Extremely low cost high voltage power supplies

If you are looking for an extremely low cost high voltage power supply, a good place to look is consumer products that incorporate high voltage. For example there are electronic fly swatters that claim to produce 4kV! Of course the current is very low, and performance in terms of ripple, regulation and stability is not all that good. The electronic fly swatter may not even put out nearly the voltage claimed. However, if these performance related issues are not important in your application, or just need to generate a spark, you're in luck. Besides, you can find them for under $10, and sometimes even under $5. Other products to consider as a source of low cost high voltage are air purifiers, mosquito zappers, LCD display backlights, piezoelectric spark generators, and vehicle electronic ignitions.

Your High Voltage Story

We are publishing your stories, comments or impressions of high
voltage. Tell us about design challenges, interesting applications,
shocks, problems, or solutions that relate to high voltage
electricity. We will gather and publish them.

Please email us at fred@highvoltageinfo.com with your story. Please
use "High Voltage Story" as the subject.

We reserve the right to edit all submissions, and all appropriate
legalese apply.

Tell us your high voltage story!

We will publish your stories, comments or impressions of high voltage. Tell us about design challenges, interesting applications, shocks, problems, or solutions that relate to high voltage electricity. We will gather and publish them.

Please email us at fred@highvoltageinfo.com with your story. Please use "High Voltage Story" as the subject.

We reserve the right to edit all submissions, and all appropriate legalese apply.

What is Medium Voltage?

Various definitions exist. In general, medium voltage is a term used by the electrical power distribution industry. Here are a few ways medium voltage is defined:


ANSI/IEEE 1585-2002 refers to: Medium Voltage (1 - 35 kV). [It is assumed that this is ac.]


IEEE Std 1623-2004 refers to: Devices rated to medium voltage (1 kV-35 kV). [It is assumed that this is ac.]


NECA/NEMA 600-2003 refers to "medium voltage cables rated from 600 volts to 69,000 volts AC"


Littlefuse says: "The terms “Medium Voltage” and “High Voltage” have been used interchangeably by many people to describe fuses operating above 600 volts. Technically speaking, “medium voltage” fuses are those intended for the voltage range from 2,400 to 38,000 VAC."


Siemens says, "Medium voltage metal-clad switchgear (above 1000Vac up to 38kVac)"
This last one covers most of the definitions. Thus, probably a good working definition of medium voltage is from 1kVac to 38kVac.

What is High Voltage?

A good place to start is to define high voltage. There is no universally accepted definition. So, here's a list of high voltage definitions to select from!

Related is this high voltage glossary, which can come in handy now and then.

Introduction to High Voltage

Welcome to this blog on high voltage. We'll discuss all aspects of high-voltage, including what it is, what makes it different from low voltage, and what precautions are necessary. We'll comment on high voltage components and high voltage equipment. We'll address high voltage design issues, and applications that use high-voltage. Also included will be medium voltage and issues useful to electrical utility service. For an excellent resource on high voltage information, please see http://www.highvoltageinfo.com/

If there are specific issues that you would like to see covered here, please let us know!