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circuit converse High voltage AC to DC


nametc3

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I know how to take Medium voltage AC and turn it into high voltage DC.
the circuit is called a Cockroft Walton Voltage Multiplier.

Build a HV Rectifier?  Hummm.  Lets see, at 50V max breakdown per diode,
it would take a stack of at least 1000 1N4001 diodes in series (with a loss of
1100 volts loss in forward Knee voltages) to turn 50Kv ac into 50KV DC.
Of course you would be limited to 1 Amp current and you would need a HECK of a
capacitor stack to smooth out that ripple.

But hey, in bulk 1000 diodes only costs $40.00 us.  Humm The lead free solder to string them all together might cost more though.

I am sure there are much higher rated diodes out there but you get the idea.
Find a 10KV diode and you will only need 5 of them.  Here is a picture from
A surplus site of a 5kv Diode.  They cost about $35.00 used.  (Surplus Sales.com)
-Mike

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It seems my dry wit is lost on this board. ::)

My selection of the 1N4001 was meant to be funny and informative.
The 4001 is arguably the most common diode in electronics. 
I used the most common element to demonstrate the method of
Stacking diodes to get higher voltage ratings.

Sure I could have used a much higher value diode but where
Would be the humor in that ?

At the end I did suggest (And even showed a picture of) high value Diodes
that could be used but that didn't seem in the spirit of the question.

The ‘One Part’ answer is something like the
BR412-50-xx
(Where xx is 5,10, or 25 for the number of MilliAmps you want)
It’s about 5 inches long and 1/4in Dia.
Made by a company called ‘EDAL Industries’
Located in East Haven, Connecticut. USA.
Their phone number is (203) 467-2591
They do have a web site but no way to buy
Product online.  I have yet to locate a distributor.

I don’t know the cost of the unit but I’ll bet it’s
Not cheap.

To be fair, Nametc3 did say he wanted to ‘MAKE’ a HV rectifier
Not buy one.  So Nah.  :P

Now I have to go back to popping 10ga wires like little fuses, Can you say 'Arc Flash explosion?'  Weeeee

-Mike

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Hi Mike,

Believe me, I was laughing during the last post! ;D
You haven’t appeared like you where stupid before so I guessed where you where going with it. It was an obvious worst case scenario of curse! :D

BTW, could we be sure that 1000 of the 50V diodes would survive 50kV? Will the voltage in such a circuit divide equally over the diodes (50V over each)?  ;)

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Did I mention arc Flash?    ;D

Yea, getting a High voltage DC from a High voltage AC is a bit of an odditty.
Usually if you want a High voltage you are not working with electronics so much as you are working in physics.

Particle accelerators, Tesla Coils, Beam and ray generators.  These all fit under the 'Crazy uncle Bubba' catagory of home hobby technology. Once you do have that much DC voltage I can't think of too many things to do with it.  It's hard to contain, there are few devices that can handle let alone modifiy it and you can't even convert it back down to a lower voltage because it won't go through a transformer anymore.

Humm, This only thing I can see doing with that much DC is to discharge it through some sort of equipment that needs high EMF to break down a dielectric barrier.

Who knows maybe he is building the first 50KV PNP transistor.  you know, three carbon rods fused into a silicon glass orb maybe?

I always wanted to build a fish tank sized Triode for a science fair project, I could not evacuate a fish tank enough though, the glass cracked.  I guess I could ahve put pyrex supports inside but hey, Live and learn.

-Mike
 

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