Plasma Ball

Corbin · 09-20-2005, 04:22 AM

I took a plasma ball that I got at walmart and cut off the two prong power plug, and soldered on a four pin adapter (so it could go into my power supply, and could go into my computer) like shown here..... http://www.overclockers.com/tips1066/
I plugged it into my computer and it doesnt work.... does anyone know why it wont work?? Could I have done something wrong? Or does my power supply not give enough power to the plasma ball??

**dragon2309** · 09-20-2005, 04:06 PM

Well, power consumpitn could be a problem but perhaps not, are you sure you connected the + to + and the - to -, not the other way round, it wont work if you do, because the palsma ball relies on the central column to be charged positively, if it is connected to a - then its not gonna work.

Check all your connections, are you sure the plasma ball even worked in the first place??

Corbin · 09-21-2005, 01:29 AM

the plasma ball did work (I made sure of that before i did it).... there is a red and a black wire.... Black is negative right?? If it is I connected it to the center

. I will see if it works. (I hope it does)

Corbin · 09-21-2005, 02:52 AM

I put the right chords in the right spots and it still doesnt work.... could it be that it is not getting enough power??
I honestly dont know what this means (I dont know anything about how a light bulb operates in full detail) but the box says:
4w
120v:60Hz
Im geussing it has to do with power consumtion....
should a four pin plug on a power supply be able to supply enough power to the plasma ball? If not is there another type of plug on a standard computer power supply that will supply enough??

**dragon2309** · 09-21-2005, 04:03 PM

only 12v comes out of a 4pin molex, you need some kind of transformer or something, or a plasma ball that uses 12v...

**Archangel** · 09-21-2005, 06:14 PM

was there actually a power converter in the socket of the plasme bal?

it would be a heavy piece of metal. if not,. the ball works on 120V 60Hz, so it will never work on the PSU.
however.. you could put a relay on the +12v rail, and swicht the 120V to the plasma bal with that

)

**dragon2309** · 09-21-2005, 07:01 PM

Basically your plasma ball is too power demanding, you need a 12v one, not 120v.

Rick G · 09-21-2005, 08:53 PM

Why not replace the "4 Prong" with the original 2 prong connector and run tha power cord out the back of the case?

**Archangel** · 09-21-2005, 09:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Archangel

however.. you could put a relay on the +12v rail, and swicht the 120V to the plasma bal with that

)

like i said

Corbin · 09-21-2005, 09:49 PM

Sorry guys... I dont know anything about electricity terms.... can you please explain

Quote:

however.. you could put a relay on the +12v rail, and swicht the 120V to the plasma bal with that )

in "newby" terms. I need this quickly becuase I want something to do when the Hurricane comes (I'm kinda excited) -and yes.... I live in texas

09-20-2005, 04:22 AM	#1 (permalink)
Corbin Silver Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Age: 18 Posts: 106	Plasma Ball I took a plasma ball that I got at walmart and cut off the two prong power plug, and soldered on a four pin adapter (so it could go into my power supply, and could go into my computer) like shown here..... http://www.overclockers.com/tips1066/ I plugged it into my computer and it doesnt work.... does anyone know why it wont work?? Could I have done something wrong? Or does my power supply not give enough power to the plasma ball?? __________________ Thermaltake Tsunami case BFG Tech 7800 GT Asus A8V-E Deluxe M/B AMD X2 4800 2 GB RAM Seagate Barracuda 160GB Hard Drive Seagate Barracuda 250GB Hard Drive Liquid Cooling System -Corbin-

09-20-2005, 04:06 PM	#2 (permalink)
dragon2309 P.I Dragon Join Date: May 2005 Location: KENT, UK Age: 19 Posts: 8,332	Well, power consumpitn could be a problem but perhaps not, are you sure you connected the + to + and the - to -, not the other way round, it wont work if you do, because the palsma ball relies on the central column to be charged positively, if it is connected to a - then its not gonna work. Check all your connections, are you sure the plasma ball even worked in the first place?? __________________ Intel Core2Duo E6600 @ 3.1Ghz - (__CPU__) eVGA 680i SLi - (__MOB__) 4Gb Corsair Dominator DDR2-800 (4x1024Mb) - (__RAM__) 250Gb Western Digital SATAII 7200rpm - (__HDD__) nVidia BFG 8800GTS OC 320Mb - (__GFX__) LG DVD+/-RW 18x DVD-RAM - (__OPT__) Triple Boot - [XP Pro] + [Vista Ultimate] + [Ubuntu 7.10] - (__OS__) [3DMARK'03 :: 25,587] --- [3DMARK'05 :: 13,989] --- [3DMARK'06 :: 8791] - (__BENCHMARKS__) dragon2309.co.uk - a little slice of geek

09-21-2005, 01:29 AM	#3 (permalink)
Corbin Silver Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Age: 18 Posts: 106	the plasma ball did work (I made sure of that before i did it).... there is a red and a black wire.... Black is negative right?? If it is I connected it to the center . I will see if it works. (I hope it does) __________________ Thermaltake Tsunami case BFG Tech 7800 GT Asus A8V-E Deluxe M/B AMD X2 4800 2 GB RAM Seagate Barracuda 160GB Hard Drive Seagate Barracuda 250GB Hard Drive Liquid Cooling System -Corbin- Last edited by Corbin; 09-21-2005 at 01:37 AM.

09-21-2005, 02:52 AM	#4 (permalink)
Corbin Silver Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Age: 18 Posts: 106	I put the right chords in the right spots and it still doesnt work.... could it be that it is not getting enough power?? I honestly dont know what this means (I dont know anything about how a light bulb operates in full detail) but the box says: 4w 120v:60Hz Im geussing it has to do with power consumtion.... should a four pin plug on a power supply be able to supply enough power to the plasma ball? If not is there another type of plug on a standard computer power supply that will supply enough?? __________________ Thermaltake Tsunami case BFG Tech 7800 GT Asus A8V-E Deluxe M/B AMD X2 4800 2 GB RAM Seagate Barracuda 160GB Hard Drive Seagate Barracuda 250GB Hard Drive Liquid Cooling System -Corbin-

09-21-2005, 04:03 PM	#5 (permalink)
dragon2309 P.I Dragon Join Date: May 2005 Location: KENT, UK Age: 19 Posts: 8,332	only 12v comes out of a 4pin molex, you need some kind of transformer or something, or a plasma ball that uses 12v... __________________ Intel Core2Duo E6600 @ 3.1Ghz - (__CPU__) eVGA 680i SLi - (__MOB__) 4Gb Corsair Dominator DDR2-800 (4x1024Mb) - (__RAM__) 250Gb Western Digital SATAII 7200rpm - (__HDD__) nVidia BFG 8800GTS OC 320Mb - (__GFX__) LG DVD+/-RW 18x DVD-RAM - (__OPT__) Triple Boot - [XP Pro] + [Vista Ultimate] + [Ubuntu 7.10] - (__OS__) [3DMARK'03 :: 25,587] --- [3DMARK'05 :: 13,989] --- [3DMARK'06 :: 8791] - (__BENCHMARKS__) dragon2309.co.uk - a little slice of geek

09-21-2005, 06:14 PM	#6 (permalink)
Archangel Moderator Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Netherlands Age: 21 Posts: 7,868	was there actually a power converter in the socket of the plasme bal? it would be a heavy piece of metal. if not,. the ball works on 120V 60Hz, so it will never work on the PSU. however.. you could put a relay on the +12v rail, and swicht the 120V to the plasma bal with that ) __________________ Newton is dead, Einstein is dead, I don't feel very well either Xfire - Mirrari Intel Q6600 ( @3.6GHz) Asus Triton 79 Amazing 549/3200 4x 1Gb Corsair XMS2 DDR800 ( @ 960MHz ) Asus Maximus Formula Asus & Sapphire HD3870 512Mb Corsair HX620W PSU

09-21-2005, 07:01 PM	#7 (permalink)
dragon2309 P.I Dragon Join Date: May 2005 Location: KENT, UK Age: 19 Posts: 8,332	Basically your plasma ball is too power demanding, you need a 12v one, not 120v. __________________ Intel Core2Duo E6600 @ 3.1Ghz - (__CPU__) eVGA 680i SLi - (__MOB__) 4Gb Corsair Dominator DDR2-800 (4x1024Mb) - (__RAM__) 250Gb Western Digital SATAII 7200rpm - (__HDD__) nVidia BFG 8800GTS OC 320Mb - (__GFX__) LG DVD+/-RW 18x DVD-RAM - (__OPT__) Triple Boot - [XP Pro] + [Vista Ultimate] + [Ubuntu 7.10] - (__OS__) [3DMARK'03 :: 25,587] --- [3DMARK'05 :: 13,989] --- [3DMARK'06 :: 8791] - (__BENCHMARKS__) dragon2309.co.uk - a little slice of geek

09-21-2005, 08:53 PM	#8 (permalink)
Rick G Gold Member Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Las Vegas, USA Posts: 294	Why not replace the "4 Prong" with the original 2 prong connector and run tha power cord out the back of the case? __________________ New Sys Abit AW9D Max OCZ Plat @ x 1gig OCZ Gamextreme 600 PSU 8800 GTS 640 sony dvd burner WD 200 gig sata hdd Thermaltake shark case Viewsonic 22" widescreen

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode