A very... simple high voltage generator. Construction is very straight forward just observe the photographs supplied for transformer wiring to be sure you get the start and finish leads of the flyback transformer correctly wired. If you get them wrong the unit will not oscillate and generate the high voltage output. I would like to to be able to use this with a higher source power supply of up to 12 volts however I do not want to blow the power transistor as one reviewer has already observed can happen. The TO-225 cased power transistor that I received with this kit was completely unmarked so I do not know it's specs and maximum values. I will have to experiment more to determine a path to reliable 12 volt operation. The finished board running at approx 4 vdc provided a solid 3/8 in arc and probably would have jumped even a greater gap.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New
Important to look at front coil photo in adv...ertisement to figure out which transformer wire goes where on the board (remove insulation on wire ends). Very important to bend and solder on an 1/8 inch gap to the high voltage output wires the first thing (prevent coil breakdown). The only thing which could have been better:they could have labeled the transformer wires (with ink dots or stick on labels) . Took 15 minutes to build. Hooked it up to 4 volts (2 amp capability) and it worked perfectly. To run unit from 12volts, just drop the 12v down to 4volts with a regulator circuit. 12volt supply & a higher resistance base resistor fried the transistor the 2 times I tried it.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New
The kit was very easy to make and worked first ...time. The supply voltage seems to be very critical (3.7 - 4.2 volt) so I used a variable, regulated supply. Don't do this! Transients created by this kit can go back into the supply and blow semiconductors! Makes a great arc, and can ignite paper, etc. Awesome little kit. Just be careful what you power it with.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New
Do not buy this kit. It doe...s not work, and I am a certified electronics engineering Technologist, an electronics engineering professor and a Registered Professional Engineer (Electronics) in Alberta and Ontario. All the solder joints are PERFECT, the transformer, diode and transistor are perfect. I think that the design is wrong. There was NO schematic included with the kit, but I figured it out from other designs on the internet. This circuit DOES NOT RESONATE, and therefore, does not not can it ever work. Do not buy this kit.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New
The bag of parts may be OK, but there are no assembly instruc...tions with it. The transistor appears to be unmarked as to the collector, base and emitter. It will reguire some guess work to make it work.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New