Building a Van De Graaff HIGH VOLTAGE Generator

Brush points need to be roughly 1/16" from the belt NOT touching!!!

Top needs just to be covered in TEFLON tape, bottom metal tape.

The top roller should rotate on bearings NOT fixed, it should be crowed in the center a little by covering it with a thick layer of teflon pipe thread tape putting extra in the center. The lower roller should be covered with aluminum or copper duct tape. This will result in the longest sparks with the top spare being negative, discharge to a grounded small ball (maybe only an inch diameter, the top hollow sphere needs to be as large in diameter as possible.

Oh, hey! What do you reckon about using an old soft leather belt, stitched together into a continuous loop? I believe some of the earlier Van De Graff designs used leather belts?

Chris Talbot

Sorry for all of the trouble I put you through :D. But I'm still a believer in the pantyhose!

I have a few suggestions for how you could improve this... but I suspect that you won't be taking this generator apart again now... :)

Chris Talbot

I just took the step to become a Patron, finally. I've heard a lot about it, but this guy certainly deserves the support! I love the hilarious delivery of such great educational content.

I'm wondering if the gap between the sharp edges and the tape is allowing some charge to escape. Perhaps you could eek a little more out of this by going over all the edges with a belt sander and rounding them off nice and smooth.

Jesus Christ man, you are terrifying me with those saws!

Kenneth Carlile

Hi, when will the giveaway winner for 117 inches of PVC pipe be announced?

then the belt wouldn't touch the PVC! everything would be oily

ElectroBOOM [Mehdi Sadaghdar]

probably... but I guess I learned more this way

ElectroBOOM [Mehdi Sadaghdar]

rather than having the PVC contact being the top roller, why not have a pvc bar touch it on the side so it doesn't have to be load bearing and moving. you can also rub the aluminum foil to make it much smoother. The back of a spoon works well as a burnishing tool.

Quatch

There are VdG generator kits for sale. I wonder if you would have been better off buying one and trying to improve on it. They sell replacement belts too.

Wikipedia talks about using exotic pressurized gasses to get higher outputs. In high voltage transformers on power lines, they use a mineral oil-filled drum to insulate better than air. What would happen if you ran your generator inside an oil tank?

Pretty good video. I hope you are not using power tools the way you show on your YouTube video. Each scene was a disaster waiting to happen! We like to see all your fingers in all future videos.

Bahram Dahi

I would love to see a Wimshurst Generator built they are so unique looking

Hey I commented on the video on youtube but I figure you may be more likely to see it here. - "The Van De Graaff generator we had at my old HS had a upper and lower rubber coated belt tubes that were on bearing rollers. There was a comb at the top to the dome and then another comb at the bottom connected to the earth ground of the outlet. I dont know if it would generate more or less static having the upper one rolling but it seems like it wouldnt be stripping some of the electrons off into the frame like a solid upper would(Im thinking it rubbing like that acts as its own comb). The commercial generator seems to isolate the belt as much as possible from the frame"

Right? What could he do with a dozen pantyhose, a couple laden jar capacitors, a nice big HV inductor and a gigantic field effect transistor or two?

Great f#$&@%g video!!! Can you build a monster toroidal transformer?

When I fixing or making some electronic, I have same mess around me😁 This is a "creative mess"😁 Regards From Poland😊 Nice scope by the way!

Ok since you did the Van de Graaff, you gotta complete the trilogy. Wimshurst Generator and Kelvin Water Drop Generator are next :)

Faraz Sadrzadeh

THE WORKOUT PART HAHAHAHAH Anyway... Thanks Mehdi for your scientific contribute on YouTube. Continue like this. 👋🏻 From Italy 🇮🇹🇮🇹🇮🇹

Ima build one of these. Also GIMME DAT SCOPE!

Daan Prinsze

Could you pick more charges if the Van Der Graff generator was wider?

Steven da Silva

Nice! I think I'll try this build myself! Looks like fun....minimal pain and not too dangerous!

Thank you for not giving up, I loved this build and plan to do it with my kids!!!

What an awesome video! Really enjoyed the safe use of those power tools ;-) Are you automaticly in the draw as a patreon?

This was a really great video, very enjoyable to watch while... sitting. You really need a workbench for these kind of projects; cutting and sawing with electrical tools on your lap is not recommendable! Oh, and I’d LOVE to win one of thise awesome Keysight scopes!!!

Awesome video! I feel your pain on making messes in the house because I live in a small condo so don't have a proper work area.

Is it just me that winces every time Medhi picks up a power tool or something sharp? (Great vid, as always, BTW!!)

Yes, very usefull as instructions to show the kids how not to do it :)

Marco Vujevic

Don't worry! I'm a professional misuser! For example I can type super fast with one finger per hand! Sometime you just get very good in wrong ways...

ElectroBOOM [Mehdi Sadaghdar]

3D print something for 10 hours just to realize I screwed up and cut it open?!

ElectroBOOM [Mehdi Sadaghdar]

You might be right. There are too many factors that could improve it. But I'm getting >4" arcs eventually. So enough for me!

ElectroBOOM [Mehdi Sadaghdar]

To avoid it being a raffle, I have to make it free to public. But maybe once in a while I have a gift for patrons that I won't announce to public.

ElectroBOOM [Mehdi Sadaghdar]

I see you don't want to watch the video! It ended up being a pantyhose

ElectroBOOM [Mehdi Sadaghdar]

I think you need be a bit more careful with those power tools. One simple slip and you might be without a limb.

You can undue PVC pipe fittings that have been glued with a hot air gun. Why don't you utilize your 3d printer!??

I'm not cleaning that mess.. Have enough of my own...

Holy crap you scare me with your tool use but I'm glad you persisted and made it work.

I don't think you're doing yourself any favours by making your posts out of PVC pipe ... I suspect you have significant leakage and charge cancellation from the top to the bottom. Something more neutral like wooden dowel might provide more charge isolation and bigger gaps... and well... its all about bigger gaps, right?

So there is no giveaway for patrons only?

Johnny Legbone

What is the belt made of