer to bump my NST up to 150kV
the only problem is I'm still running at 60Hz I would like to be in the kHz or gHz range and maybe even lower the amps. so what I thought I would do is recitify the AC to DC, use a 555ic to cop it to a ajustable square wave,then ad the voltage muliplyer. It works in my head but is a little more difficult in the real world. as far as to what I'm doing all I can tell you right now is I'm trying to producs as much voltage as posable at my terminal without having any ark jump.besides if I tell you now all you electronic wizards may build it and take all tha fun out of it for me
 
wjyates said:
let me start from the beginning. witch was'nt to long ago
I built a wilmshurst mechine it works great it will produce arks 9 to 10 inches long. but the archs are not what I am interested in.
what I'm trying to do is recreate the power of the wilmshurst mechine using solid state electronics.
I built a tesla coil but soon learned that it produces an alternating current at the termenal.
so on to my next project, I have a 15kV 60mA 60Hz NST
I want to build a 10 stage voltage multiplyer to bump my NST up to 150kV
the only problem is I'm still running at 60Hz I would like to be in the kHz or gHz range and maybe even lower the amps. so what I thought I would do is recitify the AC to DC, use a 555ic to cop it to a ajustable square wave,then ad the voltage muliplyer. It works in my head but is a little more difficult in the real world. as far as to what I'm doing all I can tell you right now is I'm trying to producs as much voltage as posable at my terminal without having any ark jump.besides if I tell you now all you electronic wizards may build it and take all tha fun out of it for me

Lefty

One thinks you might have bit off more then you can chew. Grass hopper you need to learn the basics, build simple projects and acquire much more experience before attempting anyway close to what you have in mind.

GHz and 150KV just don't play together in the real world ;)
 
You started out asking about 15kv and now you want 150kv.

Lets see if I get this:
110VAC 60hz to 15kvAC to 15kv DC, Chop the DC to make khz or ghz AC then multiply to 150kv DC.

Why do you need khz or ghz to drive a voltage multiplier. They work at 60hz.
110VAC 60hz to 15kvAC to multiplier to 150kvDC.

It is very difficult to chop 15kvdc. Can you find the 40kv diodes for you multiplier? Do you have 20kv caps.

A 15kv 60mA NST will kill you! I hate to help you. I foresee you having a short life.
 
wjyates said:
let me start from the beginning. witch was'nt to long ago
I built a wilmshurst mechine it works great it will produce arks 9 to 10 inches long. but the archs are not what I am interested in.
what I'm trying to do is recreate the power of the wilmshurst mechine using solid state electronics.
I built a tesla coil but soon learned that it produces an alternating current at the termenal.
so on to my next project, I have a 15kV 60mA 60Hz NST
I want to build a 10 stage voltage multiplyer to bump my NST up to 150kV
the only problem is I'm still running at 60Hz I would like to be in the kHz or gHz range and maybe even lower the amps. so what I thought I would do is recitify the AC to DC, use a 555ic to cop it to a ajustable square wave,then ad the voltage muliplyer. It works in my head but is a little more difficult in the real world. as far as to what I'm doing all I can tell you right now is I'm trying to producs as much voltage as posable at my terminal without having any ark jump.besides if I tell you now all you electronic wizards may build it and take all tha fun out of it for me


(150kV*1GHz)/(1 rise/cycle + 1 fall/cycle) = 300 quadrillion Volts/second for a symmetrical triangle wave. A square wave of the same frequency has dv/dts are at least 10-100 times higher because it spends a very short time in the rise/fall relative to it's period whereas a triangle wave spends it's entire period in a rise or fall so the dv/dt would be about 3 pentillion Volts/second. Is there anything material in existence (let alone a device) that even comes close to being able to withstand that? (and that's not even considering being able to withstand such a high dv/dt AND having a peak voltage of 150kV)

The component with the highest dv/dt and highest voltage rating I know of is a mica capacitor which maxes out at 50 trillion volts/second. But they also max out out at 150kV. And you can't get two maxed out factors in one component- you always have to sacrifice one for the other. And even if you could, you have zero voltage overhead. That's assuming switches exist that can even approach those values by 1/1000,000th...which don't. Not by a longshot.

wjyates said:
besides if I tell you now all you electronic wizards may build it and take all tha fun out of it for me
Because it is impossible for you to ignore and not read their work so things stay interesting and fun for you? THat's ironic because you came on here asking for help. How is something no longer fun because someone else has done it? Especially if you don't read their work and figure it out all yourself? The only situtation something like that would apply is if you were trying to patent something- in which case it seems that you are obviously not "skilled enough in the art" to come up with something "not obvious" to "someone skilled in the art" which is required for a patent to not be rejected.
 
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A klystron or TWT amplifier are the only things I can think of that might be able to switch this fast.
 
He does not need to switch that fast. He does not know the difference between “khz and gHz” I think he just wants to make “arks 9 to 10 inches long”. 60hz will work!

I use 40kv 50 watts with current limit.
He has a 900 watt transformer! No current limit! This thread will go dead the same week they put wjyates in a hole in the ground.
 
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