Building A Nuclear Star In A Jar (Fusor)

Central to all life on Earth, is the burning fusion ball we call the sun. Fusion requires such specific conditions, that science is only now making true progress toward unlimited energy. This Farnsworth fusor inspired me, so I hope this video inspires you to look at fusion as our ultimate power source.

@integza
Thank you to Chris, and to Will from London for his assistance!

Support / Follow Plasma Channel on:
Instagram: Plasma_Channel_Official
=======================
***Music credits***
======================
Title screen music:
Song: Sappheiros - Awake
Music provided by Vlog No Copyright Music.
Creative Commons - Attribution 3.0 Unported

ALL other music provided by Epidemic Sounds

I am also a television actor! Follow me on IMDB

#experiment #fusion #future

[thethoughtemporium]

Hey heads up, that reactor is probably not safe for fusion. The big acrylic windows could melt in the electron beams that form and the plasma heating them up. Also the aluminum frame and acrylic windows are transparent to xrays so it needs to be fully encased with shielding or it'll spew xrays like crazy. And you need neutron shielding as well. And even the backscatter can be very very dangerous. It's a grogeous demo build for sure though. One of the nicest I've seen honestly. But please don't try running that at fusion temps. Also there are a host of different laws around building these and many places require a license of some flavor or another. It's easier in the US, but varies state to state and can still have issues if you're not careful and you'll be posting the video as evidence of you doing it... so better safe than sorry. I know this because I almost built a working fusor on my channel recently but stopped when I learned about the license and 100K fine for not having it. So I paused the project until I could sort that out and get the license in advance. If you wanna chat about this I've been at it for years and might have some tips. Hit me up. There's a ton of amazing things that can be done with this if you get reasonable neutron outputs.

[andrewrobison]

nothing shines brighter than being passionate about what you do. youre paving the way

[vamshitarun]

this is probably one of the most optimistic and inspiring ones you've done yet. loved your work man, thank you.

[guytech]

I've built a working Fusor:

1. A PVC hose is not practical for a low vacuum system as it will outgas preventing you from getting down to a very low pressure.
2. If your vacuum pressure is low enough you still generate x-rays which should be detectable by a gieger. I suspect your pressure is no where low enough.
3. You really need a better vacuum gauge, one that is designed for sub micron pressures.
4. you really need a much larger diameter vacuum connection. At least a half inch, and keep the connection between the pump and the fusor as short as possible. ie put the fusor on top of the pump so its just a few inches away. At low pressure the pump will struggle to get air out of the fusor's vaccuum chamber. bigger diameter piping will help. Ideally make it all metal piping to avoid outgassing from plastic. Copper tubing with compression fittings is a better option than plastic tubing.
5. I think you likely to suffer a voltage drop with the large electrode. the more current flows it will drop the voltage well below the 40KV. You probably running less than 10KV, which is also why you don't measure any x-ray radiation. Very low vacuum pressure + smaller electrode will reduce your voltage drop.
6. Your plexiglass\lexsan windows will outgas a lot, likely preventing you from getting very low pressures. Ideally I would replace them with glass and mount the electrode through the stainless metal frame. You need some sort of HV vacuum fitting. You might be able to get by with a spark plug, but thats iffy at +40KV as it likely to arc over since there isn't much distance between the electrode and the metal frame on the inside side. You might be able to weld on some wire to the spark and pass it through some glass tubing with some vacuum grease and some teflon tape. Teflon is a great insulator & does not outgass. Alternatively you can buy a HV electrical vacuum pass through from or Kurt J Lesker (company). "LDS vacuum shopper" also sells vacuum components at a lower cost than Lesker.

FWIW: You best way to get an operational fusor is to go with commerical vacuum components, specifically conflat vacuum components and metal (copper gaskets). You could buy a Conflat Tee with one port for the vacuum pump, one for the HV feedthrough and the other for the window. The big cost is going to be a HV feed through as a 60KV feedthrough will cost about $2k. Maybe you can get lucky with a 60kV feedthrough on ebay (ie used) to save some money. The biggest issue making a working a working fusor is the cost of components or the time collecting used components on eBay at a reasonable cost. I probably spent over $10K in components to make a working fusor & also did a lot of self fabrication (ie machining & welding Stainless Steel parts for the vacuum chamber and welding on conflat flanges), $3K+ on a turbo molecular pump and a high volume low submicron mechanical pump $1K. I think I spent about $1500 on the 60Kv high voltage feedthrough (purchase about 20 years ago), vacuum bellow hoses, oil backstreaming trap. As well as assortment of radiation measurement tools: BF3 & He3 tube to detect neutrons, NaI Scintillation detectors. Building a working fusor isn't easy nor cheap.

[Doribi]

Fusors have been an obsession of mine ever since I learned about them, thank you for building one, and now I am tempted to try my hand at one myself.

[justinbanks]

I love reading Plasma Channel comments. One of the few channels with comments that are not garbage. Which is a feat in and of itself. But not only that, they are insightful and you learn things.

I love this community

[RTL_CSQ]

Amazing work! A few tips: Helium from a balloon filling tank is usually 5% N2, which is probably why the plasma color was a bit off. At these pressures and temperatures you'll have to start worrying about outgassing, so you may want to ditch the vinyl tubing and acrylic plates (heresy, I know) for thick glass. Putting JB weld on the outside of leaky fittings and using barbed connectors can trap small amounts of air and slowly release them into the chamber. You won't notice the pressure changing much because the pump is balancing the very small leaks, but it can ruin the purity of the deuterium gas needed for fusion. I prefer fittings with an o-ring like KF fittings, but they can be pricey.

[LabCoatz_Science]

Awesome work Jay, that's one heck of a sight! Have you considered tritium breeding to get your tritium? If you throw a small amount of lithium into your reactor while it is running off of deuterium, any neutrons that are produced from fusion will be absorbed by one of lithium's isotopes, resulting in transmutation into tritium, which will exponentially boost fusion rates!

[lumpybaconface]

I love when a creator actively interacts with his community and gets community members to help out

[OfficiallySnek]

Well now we know who stole Cleo Abram's fusion reactor parts

[cberge]

The vinyl tuning between the pump and your chamber was probably a big factor in why you couldn't reach a higher vacuum. Vinyl tubing tends to off gas way too much under vacuum to get down to the levels you're looking for.

[rednicstone]

I thought id just mention this here real quick for anyone attempting a simmilar experiment. A fusor emits strong gamma radiation due to bremstrahlung caused by the decelerating electrons & gas ions.
Standing next to an operating fusor for extended periods of time is significantly more dangerous than any x-ray scan or anything the like.
I recommend using lead plates to protect youself as well as keeping one geiger counter, preferably scintillation based, on your person as well as one with the fusor.

[sum_rye_hash_]

That's amazing! I've wanted to make a star in a jar since I first saw one. However the type I saw first was a bubble suspended in the middle of some liquid, using sonoluminescence to generate the heat/light/plasma by rapidly compressing the bubble.

[michaelwynne]

It’s been fantastic watching you go from 700 subscribers when I first found you, to heading towards 500, 000 subscribers a few years down the track! Awesome work Jay. Don’t change the format that has made you a huge success. Kudos brother 🤙

[sanchitkamat]

I’m going to be a college student next year and your builds get me excited for it every second !

[rando]

Thanks for the new rabbithole of research to blow my entire weekend going through 👍

[mikeclarke]

New sub here. Good build. Outgassing is a big problem in high vacuum systems. In your case you might want to pump down overnight and then infuse hydrogen for several hours before infusing the deuterium. I hope those are glass windows and not acrylic they will outgas like crazy. I had an implosion guard around my bell jar vacuum chamber at university, would never turn on the pump without it.

[vincentwu]

Wow this is ridiculously awesome! I've marveled at quite a few fusors like this that other people have built but your version looks the most ready to be a showpiece. 95% of this stuff is over my head, but the one very minor thing I thought you might be interested in knowing is that when applying PTFE tape generally you want to wrap the tape clockwise (to match the direction that you will rotate the pipe/fitting). Also, for gas/vacuum applications I believe the standard is 4 wraps of the yellow gas PTFE tape so I think you would need 8 wraps of the white tape. I'm quite surprised you were able to get away without using hose clamps on the barbed fittings too!

[N-T]

Hello sir iam following your channel from 3 years, u know u guys inspired me to start my own utube channel. U know sir the work u do is inspiring and simple. So I started my own channel and thanks to u, I had a breakthrough today itself. Iam a fan sir Nicola Tesla.

[JavierChiappa]

12:47 that glow sequence start looks like pure sci-fi