That is a pretty nice output. I never thought of using windings as the primary, I just wound a primary on ot and made a zvs to drive it. I do have some electronic fluo ballasts I am going to have to try using one of them.
It's better to wind around 5 to 10 turns of thick mains cable around the core instead of using the original primary, specially if you plan to overdrive it because the original primary has more turns and that results into inductive kickback that destroys your MOSFETS or bipolar transistors.
The flyback probably has a rectifier. Try running the current through the flyback the other direction. It's also possible that the internal resistance in the HV circuit is too high for your voltage supply, or it could just be broken.
There has to be conductivity between the pins that you attach to the ballast. I chose 5 and 8 because, of all of the pairs of pins that were conductive, 5 and 8 had the most resistance (but not by much).
Also what are the diodes doing I know this arangment can be wired to change ac to dc but I have never seen a diode bridge on a dc side already I'm excited about that. Also would adding a capasitor thru the middle help or hurt the ripple. Would it smooth it out to much?
The spark from this power supply can jump over 2 cm in dry air (much further once the air is ionized). Air breaks down at about 30,000 V per cm, so that means it's putting out about 60 KV, give or take. The maximum wattage put out by the ballast is probably about 40 W. I doubt this thing is pulling 40 W, but if it were, the amperage would be 0.6 mA. The flyback transformer contains a rectifier, so the output is DC.
It's probably damaged--I'd be surprised if it still works. It's worth a shot, though. I'd try testing the conductivity of each circuit, and if they look normal, try hooking it up again. If you don't have another old monitor or TV laying around, you can get a flyback on ebay for a few dollars.
Several times--sometimes the flybacks hold a charge and get you after you've unplugged everything. The shock is quite a bit different than the 110 volts from the wall--it's more systemic than localized due to the high voltage.
Can you please share how you set up the 24v transformer with the diodes that is great but how is it wired can you please explain. By the way I have veiwed just. About every video about this yours is lightyears ahead of everyone elses. And you make it look so easy like its second nature to you thanks.
My Flyback Transformer isn't working with the CFL, I wonder why, it's dome how a special flyback transformer which has extra 2 wires with the suction cup. I tred to find the secondary negative wire butI can't. Please help
The flyback will only work with high-frequency AC. You can get that other ways, but this is the easiest I've come across, and it produces the best spark.
Air at standard temperature and pressure breaks down at about 33 kV/cm. This power supply will routinely produce a spark across a little more than a cm, so I figure it's putting out at least 40 kV.
I need some help. A while ago I saw a video on a flyback transformer making some beautiful arcs so I got myself a flyback and some ballasts. I found the HV ground and input pins and I got the thing to work only when I turned the power from the ballast to the flyback on and off really fast. that was a pain in the butt and I suck at electronic circuits so I got ten more different ballasts and tried them all. nothing. eventually I got mad enough to hook it up to mains and I gave it a few too many volts until it caught fire. I still wanted to make arcs so eventually Got myself another flyback and using this excellent tutorial wired it up. same problem I cannot figure out what i'm doing wrong. I also have to use a dummy load any ideas on that? Thank you for the excellent tutorial
The problem The flyback might be damaged The number of winding turning is less The thickness of the primary Or the ballast is hooked up the wrong way And since you are using a ballast remove the top cover and keep a cpu fan for cooling the ballast. Hope this help
If I could get my hands on an old dimmer switch, it might work to lower the amperage and create a voltage drop, but the newer dimmer switches just lop off part of the sine curve 120 times a second to lower the energy directed to the bulb. I'd like to try a Variac. I think it might actually work, but varying the voltage might cause the ballast to shut itself off.
what do you mean you tested pins 5 and 8 and they were they ones for the input, how did you test and how did you find out they were the correct ones thanks
So I made this yesterday, and it was working great, with no overheating. This morning I tried to arc it through a light bulb, and a weird pop came from the ballast and it is no longer working! What happened? I had no insulation on the transformer, could that have something to do with it?
I've tried it without the insulation on the flyback transformer, and there was a lot of arcing around it--I assume it will burn up something in it after a while. I tried dumping hot glue all over the pins on the flyback, and even that didn't stop all of the arcing. Hence, the oil bath.
MMIVcomp Will this work as a ballast - www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Electronic-Ballast-1-or-2-Fluorescent-Lamps-2x40W-AC-220V-Ezouf-/390595131252?pt=UK_Light_Fittings&hash=item5af148b774
halflife390 I really don't know. The only ballast I've tried is the one you see in the video: www.ebay.com/itm/Philips-Advance-ICN-4P32-N-Electronic-Ballast-3-or-4-Lamp-120V-277V-F32T8-F17T8-/271374520935?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f2f2e9267 It works really well--I've had this one on for many hours and it's still going strong.
hey bro, I have a question. alright here's my setup. I have got a 53v dc power supply using 2 diodes, one for negative 1 for positive. but, when I try to use it, my breaker shuts off. how can I reduce the current to an amount that will still be fun but won't do that?
Basement Lab Productions Yeah - I have a couple of these that I'm trying to get rid of (sell). So in my add I referenced your video (alongside a couple of from Ludic Science he's done as well). 😊
hi ... i have a question .. im making a AED device n i need a step up transformer..which give output of nearly 5000 volt.... but as this transformer is not available ..its make on oder ..so its become so expensive .. n i have a FBT fly back transformer.. do u have any idea how much output voltage it can generate ? n gd work :)
I have question. I seem to be unable to finding pin that's connection to HV on my flyback when I use multimeter. Why it is not shown up on my multimeter? Is it normally or broke?
How can I send you a video or a pic of what I made. Looking at your paused video and what I found on wiki I made what I think is a copy of yours. The first attemp I got the wires on the bridge wrong and got no results. Then I figured out the correct config. I now have somthing strange. 24.4 dc volts and 10.47 ac volts on the outlet wires from the bridge. I am wondering if this is normal I have never seen ac volts and dc volts on the same wire ever. How is this so? Any feedback would be amazing. I would love to show you my device how can I do that?
is there a way to figure out the voltage level that the hv transformer is putting out? I figure you cant exactly hook it up to a voltmeter since its probably somewhere around 15-30kV. So any ideas how to find output voltage of transformer?
I've done a bunch of interesting experiments with water, pH indicators, fluorescent tubes, and other random things. The coolest is the water bridge. (i've got a few videos of it on my channel.)
What if I wrap a separate wire around the ferrite core,say 10 turns,instead of using the pins 5 and 8?Would that make any difference to the voltage output?
I used corn oil and man it was insanely good insulating, or check this: I put two point electrodes inside a bowl of corn oil and supplied 20kv and they need to be less than half a milimieter apart to breakdown! However I noticed the oil breakdwon got much worse the second time I tried.. the oil somehow was as good already hmmm
Alberto Septian Wijaya you cant connect dc to a flyback transformer and abort just connecting mains straight to the flyback will not make high voltage because its too low frequency
Well you're the second person that I'm aware of that's using that "Philips Advance ICN-4P32-N" ballast with success so I purchased one from ebay. Do you happen to know the voltage output from that ballast that's going into the flyback?
Commander Riley Ah--I would just use the 1.2 ohm pins, and if it burns up, just get some flybacks for a few bucks a piece at Electronic Goldmine. The one you see in the video was $3 or $5, if I remember correctly.
Maximum watts would be about 40, but I doubt it's that high. Probably 10 or so, which means that, at a few tens of thousands of volts (I'm not sure, really), it's putting out 2-3 mA.
Hey, I just measured these resistances (in Ohms): 1-2 = 1.8 1-3 = 1.7 2-3= 0.6 4-5= 0.6 6-7= 0.6 6-8= 0.8 6-9 = 0.9 7-8 = 0.6 7-9 = 0.9 8-9 = 0.7 The highest resistance is between 1 and 2 so that should be the primary coil. But I'm kinda confused about the secondary... will 6-7 do?
Just looking at the numbers, it looks like 1-2 is probably the primary. Did you leave off several others? (I don't see 1-6, for example.) You need a power supply to find the secondary--start about 1 minute into the video.
www.donberg.ie/catalogue/line_output_transformers/hr_8520.html I believe this is the schematic of the flyback transformer I'm using. I skipped the rest of the pairs of pins because they had no continuity. I'm not using ballast to drive it because I built my own driver: www.powerlabs.org/images/schematic1.gif I tried to put current through the secondary via HV cable, I put in 15V and I got only one live pin (No. 10) but with only 0,05V. I believe pins 1 and 2 are the primary coil. then I tried pins 4 and 5 as feedback also 6-7,6-8 and 6-9 to no avail. Could you please help? Zobrazit méně ODPOVĚDĚT
Good question--I'm not sure. All of the electronics I've scavenged from fluorescent light bulbs have worked, but eventually failed because the flyback draws too many mA. This is the only ballast I've used, and it's been rock solid. I've been using the same power supply you see in the video for four years now.
I did exactly that but my output is not continuous, I need to turn on/off the ballast to get arcs, otherwise, it will arc for two or three seconds and then stop arcing.
The flyback is probably drawing too much current. I blew up the mini ballasts from about 15 compact fluorescent bulbs before I got this ballast (which has lasted almost 4 years).
the negative is what triggers the positive (the long red cable with the pump thing) that's what makes the circuit to short circuit and see that thunder like reaction.
Just if any of you were wondering where to find the parts to make these I found a website that has everything you'll need along with pre built versions too www.litechnology.science/collections/high-voltage
Perdon por escribir mal--no tengo teclado espanol (Y no se decir flyback, ballast, y pins en espanol). Tienes las partes del equipo? El flyback transformer y el ballast? Lo mas dificil es encontrar los pins correctos en el flyback.
Flybacks need a high-frequency AC current to operate--in the thousands of hertz--I suspect that the sound produced by this current is causing the ringing in the ears.
Monte Fleming That would actually make a lot of sense now that I think about it. The reason I said wiring one may be useful is if I'm going to get electricity run in my basement, one may be needed for some of the old appliances I have down there, but they're mostly broken, and need repairs.
Thanks for the great video! This was a major help for a project that need a high voltage power source!
That is a pretty nice output. I never thought of using windings as the primary, I just wound a primary on ot and made a zvs to drive it. I do have some electronic fluo ballasts I am going to have to try using one of them.
this is one of the better vid i have seen on the subject thanks
Very helpful, thank you.
Never thought about using a fluorescent ballast to drive one.
I usually just add a new winding and use a transistor driver circuit.
...i am a idiot... i took the tv tube out of my tv and not the flyback... atleast it works as a great magnet... Oh and by the way great video
It's better to wind around 5 to 10 turns of thick mains cable around the core instead of using the original primary, specially if you plan to overdrive it because the original primary has more turns and that results into inductive kickback that destroys your MOSFETS or bipolar transistors.
The flyback probably has a rectifier. Try running the current through the flyback the other direction. It's also possible that the internal resistance in the HV circuit is too high for your voltage supply, or it could just be broken.
There has to be conductivity between the pins that you attach to the ballast. I chose 5 and 8 because, of all of the pairs of pins that were conductive, 5 and 8 had the most resistance (but not by much).
Also what are the diodes doing I know this arangment can be wired to change ac to dc but I have never seen a diode bridge on a dc side already I'm excited about that. Also would adding a capasitor thru the middle help or hurt the ripple. Would it smooth it out to much?
that little transformer on the board is putting out AC the bridge is to change it to DC for easy use
The spark from this power supply can jump over 2 cm in dry air (much further once the air is ionized). Air breaks down at about 30,000 V per cm, so that means it's putting out about 60 KV, give or take. The maximum wattage put out by the ballast is probably about 40 W. I doubt this thing is pulling 40 W, but if it were, the amperage would be 0.6 mA. The flyback transformer contains a rectifier, so the output is DC.
It's probably damaged--I'd be surprised if it still works. It's worth a shot, though. I'd try testing the conductivity of each circuit, and if they look normal, try hooking it up again. If you don't have another old monitor or TV laying around, you can get a flyback on ebay for a few dollars.
Several times--sometimes the flybacks hold a charge and get you after you've unplugged everything. The shock is quite a bit different than the 110 volts from the wall--it's more systemic than localized due to the high voltage.
Can you please share how you set up the 24v transformer with the diodes that is great but how is it wired can you please explain. By the way I have veiwed just. About every video about this yours is lightyears ahead of everyone elses. And you make it look so easy like its second nature to you thanks.
My Flyback Transformer isn't working with the CFL, I wonder why, it's dome how a special flyback transformer which has extra 2 wires with the suction cup. I tred to find the secondary negative wire butI can't. Please help
thank you so much
i really needed this video
you really helped me a lot
cleared a lot of doubts
thanks a lot
The flyback will only work with high-frequency AC. You can get that other ways, but this is the easiest I've come across, and it produces the best spark.
Air at standard temperature and pressure breaks down at about 33 kV/cm. This power supply will routinely produce a spark across a little more than a cm, so I figure it's putting out at least 40 kV.
Also check Electronic Goldmine for flybacks--they're the cheapest option if they have them in stock.
I need some help. A while ago I saw a video on a flyback transformer making some beautiful arcs so I got myself a flyback and some ballasts. I found the HV ground and input pins and I got the thing to work only when I turned the power from the ballast to the flyback on and off really fast. that was a pain in the butt and I suck at electronic circuits so I got ten more different ballasts and tried them all. nothing. eventually I got mad enough to hook it up to mains and I gave it a few too many volts until it caught fire. I still wanted to make arcs so eventually Got myself another flyback and using this excellent tutorial wired it up. same problem I cannot figure out what i'm doing wrong. I also have to use a dummy load any ideas on that? Thank you for the excellent tutorial
The problem
The flyback might be damaged
The number of winding turning is less
The thickness of the primary
Or the ballast is hooked up the wrong way
And since you are using a ballast remove the top cover and keep a cpu fan for cooling the ballast.
Hope this help
Transformers only work on AC if that helps.
So now could you solder in a light dimmer switch to the 120v input to make the voltage variable?
If I could get my hands on an old dimmer switch, it might work to lower the amperage and create a voltage drop, but the newer dimmer switches just lop off part of the sine curve 120 times a second to lower the energy directed to the bulb. I'd like to try a Variac. I think it might actually work, but varying the voltage might cause the ballast to shut itself off.
what do you mean you tested pins 5 and 8 and they were they ones for the input, how did you test and how did you find out they were the correct ones
thanks
So I made this yesterday, and it was working great, with no overheating. This morning I tried to arc it through a light bulb, and a weird pop came from the ballast and it is no longer working! What happened? I had no insulation on the transformer, could that have something to do with it?
I've tried it without the insulation on the flyback transformer, and there was a lot of arcing around it--I assume it will burn up something in it after a while. I tried dumping hot glue all over the pins on the flyback, and even that didn't stop all of the arcing. Hence, the oil bath.
MMIVcomp Will this work as a ballast - www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Electronic-Ballast-1-or-2-Fluorescent-Lamps-2x40W-AC-220V-Ezouf-/390595131252?pt=UK_Light_Fittings&hash=item5af148b774
halflife390 I really don't know. The only ballast I've tried is the one you see in the video: www.ebay.com/itm/Philips-Advance-ICN-4P32-N-Electronic-Ballast-3-or-4-Lamp-120V-277V-F32T8-F17T8-/271374520935?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f2f2e9267
It works really well--I've had this one on for many hours and it's still going strong.
I suspect that running it without insulation will burn it out pretty fast.
hey bro, I have a question. alright here's my setup. I have got a 53v dc power supply using 2 diodes, one for negative 1 for positive. but, when I try to use it, my breaker shuts off. how can I reduce the current to an amount that will still be fun but won't do that?
+Noah Clark If you attach a load to the power supply, does it still blow the breaker?
I like how he asks for help then never replies BACK. XD
(wait, that's utterly disturbing, I hope he's still alive.)
+Monte Fleming yes it does
Noah Clark thank Satan you're still alive.
satan? :O
Hello,
Thanks for the tutorial. ☺
Best Regards,
You're welcome--hope it was useful!
Basement Lab Productions Yeah - I have a couple of these that I'm trying to get rid of (sell). So in my add I referenced your video (alongside a couple of from Ludic Science he's done as well). 😊
Would you please tell me what the part number is on the flyback that you used in this video? Thank you!
hi ... i have a question .. im making a AED device n i need a step up transformer..which give output of nearly 5000 volt.... but as this transformer is not available ..its make on oder ..so its become so expensive .. n i have a FBT fly back transformer.. do u have any idea how much output voltage it can generate ? n gd work :)
00
What
why were pins 4 and 8 significant in connecting to each other? were they a +/- volt pins or grounds?
I have question. I seem to be unable to finding pin that's connection to HV on my flyback when I use multimeter. Why it is not shown up on my multimeter? Is it normally or broke?
Can i use a 12v power suply to find the pins?
David Toma It should work.
I have a flyback with broken core. can it still be useful for getting high voltage?
The gap in the core is supposed to be there.
How can I send you a video or a pic of what I made. Looking at your paused video and what I found on wiki I made what I think is a copy of yours. The first attemp I got the wires on the bridge wrong and got no results. Then I figured out the correct config. I now have somthing strange. 24.4 dc volts and 10.47 ac volts on the outlet wires from the bridge. I am wondering if this is normal I have never seen ac volts and dc volts on the same wire ever. How is this so? Any feedback would be amazing. I would love to show you my device how can I do that?
@MMIVcomp Does it really matter what I put in the input like say 12v? Would I get the same effect if I used a 50v power source?
is there a way to figure out the voltage level that the hv transformer is putting out? I figure you cant exactly hook it up to a voltmeter since its probably somewhere around 15-30kV. So any ideas how to find output voltage of transformer?
So what do you do with this besides popping a glass jar over it and using it as a really cool table lamp?
I've done a bunch of interesting experiments with water, pH indicators, fluorescent tubes, and other random things. The coolest is the water bridge. (i've got a few videos of it on my channel.)
My flyback have 2 two other cables besides the red,one black and one grey.
What to do with them?
David Toma Usually you can ignore the other cables. Sometimes they have to connect in a specific way, which can be difficult to figure out.
Would using an inductance meter instead of a multi-meter be better at finding the primary/secondary of a flyback transformer?
I haven't tried it--it might work, though.
what kind of oil was that? nice tutorial btw
What if I wrap a separate wire around the ferrite core,say 10 turns,instead of using the pins 5 and 8?Would that make any difference to the voltage output?
I used corn oil and man it was insanely good insulating, or check this: I put two point electrodes inside a bowl of corn oil and supplied 20kv and they need to be less than half a milimieter apart to breakdown! However I noticed the oil breakdwon got much worse the second time I tried.. the oil somehow was as good already hmmm
Do you NEED a ballast?
Can I just connect the main source from home (220V,6A) to full bridge rectifier then to flyback transformer? Will it shorted or what will happen?
Alberto Septian Wijaya you cant connect dc to a flyback transformer and abort just connecting mains straight to the flyback will not make high voltage because its too low frequency
Willeexd is correct--the flyback needs very high frequency AC to operate.
Alberto Septian Wijaya L
@john jay yes if its powered up
Well you're the second person that I'm aware of that's using that "Philips Advance ICN-4P32-N" ballast with success so I purchased one from ebay. Do you happen to know the voltage output from that ballast that's going into the flyback?
I think it's around 600 V.
Hey, I was wondering what is the output voltage on this thing? Is it AC or DC and about how many amps?
Hey can I use the old type of ballast the heavy ones with a starter? To power the flyback
I haven't tried--as long as the ballast puts out the right frequency and doesn't shut off, it should work.
Basement Lab Productions oh ok thanks
oh and how many volts does this put out?
I have a flyback which have 2 sets for primary.One set is 0.9 ohms and the other is 1.2 ohms.Which one should i use?
Commander Riley Either should work--maybe test them both to see if there's a detectable difference in output.
Monte Fleming It have a bigger arc on the 1.2ohm set but it have much more noise.Is that normal?
If the noise is from shorting, the other will be better.
Monte Fleming Yea,but the pins with 0.9 ohms give smaller arcs,acout 1cm smaller
Commander Riley Ah--I would just use the 1.2 ohm pins, and if it burns up, just get some flybacks for a few bucks a piece at Electronic Goldmine. The one you see in the video was $3 or $5, if I remember correctly.
What type of oil do you use . Would mineral oil be suitable ?
I think mineral oil would work well.
Impossible. How do you measure with ohmmeter while there is diode that turn on at 20 volt?
Monte Fleming did you use a driver?
Owen Chase Instead of building a driver, I just used the ballast--the final output is quite a bit higher than I've seen with most drivers.
You sayed thats a balast.It doesnt look like a balast used for fluorescent light tubes
how many watt's and amps does your power supply have?
Maximum watts would be about 40, but I doubt it's that high. Probably 10 or so, which means that, at a few tens of thousands of volts (I'm not sure, really), it's putting out 2-3 mA.
♫I got one hand in my pocket, and the other one is touching high voltage♫
what is that oil that you used as a insulator in the video ?
I used vegetable oil. I think mineral oil would be better, though, as the vegetable oil goes rancid after a while.
Hey, I just measured these resistances (in Ohms):
1-2 = 1.8
1-3 = 1.7
2-3= 0.6
4-5= 0.6
6-7= 0.6
6-8= 0.8
6-9 = 0.9
7-8 = 0.6
7-9 = 0.9
8-9 = 0.7
The highest resistance is between 1 and 2 so that should be the primary coil. But I'm kinda confused about the secondary... will 6-7 do?
Just looking at the numbers, it looks like 1-2 is probably the primary. Did you leave off several others? (I don't see 1-6, for example.) You need a power supply to find the secondary--start about 1 minute into the video.
www.donberg.ie/catalogue/line_output_transformers/hr_8520.html I believe this is the schematic of the flyback transformer I'm using.
I skipped the rest of the pairs of pins because they had no continuity.
I'm not using ballast to drive it because I built my own driver: www.powerlabs.org/images/schematic1.gif
I tried to put current through the secondary via HV cable, I put in 15V and I got only one live pin (No. 10) but with only 0,05V.
I believe pins 1 and 2 are the primary coil. then I tried pins 4 and 5 as feedback also 6-7,6-8 and 6-9 to no avail.
Could you please help?
Zobrazit méně
ODPOVĚDĚT
So pin 10 is the negative of the secondary (and the positive is the red wire coming out the top, of course).
What can I do to reduce the voltage from the flyback. Just add a lightbulb???
Maybe just the bulb part of a small fluorescent light.
Will any conventional ballast work?
Good question--I'm not sure. All of the electronics I've scavenged from fluorescent light bulbs have worked, but eventually failed because the flyback draws too many mA. This is the only ballast I've used, and it's been rock solid. I've been using the same power supply you see in the video for four years now.
I did exactly that but my output is not continuous, I need to turn on/off the ballast to get arcs, otherwise, it will arc for two or three seconds and then stop arcing.
You may have a ballast that shuts itself off when it senses abnormal conditions, or your flyback may be drawing too much current.
You don't use any of the other wires near the top. So far I haven't burned out my flyback with the voltage from the ballast :)
what can i do when the ballast exploded,the flyback is hungry?ampere or frequency.
The flyback is probably drawing too much current. I blew up the mini ballasts from about 15 compact fluorescent bulbs before I got this ballast (which has lasted almost 4 years).
Thank you--it's just cooking oil from Coscto.
can i use mehanic ballast
I used a zvs driver and a neon sign transformer
Don't you mean line output transformer?
I dont understand where the negitive output for flyback goes
the negative is what triggers the positive (the long red cable with the pump thing) that's what makes the circuit to short circuit and see that thunder like reaction.
What is the musical piece that open the video?
It's my orchestration of Bach's Fugue in C-Major, BWV 952.
can anybody know how many turn in the primary of flyback?? internal primary???
Tnx
Just if any of you were wondering where to find the parts to make these I found a website that has everything you'll need along with pre built versions too www.litechnology.science/collections/high-voltage
All that probing and guesswork -- why not just get a data sheet for the transformer? It must have a part number printed on it somewhere.
There was no paperwork available for this one or the older ones I pulled out of CRT monitors. I'm guessing a lot of other people are in the same boat.
hola ayúdame tres transformadores y no puedo lograr nada tu vídeo es bueno pero no entiendo inglés
Perdon por escribir mal--no tengo teclado espanol (Y no se decir flyback, ballast, y pins en espanol). Tienes las partes del equipo? El flyback transformer y el ballast? Lo mas dificil es encontrar los pins correctos en el flyback.
why do they make my ears ring? I've always wondered that, but they could be helpful if I ever work with electricity.
Flybacks need a high-frequency AC current to operate--in the thousands of hertz--I suspect that the sound produced by this current is causing the ringing in the ears.
Monte Fleming That would actually make a lot of sense now that I think about it. The reason I said wiring one may be useful is if I'm going to get electricity run in my basement, one may be needed for some of the old appliances I have down there, but they're mostly broken, and need repairs.
Flyback vibrates at 17.5 KHz.
have you ever shocked yourself badly dealing with flyback transformers?