Kombucha! It’s a delicious fermented beverage that is kind to your digestive system and often sold in glass bottles. You don’t just have to use those bottles for healthy drinks, though. As [Simranjit Singh] demonstrates, you can also use them to create your very own plasma tube.
[Simranjit’s] build begins with a nice large 1.4-liter kombucha bottle from the Synergy brand. To make the plasma tube nicely symmetrical, the bottle had its original spout cut off cleanly with a hot wire, with the end then sealed with a glass cap. Electrodes were installed in each end of the tube by carefully drilling out the glass and installing small bolts. They were sealed in place with epoxy laced with aluminium oxide in order to improve the dielectric strength and aid the performance of the chamber. A vacuum chamber was then used to evacuate air from inside the chamber. Once built, [Simranjit] tested the bottle with high voltage supplied from a flyback transformer, with long purple arcs flowing freely through the chamber.
A plasma tube may not be particularly useful beyond educational purposes, but it does look very cool. We do enjoy a nice high-voltage project around these parts, after all.
So, the beverage is the important part here? Must be Kombucha, but the material of the bottle is irrelevant? Interesting.
It’s the only way to maintain a healthy plasma biome.
They are a thicker glass than many bottles, it makes it a good choice. The instructables only calls for a thick glass bottle, they happened to use a kombucha bottle.
Thicker glass?
Is it? Perhaps if they used a list of specifications, and followed up with their off the shelf choice it could be easily understood, instead of applying assumptions about which materials would be best.
Also, plenty of plasma toys have plastic, do they have a vacuum, or just an inert gas?
From a safety perspective, random glass bottle off the shelf is very questionable, perhaps there is a better choice of configuration.
Blah blah blah. Yeah, kombucha bottles are thick. You can pull a vacuum on one, it’s fine. Vacuum rated glass is expensive, just hide behind something the first time you evacuate the bottle. No pop and you’re gucci.
That’s rather dangerous. Those electrodes will heat up and that could cause the glass to crack from any chips around the holes. If the glass cracks, the bottle will implode and send glass chunks flying around the room.
Do you drive or ride any form of mechanized vehicle?
Yes glass under a vacuum with high voltage is scary please for the love of God never look how a basic light bulb is made
Most lightbulbs are filled with inert gas at only slightly less than atmospheric pressure. They certainly don’t have holes drilled in them with chipped edges to create a place for a crack to start.
Pulling a vacuum on glass containers that are not intended to hold a vacuum is sketchy. At least wear some leather gloves and eye protection if you are going to mess with something like this.
Life is dangerous;
Sometimes a helmet, or other protective device is required.
Danger is fun.