DRBUZZ0
18th February 2006, 07:46 PM
Okay. I had a very interesting experience yesterday. It involves what may or may not qualify as "ball lightning" I know that there are those who are skeptical of the existance of ball lightning, but my opinion is that it is not impossible, but if it does occure in nature it is probably a very rare and "freak" occurance.
Also I have made it in my my microwave....
Anyway, the other day I was at an officer which was getting rid of some of their old servers, as they had upgraded to a new system recently. Before I could clear out the area, I had to take the components out of the 19-inch rack they were in. (They were too big to move the whole unit).
There were several UPS units on the rack, which were modular and could be connected to provide more power. They were being removed, because the new server replaced a several older machines and thus did not need as much power.
As I took out the top one, I noticed that it did not have a top panel on it. The huge lead acid batteries were exosed and they were connected in series. I knew that this was not exactly safe. I was holding it with two other guys, because this thing was huge and very heavy. I would estimate it was about like 10 or so small car batteries.
This thing had been there for quite a while. When we put it down, one of the wires on a very large filter capacitor, which was not as secure as it should be, tipped over from its mount and the terminal came a bit too close to the chassis. It arced, but lucilly only momentarly. When it did, it produced a burst of several small balls of plasma. Most of them died pretty quickly, but few laster a few seconds, floating in the air. One moved up and then down, in the air, and floated like a firefly, for what I would judge as about 4-5 seconds, before fading away.
It was very hard to judge the size of the balls, because 1) I was a bit freaked out and startled. 2.) It was a bit bright, such that it was hard to tell where the plasma ended and what was just the glair around it.
I told the guys who were with me (one being my buddy and the other being one of the guys from the office, whom I recruited when the weight of the thing became apparent), to not touch or look at the thing, and I was going to run out to my car, because I happened to have my 40kv lineman's gloves with me, as well as a HV CRT servicing kit.
I disconnected the batteries completely, and I do not intend to use this UPS for anything until I go over it and make sure everything is secure.
The funny things is I've never seen this same effect, eventhough I've seen many arcs from mains powe (both AC and rectified). I a wondering if it is perticular to batteries and/or large capacitors, given their ability to produce a short burst of voltage.
-Steve
Also I have made it in my my microwave....
Anyway, the other day I was at an officer which was getting rid of some of their old servers, as they had upgraded to a new system recently. Before I could clear out the area, I had to take the components out of the 19-inch rack they were in. (They were too big to move the whole unit).
There were several UPS units on the rack, which were modular and could be connected to provide more power. They were being removed, because the new server replaced a several older machines and thus did not need as much power.
As I took out the top one, I noticed that it did not have a top panel on it. The huge lead acid batteries were exosed and they were connected in series. I knew that this was not exactly safe. I was holding it with two other guys, because this thing was huge and very heavy. I would estimate it was about like 10 or so small car batteries.
This thing had been there for quite a while. When we put it down, one of the wires on a very large filter capacitor, which was not as secure as it should be, tipped over from its mount and the terminal came a bit too close to the chassis. It arced, but lucilly only momentarly. When it did, it produced a burst of several small balls of plasma. Most of them died pretty quickly, but few laster a few seconds, floating in the air. One moved up and then down, in the air, and floated like a firefly, for what I would judge as about 4-5 seconds, before fading away.
It was very hard to judge the size of the balls, because 1) I was a bit freaked out and startled. 2.) It was a bit bright, such that it was hard to tell where the plasma ended and what was just the glair around it.
I told the guys who were with me (one being my buddy and the other being one of the guys from the office, whom I recruited when the weight of the thing became apparent), to not touch or look at the thing, and I was going to run out to my car, because I happened to have my 40kv lineman's gloves with me, as well as a HV CRT servicing kit.
I disconnected the batteries completely, and I do not intend to use this UPS for anything until I go over it and make sure everything is secure.
The funny things is I've never seen this same effect, eventhough I've seen many arcs from mains powe (both AC and rectified). I a wondering if it is perticular to batteries and/or large capacitors, given their ability to produce a short burst of voltage.
-Steve