Amazing plasma globe tricks that you never knew before!!!

On this instructable, I will show you what thing can react to the plasma globe.

I find just looking and touching a plasma globe kinda boring, I wanted to do something more fun with the plasma globe.
Some times later, I saw a short video on You Tube about a florescent tube lighting up when placed near the plasma globe, I was surprised that the florescent tube glows near the plasma globe without any physical electric contact!
So I started experimenting with my plasma globe with gas discharge tubes and some solid-state things. And it is amazing how some things reacted to the electric fields that is created by the plasma globe.

Please note that I am only 15 years old and I am not very good at grammar so if you find some parts of the instructable confusing, please let me know and I will try fix it.

Step 1: Get the things!!

The thing you must have is the plasma globe itself, you can use any plasma globe you have - from little tiny USB plasma globe all the way to the gigantic laboratory plasma globe, the plasma globe I used is called "Plasma 360".
Also you need some more things if you want more fun out of your plasma globe...

Get some of those thing you have around your house! I am very sure you have one of any of those things in your house!
- florescent tube (any size will do)
- Energy saver lamp (compact fluorescent bulb) (any type will do)
- Cold cathode tube (any color and type will do)
- Xenon tube (you can find one inside a disposable flash camera)
- neon bulb (I used some tiny ones)
- LED's (use cheap junk LED's, you will find out later in this instructable)
- LCD screen (I used one from broken electronics)

You could also try experiment using other things like...
- Neon sign

And some more things...
- Aluminum foil
- A big nail
- A long piece of wire
- any thing that is paper (like paper towel, tissue, wrapping paper and so on...)

OK, before we move on, please note that I an NOT responsible for any damage you have done to your things with your plasma globe and also plasma globes are high voltage devices so I am NOT responsible if you harm your self in any way from the plasma globe. And one more thing, be reasonable and have fun!!

Step 2: Gas discharge tube fun

Once you got some gas discharge tubes, flick the switch "ON" on the plasma globe and place a tube near the plasma globe and sit back and enjoy the fascinating glows from the tubes... Pretty cool eh?

- The florescent tube does not glow so brightly but surprising enough that it glows without any physical electric contract! Energy saver lamps (compact fluorescent bulb)will do same thing what florescent tube does. Please beware that some types of energy saver's ballast will "die" after being exposed the electric fields from the plasma globe, so maybe use a "dead" energy saver lamp if you don't want to risk killing your good one.

- Any neon bulbs should have an orange glow, you could try put your neon sign near the plasma globe and see what happens...

- The xenon tubes should have an eerie blue glow.

- The cold cathode I have glows brightly, brighter than the white florescent tubes.

Step 3: Solid-state things fun

Now try putting some solid-state things near the plasma globe and see what happens...

- The LED's may or may not glow and use cheap LED's because the LED's may die after being with the plasma globe. I had already lost two white LED's that cost me $3.00 each, so be careful on what LED's you use.

- The LCD screen should show digits or something. Now take the LCD screen far away from the plasma globe and notice what happened to the LCD screen? The LCD screen still shows digits! And the digits on the LCD screen will soon disappear...

Step 4: Dangerous fun!!!

Now this is a dangerous fun part!
Turn off your plasma globe and cover your plasma globe with aluminum foil and turn the plasma globe on again...
Now you need a wire that is connected to the earth ground. Get an big nail (I used a glow plug) and wrap some wire around the nail. Then stick the nail with wire wrapped on it in the soil outside. There now you have a source of earth ground, that will be used for your plasma globe experiments!
OK, bring the earth ground wire very close (but not touching) to the plasma globe with foil on it and you will get teeny tiny purple arks. Now put a piece of paper very close to the ark and it should burn or even catch on fire!!! (Sorry no picture of this happing)
OK, you had done that fun bit, but now what happens if you connect the gas discharge tubes and solid-state things to the plasma globe with foil and earth ground?? Obviously it will glow brighter! Take a look at the pictures down below! Also I recommend that you do not do this to the energy saver lamps and LCD screen as it might get damaged.

Be careful not to touch the foil of the active plasma globe because you may get nasty RF burns and damage your nerve cells, although you may not feel any pain if you let the arks jump from the plasma globe with foil to your finger because the plasma globe operates at high frequency and our nerves cannot detect such frequency, so be careful.

Step 5: Plasma 360 experiments...

Now let your imagination loose... Try experiment with other things, like what happens if you put a cell phone (use a broken one) with a screen near the plasma globe? Will the screen light up? who knows...

Have fun with your plasma globe!!
I hope you enjoyed this instructable!

Question, idea, help, or something? Make an comment!

Step 6: (UPDATE) What happens if you put the neodymium magnets near the...

(UPDATE)
What happens if you put the neodymium magnets near the plasma globe???
I had been told that if you put strong magnet near the plasma globe, the arks supposed to do something strange... So I brought 100 1/4 x 1/4 N38 rod neodymium magnets from Power Magnet Store ( http://www.powermagnetstore.com/ ).
When my order finally arrived, I put a cube of 100 magnets on top of my plasma globe and guess what happen... _Nothing the arks is doing nothing but it is attracted to the magnets because of its conductivity. Oh well, it was a worth try (or am I doing something wrong? Please tell me if you know what am I doing wrong.)

I now wanted to know if a plasma ark inside a xenon tube will do anything interesting if I put my magnets near the tubes, so I am going to do that experiment...
I covered my plasma globe aluminum foil. I connected one end of the xenon tube to the plasma globe and the other end of the xenon tube to the earth ground.
Then I turned on my plasma globe and the xenon tube is making an ark inside of it, and I put a cube of 100 magnets near the tube and what happened? The ark inside the tube move and wiggled due to the magnetic force from the magnets. Yaay, the ark inside the xenon tube is affected by the magnets!
But I don't understand, the arks inside the plasma globe are not affected by the magnets? (I guess its because the arks are always moving about in the plasma globe.)

Comments

[asellers]

I have found a large peace of cloth or paper towel (enough to cover most of the top half) lightly soaked in saltwater to be more effective than the foil. Just be sure you don't let anything inside the globe get wet!

[runfromnuke]

You sound like a reincarnation (figure of speech) of Nikola Tesla. If you get the chance, you should read up on him.

Plasma balls like this one are basically a miniature version of Wardenclyffe Tower (a giant tesla coil). That tower would have sent electricity to most of the Eastern sea-board if Edison and J.P. Morgan hadn't had it blown up.

Keep it up! I look forward to reading more of your experiments and ibles.

[acronum]

The Wardenclyffe Tower was a full scale test subject, which could be put into service. Funding dried up when a sponsor went bankrupt, and no more funding lead these to go to ruin. These Towers were highly inefficient, so they would have to have Towers every couple of miles. Tesla invented AC current.

He also worked for Edison.. And he developed his own version of the lightbulb that was easier to manufacture (and cheaper) because Edison didn't want him to use anything of his in the local fair, I think it was in New York, can't remember.

Tesla also made an earthquake machine, which would measure the harmonic frequency then would output that frequency to start breaking things. Like breaking glass with a crystal wine glass with water in it. Rumors had it that on Manhattan Island there was an earthquake, and cops broke into Tesla's lab to find him trying to turn it off with a sledge hammer LOL! The power button got stuck xD

[shouldawoulda]

Yeah that tesla dude was on e BAD Muther! They say he was born of and out of a spirit guide, who had connections with the other world, he could ,,fromt he help of his spirit guide , conjure up all kinds of strange anomalies. Now he is a car bulit in southern California, U.S.A

[EtCetera112]

Dude, ur completly BONKERS & CRAZY

[deathcreep9]

I covered my 8" plasma globe with foil and touched it with my finger. As long as you keep your finger against the foil, it only feels tingly, but if you put it a millimeter away, you feel the burn. You can touch a 12v incandescant bulb to the foil, too but only touch the glass. It makes purple arks in the bulb. I did the same thing with a big, antique bulb and it made an orange ark(that one gets really hot).

[XTL]

The magnetic field from the magnets will deform the arc. You can see this more clearly with a discharge tube like a piece of neon sign because its a straight line already. Inside the sphere its hard to see the effect - you can't get the magnets near the middle of an arc.

Incidentally the plasma sphere power supply is making high voltage at a high frequency. This is making a radiator or antenna. Voltage acts very differently at low and high frequencies. Look up "skin effect" to see one of the differences.

So any discharge tube bought near the plasma globe (which is acting as a voltage antenna) will cause it to glow.

For magnets - use a long tube and move the magnets around it. If you can find a tube with a nice thin discharge in it you will be able to see the results better than a soft broad discharge tube like a fluorescent. Check out the museum of Neon Art (neonmona.org) for more info on gases and their colours etc.

[mac241]

I put my plasma lamp next to my alarm clock, the clock went haywire.

[Psychopomp]

I might be wrong but i think what you're doing is called induction,..pretty nice

[Super_Nerd]

Induction is what he's doing because it is moving electricity with magnetism.

[plmqaz1243]

Electric toothbrush chargers use induction. Pretty nifty things, might make an 'ible about how to hack one. Or several hundred.

[jschaefer1]

i rubbed the plasma globe against the top of my digital alarm clock and it CHANGED the TIME!!! (:

[plmqaz1243]

You probably hit a button or something...
Actually, it messes with transistors and stuff like that. Probably will change the time.

[Super_Nerd]

High voltages and induction are important to time travel.

[Super_Nerd]

You should find a battery operated plasma globe and make lights come on as it passes them. That might need an induction coil that would be closer to you though...

[psimeone]

Agreed. I foresee some neat art projects in my future to display at various "Burning Man Regional Events" - (held outdoors for 3+ days) - battery operation would be key for such endeavors. Cool instructable for a 15 year old, if you ask me! You're gonna go far, kid. Thanks for sharing this.

[Super_Nerd]

Actually, I did rig my plasma globe to run off of two 9 volts. My 12 volt lantern battery was dead. :(

RIP 12v Lantern Battery

2010-When I needed it the most.

[thekiyote]

I stumbled upon this trick one day when I was dusting my room, and decided to dust my turned on plasma globe with a wet rag. Being fifteen at the time, after getting an arc to my hand, I tried using a finger nail instead. I had a nifty hole in the back of my finger nail for a few weeks after that. xD

[mcarrell]

Here's one:

Normally touching the globe doesn't shock you. Put a wet napkin on top of it. Then touch it barely on the wet part with the end of a key... !!!

[chewy3939]

When I turn on my globe, my I home goes nuts! The digit change rapidly and flash and stuff its really cool but freaky

[Super_Nerd]

So if I put a florescent tube near one of these I'd have a wireless power source?

[willrandship]

Sounds like a superpowered Van de Graff now, but those don't usually hurt people.

[aweis]

yes but van de graffs are wimpy compared to Tesla coils.

[willrandship]

That's why I was thinking this isn't really dangerous, since van de graffs have trouble building enough current to do any harm. Tesla coils are funner to play with, though! difference is, they shock between rods, where a van de graff shocks out from one, meaning you get half the potential in an otherwise identical setup.

[nutsandbolts_64]

I still remember when I was still a kid. I was playing with our plasma globe, and I was sticking modeling clay all over the thing! I then saw something weird. I was slowly bringing the clay to the surface, and I saw weird arcs.... ARCS I TELL YOU ARCS!!!!!! Any explanation?

[prspctv1]

After reading the comments here I better understand what the Plasma 360 is doing to my clock radio. I was a bit freaked out at first.

The clock (HoMedics) has a projector which displays the time on the ceiling of the room. I never use this feature but found that If the 360 gets within a foot of the radio the projector turns on until the 360 is moved away.

Needless to say, the 360 is no longer on the night stand next to my head. Just a precaution.

[NoxCor]

Yep did the magnet and color tv thing when I was 9 or 10.
could not sit down for a day without wincing.
Later found that a magnet will pull the picture of a black and white tv.
pretty silly but hey I was 10 and it was fun.

[mr monoply33]

Personal favorite of mine was always taking a coin, piece of paper, and another to burn the paper.

[Ellen the Generous]

To the author: I think what you've done is just created a power source. I'm not sure what you did with the LEDs but in some of your earlier images you've simply touched one end of a string of lights or something to the globe and the other end to ground. If you tried to do this with LEDs they have probably blown because diodes must be connected in series with a current-limiting component (a resistor) in any circuit because a diode will only drop a certain amount of potential.

[Addy771]

Actually, what's happening here is the plasma globe builds up an electromagnetic field, which induces a current in the tubes without physically needing to touch them! It's the same concept that transformers work on. The LEDs probably blew because of the very high voltage present

[moosetooth]

Nice!

[frixx]

i tried with a sony ericsson cell phone its not working anymore i tried putting the lamp near a (electric) guitar and its making strange noises but its cool

[randomapps]

if you want real danger build a tesla coil!

[techturtle2]

a plasmaglobe IS a tesla coil

[-max-]

then, conect a huge, bulky, plasma globe to that tesla coil and call it the LARGEST PLASMA GLOBE!!!!

[Plasmana]

I have already done, I got loads of little ones, and currently working on a medium size one :)

[unominame]

put your hand on the plasma globe and have some one else repeatedly tap your hand , your hand will get little shocks and it will feel really irritating, but the other person wont feel a thing

[wupme]

Try to put the magnets togheter "the way they don't want to" so force them. Then you get a stronger magnet. If you put them togheter like they want, then the magnetic field is much lower.

[BytePilot]

I think you've got this back to front. Magnets stuck together the way they "want to" reinforce each other* Magnets forced together cancel each other out. You can try this out easily with only a couple of magnets, put them togeterh one way, then the other. See which way picks up more paperclips. *unless you have them set up so they go around in a loop, then less of the field is free to act externally

[Plasmana]

That would be very difficult for the rod magnets, I need to get some sphere magnets...