Stefan's Tesla-Pages

 violet wand

Description of the devices in general
Generators & photographs
Booklets
safety hints
Geissler tubes
Links

Description of violet ray (high frequency / violet wand) machines / devices (in german these are called "Hochfrequenzheilgeräte" or "Violett-Strahler"):

History:
The violet wand (or violet ray machine) is an old quack device used mainly from 1920-1940 to "cure" nearly all deseases you can think of. They were sold in wooden boxes together with up to 22 electrodes. The slogan of the time was "every household should have one" ;-)

Technology:
Line current is used to vibrate an interrupter attached to an induction coil (also called kicker coil). By interrupting the line current, a high voltage will be generated in the induction coil and stored in a capacitor. Via a spark across the vibrator, this energy is dumped into another coil (the "primary") with few windings located in the handle of the device, where the output voltage will be generated by resonant transformer action in the high voltage coil (the "secondary"). 
In detail:
When the main switch is turned on, the 50Hz line current flows through the kicker coil because the vibrator is still closed. Then the vibrator is attracted from the magnetic field produced in the core of the kicker coil. Upon opening the contact, the current still wants to flow through the inductance of the kicker coil and therefore flows through the primary coil, charging up the capacitance. When there is a sufficient voltage generated between the contacts of the vibrator, they arc over and the capacitor can discharge through the primary coil (green circle in the following schematics indicates the oscillating nature of this discharge). The energy is transferred to the secondary coil which has distributed internal capacitance and therefore forms also a resonant circuit. When the primary and secondary circuit are tuned to the same frequency, there are long sparks generated at the HV terminal (~3cm). With the current in this high voltage output, you even can light up an ordinary 15W incandescent lamp (the spiral wound filament is glowing bright from approx. 5W pure HF power)! The input power is approx. 30W. When all the energy is transferred to the secondary, the magnetic field weakens, the vibrator will make contact again and it all starts over.

Generators:

Many different companies buildt these devices in the past. Some brandnames / types are: Haider, Pansanitor, Wapa-Strahler, Elmeda, Heliolux, Radiostat, Radiolux, Helios (G), Tefra Allstrom N53 Impulsan and many others. They came as one-part devices like the Radiolux (interrupter and high voltage coil all integrated in the handle), two-part devices like Haider (interrupter in separate box, high voltage coil in the handle) or even three-part devices like some Tefra Allstrom N53 (with additional RF-filter in separate box).

Their are some different socket diameters and shapes, I'll explain them on the electrodes page.

Of course therer are some devices made for the european market (220V in those days) as well as others for the US market (110V). Some of the better violet ray devices had two coils on the interrupter and a switch to select the input voltage. Others were designed so that they not only work at 220V but also at 110V, but the output at 110V is much weaker then (not all 220V-devices will work at voltages as low as 110V!).

The original power cords hardened over the years (>80 years old rubber...) and have to be replaced in most times.

The strength (length and power of output arc) can be adjusted on most devices. Sometimes simply the "springiness" of the interupter can be adjusted, in other cases there is a knob to dial in some additional inductance (+resistance) into the primary resonant circuit to de-tune (de-Q) the oszillations. But the maximum strength is very different between different types of devices.

One should NOT operate those old devices without changing the old capacitor. It is made out of paper and wax and some metallisation and soaked up water over the decades and degraded from overheating over the years of usage. If operating such a detoriated capacitor, it will overheat quickly due to the losses in the old dielectric, the wax will melt and leak out followed by a short circuit. Better replace it by a modern capacitor (plastic film / foil construction for RF) of suitable values (voltage and capacitance).

The wiring of those old violet ray devices is done in a way which is not allowed any more today - for some good reason! You can easily electrocute you or your "victim"! So please read the safety hints I placed on this separate page before plugging it in. 

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My Tefra:

My Sanostra:

My Medikus:

This next one is a diathermy device (Fischer Type F):

Electrodes can be found on this separate page I made recently.

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Booklets/Books/Manuals I have:

I have a lot more but they are packed away at the time, please check back later, thanks.

title	author	year	pages	type	condition
Gesundheit und Heilung durch Hochfrequenz				download (unknown source)	good
				copy	excellent
				original	fair
Aus Krankheit und Siechtum zu Gesundheit und neuer Lebenskraft durch HELIOS Hochfrequenzstrahlen	Helios-Werk Hermann Will, Jena	ca. 1929/30	32	original	good
Flyer for the Radiostat
Tefra				http://www.achatina.de/vr/acrobat/tefra.pdf	bad scan (OCR'ed, converted to .pdf)

A nice letter I found in one of my books:

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Saftey hints

I'm aware that violet wands are used today by many people for many reasons. So I would like to add some special saftey hints. Some of them are even named in the old booklets sold with the violet wands, others are common sense. Some "special" hints are clipped from a text found on http://www.mybdsm.com/pages/faustopheles/electro.html. Be sure to read the safety hints I placed on this separate page before using a violet wand! 

• High voltage arcs can ignite flammable materials and liquids (such as rubbing alcohol).
• Violet Wands [are] [...] a Quack Medical device based on combining the type of AC Line operated hand held Tesla Coil found in any High Vaccuum Laboratory with some rarified gas filled blown glass accessories. Safety Warning: The "ground" for the high voltage winding on the tesla coil is normally made through a connection to the AC line (it might be the hot lead or it might be neutral - want to play russian roulette?). This will not electrocute you through one of the glass electrodes but it will if you accidently come into contact with the high voltage connection or use any of the metal attachments.
• [...] most wands with a 3 wire cord are not connected properly and are still potentially lethal. [...]
• The violet wand can cause sunburns [should be "will cause many small electrical burns"] if used on one area for too long. Both the high voltage and the ultraviolet light can [will] produce ozone. Inhaling too much ozone can cause lung damage. Ozone will also irritate the skin (especially the mucous membrane)
• Most violet wands will overheat and be damaged if they are used continuously for very long. Limit use to 5 minutes [mainly because of the wax in the capacitor but also overheating the high voltage coil which is wax impregnated, too]
• Avoid direct contact or a short arc to the high voltage output terminal (the socket the accessories plug into) on the end of the generator. [the glass electrodes are a safety feature to prevent direct contact to the HV output, the glass stops 50/60Hz current and will only pass high frequency currents]
• Isolation transformers will not work to protect against AC line electrocution with high voltage generators with two wire AC line cords; these high voltage devices need the lack of isolation to work normally and the high voltage will likely damage the isolation transformer if you arc the high voltage output to ground. Once the high voltage arcs between the primary and the secondary of the isolation transformer, the transformers protection will also be circumvented!
• Ground Fault Interrupters: High voltage generators [...] may trip ground fault interupters. There is also a slight possibility that the high voltage would damage or confuse the GFCI. [...] The use of GFCIs is probably still a very good idea, just think of them as an expensive single use fuse rather than a reusable circuit breaker; once it trips, be prepared to replace it (use the "test" button to see if this is necessary). [Use a proper RF-Filter between the GFI and the violet wand to protect the GFI]
• Computers and Electronics: Don't subject your computer or other electronic devices to electroturture from high voltage devices; it could be a very expensive mistake.
• Injuries: Janet Hardy reported to SSB on injury reports received while working on the book Juice. A violet wand set fire to clothing
• Electrically induced muscle contractions, as well as peoples reactions to pain, can result in injury or death from striking external objects. Muscle contractions can also break bones and do other damage directly.
• Be sure to read the safety hints I placed on this separate page before using a violet wand!

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Geissler tubes (for all of the glow photos, the GTs were driven by my TEFRA violet ray generator with the GT connected between the metal electrode inserted into the hadle and the "return electrode" for maximum output current)

The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001 defines the "Geissler tube" as follows:
(gs´lr) (KEY) , gas discharge tube in which light is produced when an electric discharge passes through the rarefied gas in the tube. The color of the glow depends on the gas used. The tubes are made in a variety of shapes and are especially useful in spectroscopy. One later form of the tube is widely used in luminous signs (“neon” signs) and another in fluorescent lamps.

GT1 (different levels of exposure and f-stops) with bow-ties made out of uranium glass (therefore the greenish glow):

GT2 (still without flourescent liquid):

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Links:

link	description
http://www.ElectrotherapyMuseum.com/	Jeff Behary
http://www.mtn.org/quack/devices/uv.htm
http://members.aol.com/_ht_a/beacoqui/index.htm
http://radiantslab.com/quackmed/bigstuff.html
http://www.voltnet.com/sciequip/index.html
http://www.borg.com/~hcohen/Geissler.html	order your production of a geissler tube
http://www.arcsandsparks.com/aboutvacuumtubes.html
http://bulbcollector.com/geissler.html	great pictures
http://www.lgl.lu/museedelaphysi/Tube de Geissler a liquides fluorescents/Tube de Geissler_doc.htm
http://www.bobsokol.com/Geissler.html
http://www.aargon-neon.com/history.htm	history of geissler tubes
http://www.pages.drexel.edu/~lfh25/	a warning
http://www.glass.co.nz/uranium.htm	uranium glass
http://www.netcomuk.co.uk/~wwl/geissler.html	pics and info (even about the dotted discharge)
http://www.thueringen-online.de/Kommunales/Neuhaus_am_Rennweg/sehens1.htm	(in german!)  museum inside the birth house of Dr. Heinrich Geißler (1814 - 1879)

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The following article from the free newsletter of funkempfang.de describes me presenting some of my old violet wands on the hamfest "HAM Radio 2005" in Friedrichshafen/Germany:

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