I've always loved the slightly mystical technology of ionisers. When I was a kid I asked for one for Christmas and had it open within hours.
When you turn an ioniser on it makes virtually no noise - just a faint hiss from the needles. There are no flashing lights and nothing moves. Maybe this is why the marketing of these things got a bit too creative. People were told that if they got one, their home would feel like a waterfall in the middle of a forest, and they would feel refreshed and energised by the "vitamins of the air".
The whole marketing blurb has permanently contaminated the word "ioniser" and it's now used to advertise all manner of devices which are absolutely not ionisers. Notably the rathed destructive ozone generators. (Real ionisers only create a tiny amount of ozone.)
I genuinely believe that ionisers do a good job of precipitating microscopic particles out of the air. The downside being that they do so indiscriminately onto every surface in a room, and make a bit of a mess as they do so. They have been shown to prevent cross infection in schools and hospitals, and it makes me wonder if a good technology has fallen out of favour without proper scientific evaluation.
Here's a link to the website with that picture of a huge (but non-functional) Chizhevsky Chandelier that is a tribute to the work of Alexander Chizhevsky's research into ionisation.
https://www.kp40.ru/news/accomp/62663/
A very intriguing Google image search for Люстра Чижевского (Chizhevsky's chandelier):-
https://www.google.com/search?q=%D0%9B%D1%8E%D1%81%D1%82%D1%80%D0%B0+%D0%A7%D0%B8%D0%B6%D0%B5%D0%B2%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B3%D0%BE&sxsrf=ALeKk030cau0nnFMBC_wfN8tjsVVvR8qzg:1585288619954&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjc5buo_LnoAhWqxIUKHTUtB34Q_AUoAXoECAsQAw&biw=1366&bih=641
I've got an urge to make a big Chizhevsky's chandelier type thing now. Not such a great idea in a low ceiling bungalow.
If you enjoy these videos you can help support the channel with a dollar for coffee, cookies and random gadgets for disassembly at:-
http://www.bigclive.com/coffee.htm
This also keeps the channel independent of YouTube's advertising algorithms allowing it to be a bit more dangerous and naughty.
When you turn an ioniser on it makes virtually no noise - just a faint hiss from the needles. There are no flashing lights and nothing moves. Maybe this is why the marketing of these things got a bit too creative. People were told that if they got one, their home would feel like a waterfall in the middle of a forest, and they would feel refreshed and energised by the "vitamins of the air".
The whole marketing blurb has permanently contaminated the word "ioniser" and it's now used to advertise all manner of devices which are absolutely not ionisers. Notably the rathed destructive ozone generators. (Real ionisers only create a tiny amount of ozone.)
I genuinely believe that ionisers do a good job of precipitating microscopic particles out of the air. The downside being that they do so indiscriminately onto every surface in a room, and make a bit of a mess as they do so. They have been shown to prevent cross infection in schools and hospitals, and it makes me wonder if a good technology has fallen out of favour without proper scientific evaluation.
Here's a link to the website with that picture of a huge (but non-functional) Chizhevsky Chandelier that is a tribute to the work of Alexander Chizhevsky's research into ionisation.
https://www.kp40.ru/news/accomp/62663/
A very intriguing Google image search for Люстра Чижевского (Chizhevsky's chandelier):-
https://www.google.com/search?q=%D0%9B%D1%8E%D1%81%D1%82%D1%80%D0%B0+%D0%A7%D0%B8%D0%B6%D0%B5%D0%B2%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B3%D0%BE&sxsrf=ALeKk030cau0nnFMBC_wfN8tjsVVvR8qzg:1585288619954&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjc5buo_LnoAhWqxIUKHTUtB34Q_AUoAXoECAsQAw&biw=1366&bih=641
I've got an urge to make a big Chizhevsky's chandelier type thing now. Not such a great idea in a low ceiling bungalow.
If you enjoy these videos you can help support the channel with a dollar for coffee, cookies and random gadgets for disassembly at:-
http://www.bigclive.com/coffee.htm
This also keeps the channel independent of YouTube's advertising algorithms allowing it to be a bit more dangerous and naughty.
Beautiful (the first one), with a Cockcroft Walton voltage multiplier and 2 resistors is enough to perform as ionizer, his advantages are low weight, no electrical noises since there is no switching devices, easy to build, his components are easy to find and can work in 50Hz or 60Hz lines without difference. I remember when I build one of these with 18 polyester capacitors for perform experiments with high voltages…
Yeah Man , And I picture Clife’s House as a place where he has to go down the leisure centre for a shower because his one is full of technical shite
D'you reckon a forced-air approach like a standard PC fan would increase the effectiveness of one of these things by any real amount?
Another proof is put aluminum foil a couple of inches radially away from the ionizer then connect it to your natural ground/grounding rod. You'll see lots of small filaments and particles stuck to the aluminum foil since the particles are acting like an airborne van der Graff generator (not exactly but the associated mechanism is relevant) from the needle to the foil (just make sure the distance is large enough to prevent arcing).
What about the Ozone?
During my electrical engineering degree at UNSW, we were treated to a visit to the High Voltage research facility where we saw a tower that looked like a tesla generator with a maze of oil filled diodes and capacitors that multiplied the voltage to the dome on top where the HV was discharged into the target under test.
Positively charging ions has the effect of causing one to feel stifled or humid in a stuffy room.
They are probably unhealthy as well.
In the 1970's we had a ionizer that was the shape of a small box 5" x 4" x 1" (W x D x H) with a 240V AC power cord at the back.
The front facia had 4 holes each about 1/2" round and the ionizer pins located in the centre of the holes and setback inside so one could not touch them. Similar, but a smaller box than the one you reviewed in this video.
In those days there was no requirement for an LED to indicate power ON.
During operation, one could feel the cool ionized air coming from the pins inside when brought near one's lips, however, the volume of ionized air meant that this unit would be completely inadequate to process the air in a room.
The circuitry inside was a series of diodes (I was just old enough to understand, but cannot remember the configuration) that I later came to know as a voltage multiplier. (I don't recall any capacitors).
The total cost would have been around AU$5, but it sold for AU$20 !!
I want to make one! It is a shame their lack of availability now, and that they have 12v supplies and use more electricity. Surely with the simple design of diodes and capacitors it could last forever with decent quality components.
the description given about how to work how do you feel about these in rooms with loads of running computers? will the excessively negative charged air be a problem for high density smashed together electronics (laptops, form factor pc, etc)? would the running electronics have any effect upon the precipitation effect like maybe attracting it more (or less) than normal?
Made in Poole Dorset. My part of the world. A small local company manually manufacturing these devices.
Thank you for this BC. We used to have one, the type you mentioned quite early in the video (Mountain Breeze was it?) but I have no idea where it is now. That means SWMBO has winged it when I wasn't looking because I very rarely throw anything out, or if I do I "harvest" it first!
I built one of these in the late 70s from plans in something like Practical Electronics mag. It never had a casing, and I was amazed at how as you moved your hand closer to the discharge needle tip, it'd make a kind of screeching sound. There was a heck of a breeze that came off it too.
I'm an American and my folks used to have one much like this. I used to use paperclips to make it arc
Thought that Ozone is toxic to humans?
Brings back memories, I had an interview with a company called mountain breeze in the late 80’s, they were in Skelmersdale New Town Industrial Estate and seemed to be a very touchy feely company … luckily I didn’t get the job and I went on to have a great career in Power Generation … 😀