DEVMO 5PCS DC 3v-6v to 400kV 400000V Boost Step-up Power Module High-Voltage Generator

Just testing the first one seems to be working well. 3V in pulled ~9 watts (~2 amps), I put a 5 ohm 10 watt resistor on it so it hopefully won't cook itself.

Major Warning!!! Treat these modules with respect. They will set you on your you know what if you aren't very careful. A *brief* touch to a 9 volt battery will pop out an inch long spark and a loud snap. They are NOT rated for 9 volts, and operating in that range will destroy them quickly. The dielectric properties of insulation are absolute. Exceed it, and it perforates. Period. I marked the module I tested, and plan to discard it. They are also not rated for high current, so include a (high voltage) resistor in your final circuit. Remember that at 400 kilovolts, it only takes a current of 0.0025 milliamps to produce 1 watt of current. And that would probably be about the limit to these, unless someone wants to do some destructive testing. Quarter watt resistors aren't going to do the job, which is why I said HIGH VOLTAGE resistors. If you don't run them continuously, and don't exceed the input voltage constraints, great. Just don't complain when they stop working.

I tested these using a hydrogen spectrum tube as the load it creates is very stable compared to a spark gap. These tubes require only 3-5 kV so the output is obviously nowhere near to 400kV. At 5V in the current draw was close to 4A. It started getting slightly warm after less than a minute - I have not tried running it for longer.

The media could not be loaded. I’m using these to turbo charge electric fly swatter rackets. I cut the circuit board inside the handle of the zapper racket leaving only the switch and solder the module inline with the switch. This amps up the 3,000-4,000 volt zapper racket to 300,000-400,000 volts. I work in Alaska where we have a lot of mosquitoes and the upgraded racket absolutely smokes the little bastards in an satisfying array of dancing electric sparks. From mosquitoes to hornets, this thing does the trick. I’ve gone through 30-40 of them and haven’t found a dud yet so I’m very satisfied.UPDATE:As of 2022 I’ve upgraded several hundred electric fly swatters and to my knowledge I haven’t had one fail on me yet. I did try hooking one up to a 9v battery and it didn’t appear to do anything. When I reduced it back to 6v (2 x AA) it popped and snapped as you would expect. In order to get the increased voltage using a 9v battery I’d recommend purchasing to ones labeled in Amazon as “6v - 9v to 1,000,000v 1,000kv voltage generator”. In reality they’re nowhere near that voltage, but they will allow you to smoke just about any flying insect you come across.

Listed output should be 40kV and not 400kV: Tear down showed a 24T primary and a 3000T secondary feeding a voltage trippler.With 5V into the module the primary waveform is a 10uS wide 125V half sine pulse at 6kHz or about 15kV at the input of the trippler circuit which bumps it up to 45kV.The output is 3 x 5.6 nF/1600V film capacitors in series so if you run this module open output the caps or multiplier diodes will fry as they are only rated together for 4800V. Film caps can handle over voltage to a point as they can self heal but give them enough energy and they will short.At 45kV the 1.8uF output capacitor stores 1850 joules so I would second other reviews to keep your hands off the output as these will kick your butt!!! These were probably meant as tazer drivers for which they would get the job done.All in all this is a fun little module.

They work as advertised but pay careful attention to the specs. They are very fragile; that is, they are very easy to accidently destroy.That is actually all good, so why only 3 stars? The extreme fragility really makes them unsuitable for high voltage exeirments and educational purposes unless you consider "how to break things by not carefully considering the specifications", education. You may also gain an education on how not to get knocked on your *ss while you are at it ;-)Play with care. Make sure any connected electrodes and spaced as indicated, 10mm to 20mm apart. Use too little space and the arc will be too hot, drawing too much current, and quickly destroying the generator. Space them too far apart and they won't arc at all, except inside the generator, destroying it. If everything is just right, they work great, but not for more than several fews of seconds! Low duty cycle! This is all in the description so the seller is not trying to mislead anyone... but not everyone reads the details.Even though I expected better, I may well buy a few more. They do work and a high voltage source that will take more abuse, could get pretty pricey. On the other hand, these are a bit pricey for "throw aways".I am guessing in/for their intended operation/use they get used very rarely and only briefly, so they would be perfectly suitable.

It stoped working a day after I got it and busted open a random gas’s into my room so.. it’s ONE star

I use this (wired to a 9V battery plus a momentary button) as an ignition system for a potato "launcher" contraption. I was happy to have something pre-made rather than needing to figure out and implement the windings, transistors, etc. to create the boosted voltage.