Hi everyone!

 

I got a small plasma ball off eBay in April. I have it on a timer so its on from about 7:00PM to midnight. Over time, I have begun to notice that it doesn't seem to be as vibrant as it used to be. Is there some component that will slowly die after awhile or after a certain amount of use, or is there something wrong with it?

It's most likely that the high voltage source in your plasma globe is wearing out or that the frequency of the high voltage source has drifted away from some optimal point.

 

I once had a plasma globe that included two pots. One to select audio sensivity, the other altered the operating frequency. Yours may have the same.

 

If it were a problem with the leaking gas (in or out), you'd see a dramatic change in it's intensity, but what you describe is a slow change, so most likely not.

what's a plasma ball?

what's a plasma ball?

 

Well, the sun is one, as well as 99% of the matter in the universe, but I'm guessing he means something more like this:

 

http://www.egglescliffe.org.uk/physics/fun/plasma/plasma.html

Thanks mmalluck,

 

I think it probably is what you said, it only has an On/Off and a sensitivity switch, which is turned up all the way.

 

If I got another one, would this same problem happen or might that one not experience this problem?

if it`s an identical model and make, then it may suffer the same design flaw, so yes quite possibly.

a Different one may not though, I have one here that`s been in use now for over 6 years, and it`s as "good" as it ever was.

the only part that takes any real "Stress" in that cct is the drive transistor for the step-up coil, other than that, there isn`t really much active to wear out per se.

Thanks YT2095

 

I was thinking that if I got another one it wouldn't be the same one so that answers my question.

Is there any way to get the ball to return to how it was like before it wore out?