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Light bulb question! Type for high voltage 300-600V cap discharge

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HueHue

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Well, I'm going to make a capacitor bank charger (Eventually) and I will use a test light. But, it will be high voltage (300-600), so, what light bulb could I use for it?
 

If I understand your question correctly, you want to discharge a capacitor discharge through a W-filament lamp. I suggest you use three 220V lamps in series.
 

No, I want to use the light bulb as a way to see if my capacitors are charged.... But, that idea probably would work with it in the charger too..
 

Check out how photo flashes work.
Set up a resistive voltage divider to divide down the fully charged capacitor voltage down to about 60 or 70 volts.
Place a neon light (NE-2 or similar), in parallel with the bottom resistor.

When the capacitor bank reaches its proper voltage, the neon will light up.
 
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    HueHue

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So, just to make sure I understand, the simple version of what you said is pretty much lower the voltage that goes to the light bulb?
 

Correct...... I looked up a NE-2 datasheet, and the actual firing voltage is 135 volts DC.
 
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schmitt trigger said:
Correct...... I looked up a NE-2 datasheet, and the actual firing voltage is 135 volts DC.
Click to expand...

Correction: 135 volt are for the high intensity lamps. NE-2H
For standard NE-2 lamps, the voltage is 90 volt DC
 
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If the discharge can be leisurely (which is usually the case)
and you don't feel a need to burn a whole lot of power in
that lamp string, consider a LED with a large value series
resistor.
 
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    HueHue

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You can charge a capacitor bank upto 300-600V very easily in the following steps:

1. Use a diode to rectify the line voltage. If the input in 220VAC, the output will be above 300V. You will need a voltage doubler to get 600V. This is the DC voltage to be used to charge the capacitor bank.

2. Connect the capacitor bank to this voltage in series with a filament lamp. When the capacitor is getting charged, the lamp will light and when the charging is over, the lamp will go out.

3. You can also use the same lamp to discharge the capacitor bank. Just short the ends of the capacitor via a filament lamp.

4. For 600V use, you may perhaps need (depends on the capacity of the capacitor bank) two filament lamps in series. The wattage of the lamps is not critical but the voltage is.
 

schmitt trigger said:
Correction: 135 volt are for the high intensity lamps. NE-2H
For standard NE-2 lamps, the voltage is 90 volt DC
Click to expand...
Ok! Thanks for the help!

dick_freebird said:
If the discharge can be leisurely (which is usually the case)
and you don't feel a need to burn a whole lot of power in
that lamp string, consider a LED with a large value series
resistor.
Click to expand...
Uhh, I don't really know what you mean here, but I already have a plan...

c_mitra said:
You can charge a capacitor bank upto 300-600V very easily in the following steps:

1. Use a diode to rectify the line voltage. If the input in 220VAC, the output will be above 300V. You will need a voltage doubler to get 600V. This is the DC voltage to be used to charge the capacitor bank.

2. Connect the capacitor bank to this voltage in series with a filament lamp. When the capacitor is getting charged, the lamp will light and when the charging is over, the lamp will go out.

3. You can also use the same lamp to discharge the capacitor bank. Just short the ends of the capacitor via a filament lamp.

4. For 600V use, you may perhaps need (depends on the capacity of the capacitor bank) two filament lamps in series. The wattage of the lamps is not critical but the voltage is.
Click to expand...
Ok! Thanks! I don't really need a new way to discharge it, considering my entire use for it is making a railgun..
 

Agree with the above ^^^, a good reliable indicator would be an NE2 neon and a 1 meg high voltage (1 or 2 watt) resistor.
If its alight, its very likely that dangerous voltages are still present.
It does not need to be fancy, just rock solid reliable.

Another way might be a cheap and nasty analog voltmeter permanently connected.
Or maybe both.............
 
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c_mitra said:
By the way, what is a railgun? I know what is a rail and what is a gun, but the combination is ...
Click to expand...

The answer to that question:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Railgun

Warpspeed said:
Agree with the above ^^^, a good reliable indicator would be an NE2 neon and a 1 meg high voltage (1 or 2 watt) resistor.
If its alight, its very likely that dangerous voltages are still present.
It does not need to be fancy, just rock solid reliable.

Another way might be a cheap and nasty analog voltmeter permanently connected.
Or maybe both.............
Click to expand...

Ok then :)
 

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