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did you ever see a plasma ball fly out of a power strip?

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coppercone2:

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I don't know if it curved or bounce off the wall, I only noticed it when it was already in flight, roughly across the table but if thats where it came from thats the path it had to take it and it makes sense thats where it came from because it had the blown MOV, the bad smell and the spark noise. The table is like almost pressed up to the wall so it appears decent , just the cables get out with out pinching, the table is a wooden william senoma deal. all the surfaces in that room are either rustic or really worn, nothing in these glinters or shines even right after you wipe the floor, it has a robinson crusoe/ giligans island worn old abraded wood feel (really really mate). the power strip is setup to not get water on it if there is water spilled on the table, it recessed on the table brace 3 inches away from the side.

There is nothing else there that can make whatever this is. it is a very relaxing room the blinds are usually half drawn and it has pretty much no reflective surfaces.

The bulb is a LED bulb, it is in a glass lamp that is about 1.5 foot tall with a cloth covering around it separated by 8 inches from the bulb to the side of the lamp shade, the clock is a sony dream machine that is working fine. There is no sign of any char on any of those things.


I think I am going to consider a whole house transient suppressor because my solar needed to be replaced before, the grid sucks here. I have 3kW of solar

Berni:
It might still be "welding splatter" but in a way you are not used to seeing it.

Lots of things including metals burn in air once hot enough and given a large enough surface area. Some metals burn a lot easier than others and can burn in very different colors of flame. This is also where the color of a lot of high current arcs comes from, its the metal vapor coming off the contacts giving off light in its characteristic color.

So the ball you seen might have been a cloud of some metal vapor or dust burning in air. Its perfectly possible the dust is the contents on that MOV. For example a popular component of MOVs is zinc oxide, its possible the high energy event ripped it apart and results in lone zinc ions burning with oxygen. Zinc really loves to burn in air with a bright flame (much like magnesium but not as reactive) and looks nothing like steel burning.

Also plasma itself can stick around a bit since it takes time for it to cool down. This can be seen when a large electrical arc is interrupted, it does not go away instantly but it dissolves into fiery flame that drifts apart and fades away.

All of this is mostly why multimeters have CAT ratings. You don't want the ball of flame to engulf your arm if such a high energy event happens inside the meter.

coppercone2:
why does it hold together in a ball though? it was moving like a comet or asteroid or whatever. Ok its like a 0.5cm fire ball that is traveling in the air kinda slow over a 3 or 4 foot arc. It is somewhat like a star pyrotechnic inside of a shell firework, its kind of a unique visual signature.

It looked kinda odd though, no smoke trail, not super bright, it was not sputtering or showing effects of burning. I played around with firework chemistry I kinda have a general idea of how these things behave.. maybe it seemed more 'translucent' too, like an alcohol flame.

 It reminds me more of a welding splatter bead thing for some reason, maybe its because of time, but it was more 'calm' then a pyrotechnic star, those welding beads are kinda like tame. But again the color was doom imp fireball, like a orange/red, not a sodium filled yellow or a white magnesium burn, reminded me more of strontium stuff (like a road flare)

Berni:

--- Quote from: coppercone2 on March 16, 2021, 06:52:52 am ---why does it hold together in a ball though? it was moving like a comet or asteroid or whatever. Ok its like a 0.5cm fire ball that is traveling n the air kinda slow. Picture the fireball from Doom.

I only ever saw balls from I guess actual balls of metal that are really hot.

Oh yea I remember now the best way to get 'fire balls', heat up a lighter flint ALOT and throw it at something. I think that gets some white hot crap dancing around on the ground.

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The ball can still be a drop of burning molten metal that is skating across the ground much like welding splatter. Except that some metals burn a lot faster and with a brighter flame, making so much light that the whole thing just looks like a ball of light.

Good demonstation example of this is magnesium burning:


coppercone2:
No it did not look like refractory metal fire, it looked like strontium if anything. It was not bright at all like a flash powder or magnesium pyrotechnic composition or magnesium metal burning or titanium sparks. it reminds me of strontium carbonate or nitrate fueled/colored things.

I know what you are saying but that is literary like flash bright..


Ok if you ever took apart a Rubidium oscillator it reminded me of the type of thing you see in that more then anything. But orange/red. I have a little one that I think I took apart and powered but I am not sure because it was 6 years ago but there is one on mikes electric stuff youtube channel.

I keep saying welding because maybe that is what my mind rationalizes "flying red glowing shit' with, but I suppose I am thinking about it now you might be able to say it did not look solid or was some how ethereal.

You can color alcohol fire maybe with strontium chloride to do this but if you hurled a cotton ball soaked with alcohol burning red it would not look like this, but maybe more similar.

Ok I guess I can say that it was weird and I am having trouble describing it. So maybe atomic clock oscillator physics package without the glass with a different color that of hot steel splatter but some how ethereal traveling through air in a parabolicish arc trajectory.

A few days ago I had my hot air station throw some fire balls, they did not look like this phenomena, those were just solder that was in the barrel that got red hot because of max settings and pushed out when I pressed the air. It was NOT a good likelyhood.

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