Plasma Technology

[Symber]

I stumbled across an article and immediately thought of all the stuff I'd read here about lighting sources in the past, so I finally registered an account to make a post. I don't know much about this sort of thing so I figured I'd let you guys decide if this has any potential.

I watched the video and what they show seems pretty bright to me, but I don't know if they give you enough information to compare. They say its 140 lumens per watt, but I don't think they mention the voltage to convert that number to lumens per amp.

Here's the article: Link

[Darth_DevilGuy]

depends on what type of driver and how you'd power the thing IMO, it is very bright, but things like optics and drivers are optimized for lux type LED's right now.

[Hasid Lafre]

That and plasma need to be contained into a sealed glass tube. Which means its not duelable.

I have read about that plasma bulb in another site but I suspect it will get really hot cause they mesured it in the thousands of kelvin when they lit the sucker up.

[Symber]

Yeah thats a good point about the heat. I think standard lightbulb fillaments are measured at thousands of kelvins too... but LEDs are much much cooler. Ah well, short of a super-cooled saber maybe this won't be happening.

As far as the duelable part tho. Would that tiny little glass tube he holds in his hand really break? It almost seems too small to break easily... Its like a christmas tree light bulb. Kind of a moot point tho

[gundamaniac]

Oh wow I'm impressed. It seems that that little bulb shouldn't break too easily if it's mounted right. But uh.....the temperature....6000 kelvin inside?!?!?!?! How much heatsinking does that sucker need?! How much insulation would you need to hold a little tube surrounding a light source like that?!?!

[Leigh]

This is interesting, I use a TIG welder on a daily basis, Its a plasma arc thats produced at the tip of the welding torch, The light from welding will burn your retina out in a mater of minuits & give a nasty sun tan, I wonder what the side effects of these bulbs would be?

[Novastar]

This depends on many factors regarding usage for sabers, since the following apply:

* light may be emitted all over the place (360 degrees)
* it may require 250 watts for the ones that are currently (or going to be) made
* some optic solution would need to be made
* who knows if (and when) they'd end up making models that are supposed to be powered by super low voltage (in other words: 3v-12v)

And yeah, I don't really know about the whole "breakage" thing. That's somewhat irrelevant until it could even be made to "work" in a physical saber. And IF so... THEN you could address the whole: "Well, can it handle the shock?" thing...

Otherwise, you'd get like whatever X-Wing has... a plasma saber that is bright... but an incendiary device if it breaks, hahahah.

[Colm24e]

Yeah I read down through the comments on the page and this person seems to know what theyre talking about.

"Temperature is the driving force for heat, whereas heat refers to the actual amount of energy present. As the mass of plasma in the bulb is very small indeed, the heat of the bulb is very low. The temperature of the lamp's glass will be far lower than that of the gas inside it, as the proportionally large mass of glass requires far more heat to raise its temperature by one degree than the proportionally tiny mass of plasma."

Makes sense to me, so then you would just have to worry about it breaking, which shouldnt be too difficult to control with a proper holder...

Oh yeah and at that temperature another guy said that it may give off unwanted ultraviolet light...which can be blocked with a polycarbonate lens...or perhaps blade hehehe

Though I still can't really see this going in a saber.

[swear000]

That was a really good find. I think you are on the right track. I was originally thinking of using an ionized gas ignited by a spark gap. Plasma seems to be a better idea because plasma can actually cut through metals. Power has always been a challenge. It seems that Lithium Polymer cells can be small and powerful but still limited to 7.4v. Adjusting power should be able to adjust blade length as opposed to a laser which goes on to infinity. Telsa coils can generate plasma but they are too big and require high wattage. These small bulbs probably require less voltage to operate. I guess Amperage is the working force but I am still sorting out a few details...

[Darth_DevilGuy]

That was a really good find. I think you are on the right track. I was originally thinking of using an ionized gas ignited by a spark gap. Plasma seems to be a better idea because plasma can actually cut through metals. Power has always been a challenge. It seems that Lithium Polymer cells can be small and powerful but still limited to 7.4v. Adjusting power should be able to adjust blade length as opposed to a laser which goes on to infinity. Telsa coils can generate plasma but they are too big and require high wattage. These small bulbs probably require less voltage to operate. I guess Amperage is the working force but I am still sorting out a few details...

we do have plasma bulb sabers, they light up real nice but because they require glass containment they're so fragile they can't even be used for spinning