Kit 57.

ION GENERATOR
An ion generator or ioniser is a device which creates ions
and puts them into the air. A high negative voltage of Design
around 5000V will make negative ions and a high positive Commercial designs usually use a transformer to raise the
voltage will make positive ions. There are supposed to be initial voltage from either mains or battery voltages up to
health and other benefits about living in an environment about 1KV. Then they have about 5 voltage multiplier
which has an excess of negative ions. This is a topic we stages feeding a pin farm of 3 or 4 pins.
will return to at the end of this documentation.
We chose the design shown in the Figure because it uses
The simplest and easiest way to generate ions is to use a more readily available components. There are 30 diodes
Cockroft-Walton multiplier circuit. This is a string of and 30 capacitors. A 0.1A fuse is included in the event of
diodes and capacitors in a succession of voltage doubling component failure in the chain. A neon is provided to
circuits. See the figure below. The diodes and ceramic disc show when the unit is on. The resistor R2 rapidly
capacitors are readily available components with a high discharges the chain when the power is turned off. It is
long term reliability. important to realize that nothing like the theoretical
voltage of the chain is achieved in practice. The regulation
NOTE: this project MUST be mounted in an enclosed box is poor & the impedence is high. The final three resistors
or container for THREE reasons: leading to the pin farm are for safety
if you touch the emitting pins.
• the first is that it is mains powered. It must be kept
protected from people accidently touching it. The Construction
mains cable must be firmly secured by the usual Components may be added to the board in any order. The
means. most important thing to watch is that all the diodes are put
in the correct way. Follow the overlay pattern to make a
• second, is that it has a chain of voltage doubling negative ion generator. Reverse all the diodes to make a
circuits. At the end of the chain (at C30) you do not positive ion generator. Use some of the cut off legs from
have to touch a component to get a shock. A spark the capacitors for the 5 pins in the pin farm. The fficiency
will jump across about 3mm to get you. (The shock is of the pins can be increased by filing their tips to a point.
really just a tickle and it is more a surprise than
anything else.) You must mount the PCB in a suitable box. The pins
should be positioned so they almost stick out from the box
• third, the final stage of the ion generator - the three into the air. No solid surfaces (like plastic) should be near
resistors & the pin farm - must be suspended in the air or next to the track leading from C30 to R3 R4 & R5 & the
and not near or touching a solid surface. Ions are pin farm. Any solid surfaces touching this output will
funny things. At the high voltages but very low reduce ion generation efficiency. You can put silicon gel
currents available the ions will collect on particles on the bottom layer if you have it.
(dust) and solid surfaces. If the pin farm & protection
resistors are on a surface (plastic, newspaper) the Since ions are generated from sharp points it is a good
ions will not be generated. idea to check the soldering of the resistors & pins in the
output track. Make sure the solder joint is rounded and
Also note that if you are sitting in a well insulated, dry covers the cut-off ends of the resistors & pins.
chair then there is no shock if you accidently touch the
pins on the pin farm when the generator is in operation. Testing
You do not have to worry that when you listen to the ions When power (either way around) is connected the neon
being generated that you will get a huge shock if you will light and after a few seconds (4 to 10 seconds) you
accidently touch a pin. We are not suggesting you will hear a faint hiss from the pins. This is the ions being
deliberately start feeling the pins. And do not touch the injected into the air. As mentioned it may not work if the
components in the doubling chain what ever you do. board is sitting on plastic, wood or newspaper. The output
track must be isolated. If you wet you finger and place it
The circuit as presented is designed to generate negative near the end of the pins you will also feel the ion wind.
ions. However, by simply reversing all the diodes, D1 to
D30, in the ladder you automatically make it into a positive You will not get a shock if you accidently touch a pin. But
ion generator. This gives you an easy way to test for make sure you are on an insulated surface. Remember how
yourself whether negative ions and/or positive ions affect a nylon shirt will crack sparks if you rub it with wool in the
mood, performance etc. You may buy two of these kits and dark. There are thousands of volts being made there and
construct one as a negative ion generator and the other as the sparks are being made on you yet you feel no shock.
a positive ion generator. Then put them in different The volts are there but not the current.
situations either with or without people knowing. Leave
them on for several days and note any changes or If you are tempted to try multimeter voltage measurements
alteration in behaviour. of the chain you will quickly find it does not work. The
 Kit 57. ION GENERATOR
voltages are but there is too little current to power the COMPONENTS
meter. 0.01uF 1KV ceramic capacitor 30
If It Does Not Work. Check that the diodes are all in the 1N4007 diode 30
correct way. Are the resistors in the right places. Did you 2 pole terminal block 1
put the fuse in. Use a multimeter to check each diode & a Fuse 0.1A 1
capacitance meter to check each capacitor. Fuse holder & cap 1
Neon 1
Ozone. After a few hours operting in a small room you Resistors 5%, 1/4W:
may find that there is a funny smell present. You may 3M3 orange orange green 4
recognise it as a 'machinery' smell. This is ozone gas. It is 100K brown black yellow 1
produced in high voltage switching machinery such as K57 PCB 1
generators. It is also given off by rotting seaweed. (Indeed
in the last century people in England used to flock to the
seaside to smell the ozone. It was thought to be good for
you.) If the ion generator produces too much ozone then
we suggest you jumper the pin farm track from C30 to C28
or C26. That is you cut out the
last one or two voltage doubling stages.

Are Negative Ions of Benefit to You? Quite a bit of

research has gone into this topic. Research ranges from
the quack pseudo-scientific to the reputable. A list of
some papers from the latter group is given here. In
summary, there is no evidence that negative ions have any
effect on well being however it is defined. The claims by
commercial producers of negative ion generators that their
products enhance efficiency, increase productivity and
contribute to personal health are unsupported by
scientific evidence. However, if you think something is
going to do you good then it may in fact do so; this is the
placebo effect. And alot of research in the 1990's has gone
into it. But that is another story.

Baron, Robert A. (1987). Effects of Negative Ions on

Interpersonal Attraction: Evidence for Intensification.
Journal of Personality & Social Psychology,52 (3), 547-
553.

Baron, Robert A. (1987). Effect of Negative Ions on

Cognitive Performance. Journal of Applied Psychology,
72, 131-137.

Dolezalek, Hans. (1986). Atmospheric Electricity, Ions, and

Pseudoscience. The Skeptical Enquirer, 11, 56-60. See
follow-up article by James Rotton in the same journal
(1987) 11, 305-306.

Web
Plug in ‘ion generator’ in yahoo.com and you will come up
with commercial and semi-scirntific References to them.
They make interesting reading.
Kit 57. ION GENERATOR