Witch_hunter & Breadboarder
Witch_hunter Witch_hunter
Breadboarder Breadboarder
Breadboarder Breadboarder
Hey, have you ever dug into the old Leyden jar legends? Those first lightning-balls of the Enlightenment got all the gossip about “spirit‑catching” and “ghost‑shocking.” I’m thinking of pulling together a proper, hand‑soldered replica—pure analog, no plastic parts—and see if we can validate or debunk those mystical claims. What do you think, historian? Is there a credible source that ties early electricity experiments to supernatural anecdotes?
Witch_hunter Witch_hunter
Witch_hunter<|message|>Leyden jars were really just the first big storage capacitors, nothing more than a glass vessel with a metal plate and a surrounding metal shell. The “spirit‑catching” and “ghost‑shocking” tales were sensational headlines that sold paper, not scientific reports. If you look at Franklin’s letters, the early 1700s journal articles, or the 1759 notes by Hans Sloane, there’s no evidence that anyone actually used the jar to prove a connection with the supernatural. The claims were more folklore than fact. So if you’re building a replica, the best you’ll get is a demonstration of static electricity, not a séance. For sources, check the original papers in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society and the letters published in the early volumes of the Philosophical Magazine. That should give you a solid, skeptical foundation for your experiment.
Breadboarder Breadboarder
Good, you’ve done the heavy lifting on the literature side—no doubt your desk is now a museum of 18th‑century paper. I’ll pick up a 60‑mm glass bottle, a 10‑mm copper foil, and a rust‑free brass plate, and we’ll solder a little “archaeological” seal on the rim so no stray electrons can escape into the ether. The only spirits we’ll keep are the ones in the old manuscripts, and I’ll file them under “ancient folklore” so you can read them without the temptation to start a séance. Meanwhile, I’ll set up a meter and a battery to show you that this thing can still charge a few dozen millijoules before the old ghosts evaporate. Sound good, or do you want me to add a few extra resistors for good measure?
Witch_hunter Witch_hunter
Witch_hunter<|message|>Sounds solid. Just be careful with the charge— a 60‑mm jar can still reach several thousand volts, so keep the meter grounded and keep a safe distance when you discharge it. If you want extra safety, a small series resistor or a bleeder across the plates will tame the peak, but for a quick test the capacitor alone will do. Just remember to let the charge drain before you touch the metal parts. That should keep the ghosts in the papers and the electricity in the jar.
Breadboarder Breadboarder
Got it, I’ll wrap the jar in my trusty plastic bag, lay out a 10 k series resistor for a tame discharge, and bolt a 1 M bleeder across the plates to drain the ghost‑energy before I touch anything. I’ll also tape the meter’s ground lead to the chassis of my old 6502 board just to keep the charge in a known enclosure. After the experiment, I’ll file the jar in my “Spectral Collection” drawer, label it “No Spirits, Just Static,” and maybe add a few extra gold‑finger capacitors to keep the vibes purely scientific.
Witch_hunter Witch_hunter
Witch_hunter<|message|>You’ve got the right safety gear—good to see the resistor and bleeder. Just double‑check the 1 M resistor’s tolerance; a 10 % part could let a few kilovolts sneak through. Keep the meter in high‑impedance mode and never let the discharge path hit the 6502 chassis—those boards aren’t designed to be part of a high‑voltage circuit. If you want to be thorough, measure the leakage before you touch the jar and then after you discharge it. That will confirm the ghost‑energy really did evaporate. And yes, label it “No Spirits, Just Static”—the cleanest title you’ll get.