Violet Ray Machine

thinkchronicity

Member (SA)
Jul 5, 2018
176
33
28
Surrey, UK
Picked up one of these yesterday. These are nuts! Right back in the 19th century it feels, the sound, the light. Anyone else got one and use it?
In the pic the chain is emi suppressor, variac, dim bulb tester, adaptor (American Renulife 110v model K, and i'm in UK) and finally i can plug it in.
Plan to use it a lot, just like Tesla haha.IMG_20231114_111814_3.jpg
 

Radio raheem

Member (SA)
May 13, 2009
4,970
921
113
uk
so what is it a variac if so these can be very useful for testing old gear before applying full load
 

thinkchronicity

Member (SA)
Jul 5, 2018
176
33
28
Surrey, UK
Floyd you should definitely get acquainted with these then - you can safely shock yourself...unless you're drunk or have a pacemaker apparently. Firing this up alone with no in-person training was a little alarming. In fact my first thought was this is like something out of a horror movie.

Raheem, yeah a 2A variac going on there. Violet rays rarely have on/off or fuses so i figured the dim bulb might save the Tesla coil should the capacitor short out. Someone's been in before me and changed the cap for a modern one, so should be ok. I'm just testing the dim bulb unit which is new too. If you get an old unrestored one you should watch out for the unpolarized plug and change it, otherwise it's Russian Roulette when you plug in the all metal electrode...
 

Radio raheem

Member (SA)
May 13, 2009
4,970
921
113
uk
I was always fascinated by electrical machines from the late 1800s and the early 1900s but I was always afraid to mess with them because I would just shock the crap out of myself lol.
i did when i was about 10 and was blown off the stage i was on lol
 

Cpl-Chronic

Member (SA)
May 14, 2012
2,029
31
48
Windsor, Ontario, CANADA
I can tell you this don't ever pull the spark plug wire off an American V8 while it's running lol. I did and I thought my ass was going to land on the moon I jumped so f****** high.
Lucky you didn't die. lol...It's about 20,000-40,000 volts. Luckily, the current is in milliamps but still could kill you if you have a weak heart.