HEAS 2020 looks really great from all the excellent shared pics.
One of Frank's pics shows Richard's argon wall. From the pic, I assume this is mainly for entertainment. Looks fascinating. Similar to a flattened plasma ball?
Richard, for those of us who didn't make it to HEAS 2020, can you describe what this argon wall device is?
Hope this question is OK in Images du Jour.
Richard's argon wall
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Rex Allers
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Richard's argon wall
Rex Allers
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Richard Hull
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Re: Richard's argon wall
Pretty much a monkey-see-monkey-do project. A frame of 2" PVC is constructed. Both sides of the frame are glued to flat plates of plexiglass. A hole is bored dead center in the rear plate which is externally painted flat back. Into this hole is force fitted with a small plexiglass tube and glued in with plastic cement of proper type. Through the bore of this tube a pointed SS rod of the small bore diameter is epoxied into the small plastic tube. the point should barely clear the plastic tube internally. Externally, out of the back of the tube about 3/4-inch of SS rod is used as a contact.
Another hole is bored into the upper rear corner of the rear panel with another plastic tube glued in place. (Gas hose inlet for Argon). Another plain, small hole is bored at any point in the panel (gas leak hole) I used a lower hole in one corner opposite the inlet. You now have an argon wall. Obviously, all holes are drilled and tubulations set in cement prior to gluing on the panels.
A suitable tank of argon with a medical steel ball oxygen feed gauge attached is connected to the inlet and the flow adjusted to less than 3-5 liters/min. Note: too much flow rate will blow the plates off the frame. You want to just displace the air over a short period with argon via the leak hole.
A very low power, 1 MHz tesla coil was used to drive SS rod. the sparks spread over the entire face as argon replaces the air inside. Use only impure, common tank argon which is very very cheap. This latter item will stop the great unwashed. A suitable tank will run about $160 or more for lifetime rights. (welding supply house in any big city) Refills are just a few bucks after that as the tank is now yours. The hospital flow meter is another acquisition that is interesting. This is wasteful of argon, but the stuff is cheap. Many sealed variants are possible but this is a simple rarely run system for wide eyed demos of the great unwashed. Run at HEAS, it was for entertainment of the good folks and fusioneers.
I now have 5 different sized argon tanks in the lab. (doesn't everyone?) Argon is a great gas to have on hand for the hands-on, advanced amateur scientist.
Folks into TIG welding will already have the argon tank on hand. I did not buy one single component for this system other than the argon tank back in 1995. Everything was on hand, picked up at hamfests over the 50 odd years of my frequenting about 13 different hamfest each year! One can accumulate a lifetime's worth of scientific gear this way.
As this is an image posting I will endeavor to add useful images below.
Richard Hull
Another hole is bored into the upper rear corner of the rear panel with another plastic tube glued in place. (Gas hose inlet for Argon). Another plain, small hole is bored at any point in the panel (gas leak hole) I used a lower hole in one corner opposite the inlet. You now have an argon wall. Obviously, all holes are drilled and tubulations set in cement prior to gluing on the panels.
A suitable tank of argon with a medical steel ball oxygen feed gauge attached is connected to the inlet and the flow adjusted to less than 3-5 liters/min. Note: too much flow rate will blow the plates off the frame. You want to just displace the air over a short period with argon via the leak hole.
A very low power, 1 MHz tesla coil was used to drive SS rod. the sparks spread over the entire face as argon replaces the air inside. Use only impure, common tank argon which is very very cheap. This latter item will stop the great unwashed. A suitable tank will run about $160 or more for lifetime rights. (welding supply house in any big city) Refills are just a few bucks after that as the tank is now yours. The hospital flow meter is another acquisition that is interesting. This is wasteful of argon, but the stuff is cheap. Many sealed variants are possible but this is a simple rarely run system for wide eyed demos of the great unwashed. Run at HEAS, it was for entertainment of the good folks and fusioneers.
I now have 5 different sized argon tanks in the lab. (doesn't everyone?) Argon is a great gas to have on hand for the hands-on, advanced amateur scientist.
Folks into TIG welding will already have the argon tank on hand. I did not buy one single component for this system other than the argon tank back in 1995. Everything was on hand, picked up at hamfests over the 50 odd years of my frequenting about 13 different hamfest each year! One can accumulate a lifetime's worth of scientific gear this way.
As this is an image posting I will endeavor to add useful images below.
Richard Hull
- Attachments
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- Detail of the abysmally simple back wall
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- This kind of gauge works very well with the argon wall
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- Frank's photo used to illustrate
- Me annot.jpg (121.74 KiB) Viewed 1635 times
Progress may have been a good thing once, but it just went on too long. - Yogi Berra
Fusion is the energy of the future....and it always will be
The more complex the idea put forward by the poor amateur, the more likely it will never see embodiment
Fusion is the energy of the future....and it always will be
The more complex the idea put forward by the poor amateur, the more likely it will never see embodiment