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A reliable plasma speaker

by grenadier on December 28, 2010

Table of Contents

A reliable plasma speaker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Intro: A reliable plasma speaker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Step 1: Gather the parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Step 2: Making the GDT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Step 3: The circuit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Step 4: Breadboards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Step 5: Prototyping the circuit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Step 6: Phasing the GDT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Step 7: Initial tests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Step 8: Apply the juice! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Step 9: Make it last . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Related Instructables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

http://www.instructables.com/id/A-reliable-plasma-speaker/
Intro: A reliable plasma speaker
I've seen multiple designs for a plasma speaker online, and quite frankly most of them suck. Some problems I noticed were constantly blowing up MOSFETs, distorted
audio, excessive heating of the MOSFET(s) etc.

I was alerted to a nice circuit on 4HV that uses a half bride and pulse width modulation. I modified the circuit to my liking and it worked very well. Extremely well.

So in this instructable I'll show you how to make the speaker that's on my website . Properly heatsinked it can run continuously, I have run mine for a length of about 6
hours with no problems.

Below is a video of this speaker in action. It sounds better in real life; my camera just doesn't have too good of a mic.

Image Notes
1. Audio In
2. .22 cal spark gap
3. I didn't have 10,000uF caps, so I put 5 2000uF ones in //.
4. MOSFETs
5. GDT
6. SG3525
7. Frequency adjust trimpot.
8. Cute little flyback.

Step 1: Gather the parts

You'll need some parts for this speaker, not too many but some.
You'll need:

Components:
4x UF4007 diodes
4x 12 volt zener diodes
2x IRFP250 mosfets. You can also use some better fets, the lower the Rds On the better. Just make sure they can handle at least 200V, flybacks make some nasty
back EMF.
1x SG3525 IC
1x LM7812
2x 22 ohm resistors
1x 2.2k resistor
1x 10k pot
2x 0.1uF (104) capacitors
1x 3.3nF (332) capacitor
1x 1uF (105) MKP capacitor
1x 2.2uF electrolytic capacitor
2x 10,000uF electrolytic capacitors If you use 40v 8000uF caps instead you can apply 36V and make the arc even bigger and louder. Just make sure to replace the 7812
with a 7815 or a 7818.

Other components:

http://www.instructables.com/id/A-reliable-plasma-speaker/
A flyback transformer. You can get these out of old computer monitors, TVs etc.

A ferrite toroid. These may be inside computer monitors, but if you can't find one get it here.

Some 18ga wire.

Some 24 ga wire, the wire from inside of a telephone cable works great.

2 heat sinks, you can get them from a computer monitor. You'll need to use your scavenging abilities here. If you use 1 heat sink make sure you use some insulating
pads.

Thermal goop.

Step 2: Making the GDT

The gate drive transformer is a part you'll need to make yourself. It consists of 3 strands of wire wrapped >14 times around a ferrite core. It's not much of an exact
science, just wrap it all nice and neat. Use the 22ga wire for this.

Image Notes
1. That's all a GDT is.

Step 3: The circuit

I know that some of you people aren't very electrically minded, so I decided to make a circuit diagram that is very easy to follow. For those that do understand
schematics, here's one.

Apparently instructables changes images to the lowest quality jpegs possible, so to see a legible schematic visit http://www.teravolt.org/Plasma_Speaker_2.htm

http://www.instructables.com/id/A-reliable-plasma-speaker/
Step 4: Breadboards
Building something for the first time is called prototyping. This is usually done on a device called a breadboard. I could bore you with a wall of text, but instead I'm going to
link to a video that shows you how to breadboard.

Breadboards are relatively cheap, and it's a great investment. Breadboards have one flaw though; some parts have either pins that are too big to fit in the holes or they
must be attached to a heat sink. To use these parts I recommend just soldering wires to them. Soldering isn't hard, but it's the best way to connect things. There are
plenty of soldering guides on the interwebs.

Make sure you put a pin on the ends of the wires so they can plug into the breadboard. Also make sue you use heat sink goop (and insulators if 2 fets share a sink).

Image Notes
1. I used heat shrink tubing to cover the joints, but it's not needed
2. A pin was soldered to the end of the wire so it can be plugged into the breadboard.
3. A mosfet on a heat sink

Step 5: Prototyping the circuit

Just hook it all together! It doesn't need to look nice, it just has to work.

There's an important note on the next step regarding the gate transformer.

http://www.instructables.com/id/A-reliable-plasma-speaker/
Step 6: Phasing the GDT
You must make sure the GDT is properly phased. Phasing is the direction of the transformer's windings. You must make sure that one output winding is reversed; this
reverses the signal that it puts out. The purpose of the GDT is to isolate the mosfets from the chip.

The mosfets are supposed to "flip flop" --one turns on as the other turns off. This means the gate signals of the fets are supposed to be opposite. If both the signals are
the same, both the mosfets will turn on at the same time and they short circuit or possibly explode.

You want one signal inverted and to do that you reverse a winding; that inverts the signal.

A picture will better explain what I'm talking about. Also, make sure the wire in the middle is the one that's connected to the IC.

Step 7: Initial tests

For the initial test I recommend using a power supply that can't supply over 9000 amps. Unless you are confident that you have everything hooked up correctly I'd use a
computer power supply to test it initially. Computer power supplies are current limited, and that means if you f*ck up and both of your mosfets turn on at the same time the
PSU will detect a short circuit and turn off, saving your $2 FETS.

There are many guides on modifying computer power supplies to be used as bench supplies, and here's one of them.

Test your circuit by taping a drinking straw to the high voltage wire on your flyback. Then apply the power to the circuit and hope nothing blows up. If everything is OK
use that straw to move the high voltage wire to the pins on the bottom of the flyback. You should be able to arc to at least one of the pins. If nothing happens you did
something wrong.

Make a note about which pin the electricity arcs to best. This is your ground pin.

Since this is only 12 volts and limited amps don't expect anything impressive. You're just making sure thing work.

Image Notes
1. A random image I found online of someone arcing to FBT pins. This looks like a ZVS arc, you will NOT get one this big, that's for sure.

http://www.instructables.com/id/A-reliable-plasma-speaker/
Step 8: Apply the juice!
Alright now it's time for the big guns: Lead acid batteries. These things can supply over 9000 amps and they have no electrical noise whatsoever. They are usually 12
volts so you're going to need 2 of them.

You can either use car batteries or AGM batteries. I prefer the AGM ones because they are smaller and you can't spill them. A 12V 8Ah AGM battery usually sells on
eGay for about 10 to 15 dollars. Lead acid battery chargers can be bought cheap on eGay too. Although batteries are not too cheap, they will become one of your most
used "tools" if you start playing with circuits.

Put them in series to get 24V.

When you apply the juice to your circuit the arcs will be hotter and longer. Apply music to the circuit. You'll need a "clean" music source; an ipod makes tons of electrical
noise. I used the sound card from my computer, some mp3 players may work too. Turn the volume all the way down and then up a little because too loud a signal can kill
the IC. Plasma speakers aren't too loud so you'll need a quiet room to hear it.

Turn the pot until distortion of the music is at its lowest.

Image Notes
1. These batteries have seen better days.

Step 9: Make it last

To make the thing last you'll want to put it on a perfboard. These are pretty much blank circuit boards with plenty of holes. Buy perfboard, not vero or strip board.
Strip/vero board is a PITA to use.

Once again, perfboarding has been covered by others.

Have fun!

Image Notes
1. I decided to use solder to connect everything.
2. Because I didn't insulate the HV electrode properly the first time I had some unwanted arcing. A mosfet actually survived 10kV into the drain. Odd.

http://www.instructables.com/id/A-reliable-plasma-speaker/
Related Instructables

How to build a Mini Spark Gap Simple Flyback Very simple

simple Plasma Tesla Coil by Driver Gives How To Build A PWM with
The Plasma Rifle aka Powerful Arcs Simple But 555...Modulate
Speaker by Somersetcommunitycollege
Electrothermal (Photos) by Powerful every thing by
Plasmana Rifle by geckowil Xellers Flyback Driver shams
by Plasmana

Comments
50 comments Add Comment view all 142 comments

shams says: Mar 15, 2011. 9:34 AM REPLY

this one is the best sounding plasma speaker !!..

cmerling says: Mar 4, 2011. 7:53 PM REPLY

I scavenged a different MKP cap from a crt, I believe it's this one
http://il.rsdelivers.com/product/vishay/2222-335-10223/335-mkp-x2-polyprop-cap-250v-0022uf/1669436.aspx
Would this work in place of the 332? Also my flyback had some ferrite cores around it, would these help eliminate noise or are they pretty much useless?
Great instructable grenadier!

grenadier says: Mar 5, 2011. 4:53 AM REPLY

No, It would not. You need a 3.3nF (.0033uF) capacitor.

Not sure what you mean by "ferrite cores around it"

cmerling says: Mar 5, 2011. 12:30 PM REPLY

sorry, one more question. How do you go about wiring atx power supplies in series? I don't want to blow them up if i don't have to

cmerling says: Mar 5, 2011. 12:20 PM

(removed by author or community request)

cmerling says: Mar 6, 2011. 2:11 PM REPLY

Different link, it's like this
http://www.amazon.com/Ferrite-Core-Cord-Noise-Suppressor/dp/B0002MQGEK

pbawesome says: Mar 4, 2011. 12:46 PM REPLY

since we're working with HV... someone who can't read schematics prooobably shouldn't be working on this

I'm about to rip apart some CRT monitors and pull out some flybacks, some HV caps and other fun stuff. hopefully I get a nice flyback, and some parts I
won't have to buy.

I'm going to wait for the MIT swapfest to start again in april and begin this project. This is awesome man!

also, why do the two diagrams say different amounts of current on the power source

one says 24V 10A and one says 24V 4A

grenadier says: Mar 5, 2011. 4:54 AM REPLY

I forgot to change one diagram. You only need about 4A.

manumanu764 says: Jan 2, 2011. 9:18 AM REPLY

PITA? what does it mean?
Btw, nice project!

http://www.instructables.com/id/A-reliable-plasma-speaker/
 Maxerdo says: Jan 2, 2011. 9:52 AM REPLY
Pain in the a**

manumanu764 says: Jan 2, 2011. 10:13 AM REPLY

Interesting...

waldosan says: Mar 3, 2011. 9:06 PM REPLY

lol, that's a great ible, i might just have to make this, if i don't have ready access to battery's on a scale of 1 to 10 how hard would it be to make a
"clean" power supply? if i get the volts and the amps right shouldn't i be able to smooth it out by running it through a coil/capacitor? or would that
fsck things up?

tabousa says: Mar 1, 2011. 8:44 AM REPLY

OK finally i have a arc... small but its a arc ( l half then your arc )
Using the pot the arc stop making noise,
but when i send some music its very hard to listen ,the arc coming very noise and overlap the music , and again using the pot and the volume of the source l
can listen for very short time and very low volume some part of the song, the noise is back and forth all the time
i used different source of music and cable, mp3 player , cell phone, pocket FM radio and Computer , i cant see any different the noise is the same for any
device...
i use 2 APC RBC2 battery 12 v 7.5 ah

some sugestions?

MadScientist101 says: Feb 20, 2011. 10:08 AM REPLY

what is that switch called and where did you get it?

grenadier says: Feb 21, 2011. 8:47 AM REPLY

It's a knife switch, look on egay and you'll find some.

MadScientist101 says: Feb 26, 2011. 1:10 AM REPLY

thanks

gilham says: Feb 12, 2011. 11:54 AM REPLY

No one has answered my comment below. What do you guys think I've done wrong? My circuit is almost exactly the same, I took a flyback out of a 25" color
tv and the spark is very whimpy.....I don't know what to do to improve it. Please help.

tabousa says: Feb 23, 2011. 12:33 PM REPLY

i finished my circuit, but nothing happen , i used a pc power supply, i need more power for see a tiny arc?

grenadier says: Feb 13, 2011. 6:29 AM REPLY

Hmm, have you tried a different flyback?

Clubbing At Walmart says: Feb 21, 2011. 7:34 AM REPLY

How much did it cost for you? i added everything up and rounded or down to the nearest dollar and came up with about $145.00... is that how much you
spent or what? please respond ASAP i need to know because i need to find a project for my DC Fundamentals class in school

http://www.instructables.com/id/A-reliable-plasma-speaker/
 grenadier says: Feb 22, 2011. 9:36 AM REPLY
You added something wrong there...

This should only cost about $20, maybe less to make if you pulled the heatsink and flyback from a PC monitor.

grenadier says: Feb 21, 2011. 8:49 AM REPLY

Lolwut? You added wrong.

Altogether it should cost about $25, provided you scavenged the heat sink and flyback from a computer monitor.

Clubbing At Walmart says: Feb 23, 2011. 10:19 AM REPLY

alright ya, thats with everything bought new... i didnt have anything to scavenge from at first but i talked to my uncle... thanks

Pyrocloud says: Feb 16, 2011. 7:07 AM REPLY

I don't suppose theres any way to test you've wound the toroid correctly, I'm just a little unclear about the 'reversing'. Just I'd rather not blow the fets as they
arn't easy for me to get.

Pyrocloud says: Feb 16, 2011. 4:12 PM REPLY

Ok nevermind I didnt see the part about testing with a pc power supply.

tabousa says: Feb 7, 2011. 8:39 AM REPLY

i got a flyback from one old Sony Trinitron CRT having 16 pins but I cant realize what is the pin that I use in the flyback
i did a research in Google, but only confused me more
I use a voltmeter and found continuity in this pins: (1 , 2) ,(6 , 7 , 12) and (8, 9), but i cant found any resistance in all of them
of course i'm a newbie ...

tabousa says: Feb 7, 2011. 10:12 AM REPLY

forget to mention...
I followed the instructions from http://lifters.online.fr/lifters/labhvps/tht.htm but using a single +12 v pc power supply and i found these values in the
following pin
pin 11 -> 0.18v
pin 13 -> 0.12v
pin 14 -> 0.33v
I'm just guessing but ... I think the V0 pin 11 is the connection of the secundary coil, is that the pin that I'm looking for?

grenadier says: Feb 8, 2011. 5:23 AM REPLY

Well, I usually just do the easy method; move the HV wire to the bottom and see what pin it arcs to. The pin that gives the strongest arc is the ground.

tabousa says: Feb 8, 2011. 9:05 AM REPLY

LOL ...makes sense ....
thanks!

zodthekonquerer says: Feb 7, 2011. 10:55 PM REPLY

Check out his website, he has some interesting projects. Espicially his attempt at a perpetual motion machine, it's very interesting.

gilham says: Feb 1, 2011. 1:29 AM REPLY

I've built this almost exactly as you did. It works, but the arc is very weak. I used two 6800 uF caps in parallel for each of the 10,000uF caps. The circuit is
working, I've checked all the signals with an oscilloscope. The problem is the arc, it's very very weak and won't produce any sound. I'm using a 30 volt 4.5
amp power supply. Do you have any suggestions?

http://www.instructables.com/id/A-reliable-plasma-speaker/
 goose722 says: Jan 31, 2011. 9:10 AM REPLY
I'm looking to build a plasma speaker, and while I was looking around for schematics/instructions, i came across both your instructable, and a report by Mark
Barlow of YSU, detailing the construction of a different circuit. here's the link to his concept.

I was wondering if you could comment on which circuit would offer the least feedback and produce the most reliable speaker/circuit... thank you!

mitchnizzle says: Jan 29, 2011. 6:58 PM REPLY

Hey Guys, just wondering if someone could help. I've built this circuit 3 times including a PCB grenadier was nice enough to lend me but i'm still getting
either no output or just 3volts on the flyback winding terminal :/ nothing gets hot etc.. just no action. Would one of u blokes mind looking at my pcb or giving
us some clues? cheers :/

bob123 says: Jan 25, 2011. 6:10 PM REPLY

I've built this circuit and am having a few problems. I keep blowing the 22 ohm resistors on the MOSFETs. Secondly, the lm7812 is getting incredibly hot. I
put a heatsink on it, but is this normal? Also, so far, I have not gotten any sort of output from the transformer. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

grenadier says: Jan 26, 2011. 7:58 AM REPLY

It seems like you shorted out the 7812 somewhere, and thus the IC is getting no juice.

The only way that you could possibly blow up those resistors is by having one lead on ground and the other lead on 24V. Something must have been
wired horribly wrong.

Check your mosfets, they should measure megohms across source and drain and drain and gate. If you get something like a couple ohms or kiliohms
they're shot.

AznINVazN says: Jan 25, 2011. 2:02 AM REPLY

dude, that circuit diagram is so difficult to understand... I'd rather traditional

grenadier says: Jan 25, 2011. 7:05 AM REPLY

Read the text again

Cleasonsook says: Jan 5, 2011. 4:18 PM REPLY

I was wondering if it was possible to make sound

my 3 questions is

how big would it need to be to equal say powered computer speakers ?

or regular home stereo speakers ?

and what would need to change to have it work for either of those

Betelgeus3 says: Jan 19, 2011. 2:32 PM REPLY

I don't know about grenadier, but i wouldn't recommend making this much bigger. First off, it's a fire hazard even this small. A big one poses not only
threat of fire, but of electrocution. That, plus a HUGE energy draw, compared to normal speakers. I don't know a whole lot about the circuit yet, but
making it bigger also lends itself to way more distortion.

Cleasonsook says: Jan 19, 2011. 4:49 PM REPLY

ya I know do not run the unit around fire hazards

so refrigeration would be needed to keep the electronics and the transformer

from burning out

as for the distortion part

it's just a matter of using the right materials

so that it focases the energy correctly

but it would be possible with testing and retesting to find the right combination

I know making one the size of a concert size would be nuts

but some thing about 14 " high would be possible beyond that size
no indoor use or even near any thing that would easy burn

grenadier says: Jan 20, 2011. 4:03 PM REPLY

It's more of a novelty rather than a serious method of making sound. As for a fire hazard, it's not anymore dangerous than a candle. Electrocution
is possible, though the simple solution is to not touch the thing while it's on!

A 14 inch arc would use about 3,000 watts of electricity, something that is achievable provided you invest the time and money. Some IGBTs for a
half bride or even a full bridge could supply the electricity, the transformer would have to be handmade.

http://www.instructables.com/id/A-reliable-plasma-speaker/
 tomjec says: Jan 12, 2011. 10:32 AM REPLY
I guess I don't understand what this is all about. Is the spark supposed to jump in time with the music? or does the spark produce sound waves?
It seems much trouble to animate sound on a small scale.
Thank you for your time and effort.

Betelgeus3 says: Jan 19, 2011. 2:28 PM REPLY

You know how extended sparks make crackling noises? Well, this is essentially a way to modify that crackling into a sound that we recognize.

grenadier says: Jan 13, 2011. 9:18 AM REPLY

The arc itself makes the music.

ARJOON says: Jan 17, 2011. 11:22 AM REPLY

what is the maximum voltage input if i change the regulators and also suppose i use a 30000uf 160v cap. i found it in an old train. the capacitor seems to
work pretty well.

grenadier says: Jan 18, 2011. 5:29 AM REPLY

At 160V all you need is a 3000uF cap. You'll need to power the modulation circuitry separately though since stepping down 160V might be a little tough.

Since this circuit uses a gate drive transformer, the mosfets and the circuitry don't even need to share a common ground for this to work. It's as simple as
doing this:

grenadier says: Jan 18, 2011. 5:31 AM REPLY

God damn jpeg nazis.

Here: http://teravolt.org/Plasma_Speaker_2_files/schem1.png

ARJOON says: Jan 18, 2011. 11:09 AM REPLY

oh you're so kind. when i connected a car sparkplug the quirking sound was gone however sound output was smaller

VadimS says: Jan 16, 2011. 12:36 AM REPLY

Sweet, as soon as I have the funds, I intend to duplicate it.
After that I'll try winding an air core transformer for it, better frequency response, but less efficient.

VadimS says: Jan 16, 2011. 6:22 AM REPLY

Hmm, an air core transformer may have little effect when you consider the pwm topology.

view all 142 comments

http://www.instructables.com/id/A-reliable-plasma-speaker/