Voltage multiplier ?

To: tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
Subject: Voltage multiplier ?
From: Hans.Grimstad-at-maxware.no
Date: Mon, 25 Nov 1996 12:33:02 +0100

Hi !

I built my first coil this summer. It's a small coil with homemade glass capacitors (Frutopia 
bottles (600 pF each). The power supply is an old ignition transformer powered from a 
variac.  

Problem #1: No spark....  I can light fluorescent tubes with it at a distance of up to 40-50 cm, 
but that's it. This is obviously not much fun. It is possible to draw a spark for the coil with a 
grounded rod, but it is not very impressive. 8(

Problem #2: Used neons are hard to come by where I live (Norway). They are *VERY* 
expensive. A neon rated at 4000V/45ma is 800 NOK (that's more than $120).


OK. Here's the (possibly very stupid) question:

Is it feasible use a Cockroft Walton voltage multiplier instead of a neon transformer as a 
power source for a small TC  ? If I were to step up the voltage from the mains (220 V) to 10000 
V, I would need 90 diodes and 90 (very large ?) capacitors. It would be easier to build 
something like this, than to  wind my own HV transformer. 
Has anyone experimented with something like this ?


Hans J|rgen Grimstad
Norway