500,000 Volt Lightning Tower

In this video I'll show how i use a diode-capacitor chain to boost 9,000 volts AC to over 500,000 volts DC. This is known as a "Cockroft-Walton" type generator, and was used to generate high energy discharges for early particle accelerators.

It looks very similar to a Tesla coil, but it's sort of the exact opposite, because it outputs DC instead of AC. This gives it a unique capability that a Tesla coil doesn't have - it can produce static electricity. In fact, at 500kV, some objects can be given enough static charge to repel each other like magnets. It'll pull your hair toward it from across the room - similar to a Van de Graaf generator, but much more powerful.

The input to the multiplier is 9,000 volts peak at around 50 kHz from a flyback transformer i wound myself being driven by a ZVS driver with a 24-volt supply from a 6S LiPo battery. I've covered the ZVS driver in several of my other videos, so I didn't bother to do so in this one.

If you're thinking of recreating this project, just keep in mind that a discharge from this device is far more dangerous than an arc from a Tesla coil. The current from a Tesla coil will travel along the outer surface of your skin because of the high frequency AC - usually in the hundreds of kHz. The DC discharge from this multiplier will go straight through your body. Always make sure to use a long, non-conductive (DO NOT use wood!!) stick with a solid connection to ground when you're making arcs, and when you're finished, keep the electrodes shorted together for a minute or so to ensure any residual charge has bled off.

Capacitors and diodes are just cheap units off of amazon:

20 kV / 100 mA diodes:
https://www.amazon.com/2CL2FM-100mA-V...

20 kV / 1 nF capacitors
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07V3XMHHL

Music Used:

Kevin MacLeod - Lobby Time
Kevin MacLeod - Hard Boiled
Kevin MacLeod - Groove Groove