USB Arc Lighter Noise and Smell – Plasma

By Lucille R. Church 5 years ago

There is a slight high pitch arc noise that comes from the creation of the plasma arc. I quite like the sound. It’s not very loud and if you are a few feet away you wouldn’t even hear it.

Dont touch the plasma arc, you will get burnt and a slight electric shock. Read more about flameless lighter.

If you turn on the plasma Lighter and hold it close to your nose as you press the button, there is a very slight burnt smell. This may be the residues of burnt paper/ wood/wax that had touched the electrodes while it was in use. It could also be the residue of ozone as it arcs across oxygen.

Ozone is created by a high voltage electrical discharge (arc/spark) as air passes through it. As the air moves through the arc, the oxygen molecules are temporarily separated into individual oxygen atoms. As they clear of the corona they start to recombine back into oxygen (O2) and ozone (O3).

 

Saberlight Teardown

So what is inside the Saberlight?

I decided to open up this USB arc lighter to see what make these taser lighters work. I have a habit of pulling apart objects. Like my daughters Samsung Tab3 tablet that needed its battery connection re-terminated.  But the only tool needed for this arc lighter tear down is a Philips head screwdriver.

I actually thought it would have a 18650 battery inside, but was pleasantly surprised to see a 3.7v lithium Ion flat pack battery, this one is rated at 280mAh.

A high voltage coil with a primary and secondary step-up transformer is all cased in a black box. Possibly pumps out between 4000v-5000v

The circuit board has a few transistors, diodes, and a strong magnet to keep the lid closed and open. The circuit looks to be a single transistor oscillator. With an inbuilt USB charging circuit.