Spark gap PEMF machines
On this page explanations of the differences between the FLASH and Spark Gap technology is explaned.
One of the best known applications is probably the use of spark gap plugs in a car motor, where delivering a very high voltage pulse [tens of thousands of volts] is used to ignite the compressed fuel and air mixture by an electric spark inside the cylinder.
Click on the video for a short explanation
In spome hospitals the same obsolete spark technology is still used to unload huge amounts of energies into underwater electrodes focused on kidneys to disintegrate kidney stones. This is called Extracorporeal Shock Wave Lithotripsy (ESWL).
The amount of energy released for this purpose is controlled by changing the very high voltage between the 14,000 and 22,000 volt level for charging the very high voltage capacitor.
Click on the video for a short demonstration where it used to show how a candy is disintegrated exactly the same way as a kidney stone.
In short: a spark gap is used as a very fast switch for very high voltages in the tens of thousands of volts, where a vast amount of energy is suddenly dumped e.g. into electrodes or coils. Sometimes a spark gap is called a spark chamber.
In spark PEMF devices this old technology is still used to discharge a very high voltage capacitor into a PEMF coil to create high intensity electromagnetic pulses.
This technology was originally developed in Greece decades ago and applied for health purposes, but has become obsolete technology although some companies are still marketing such PEMF devices for extremely high prices.
The repetition rate of the pulses per second is limited because of the time it takes between each pulse to re-charge the internal high voltage capacitor to thousands of volts required for spark gap switches. The maximum pulse frequency usually does not exceed more than a few pulses per second and at the same time the intensity goes down because of the time it takes to recharge the capacitor inside the unit to the tens of thousands of volts.
This can be compared to slowly filling a bucket with water until it is full, upon which the whole contents is emptied out in one big splash. Because it takes time for this process, similarly the pulse repetition rate of a spark PEMF device is limited.
Click on the video to see how this works ===>>>
In order to discharge the capacitor [charged to tens of thousands of volts] a spark gap with titanium electrodes is used to reduce the wear of the electrodes as much as possible but even these electrodes will need to be replaced after a while exactly the same way as the plugs in a car motor need to be replaced from time to time. Replacement of these spark gap electrodes are expensive making these PEMF devices service dependable and expensive downtime.