There are various commercially produced electric arc lighters for sale on Chinese websites. But you can make such a lighter for gas stoves with your own hands.
The idea is that you need to get a high voltage of high frequency, which creates a hot arc. With this arc you can easily ignite household gas, paper or cigarettes.
The lighter consists of several components:
- Charging board for one Li-ion battery with built-in discharge protection. The board has several indicator LEDs, one of which lights up during charging, and the other lights up when the battery is fully charged. The presence of such a board will allow you to charge the battery with a current of up to 1 A from any 5 V source, for example, from an ordinary USB port.
- Li-ion battery is suitable for any size and capacity. The example uses a standard 18490 battery with a capacity of 1400 mAh. It is slightly shorter than regular 18650. The choice is determined by the overall dimensions of the lighter body.
- A converter built using a simple self-oscillator circuit based on an IRFZ44 field-effect transistor and a high-voltage transformer. You will have to wind the transformer yourself.
The transformer was based on a core from an electronic transformer for 50 W halogen lamps. A core from a computer power supply is also perfect.
The transformer must be carefully desoldered, disassembled and the standard windings removed. The network winding needs to be preserved - it will be useful later.
The halves of the core are glued to each other, so before uncoupling they need to be warmed up a little with a soldering iron so as not to break them.
The primary winding consists of 8 turns tapped from the middle. The index finger is used as an approximate gauge.
The winding is wound with two buses, each of which consists of 4 cores of 0.5 mm wire, which was taken from the network winding of a previously disassembled transformer.
After winding, the primary winding is insulated with 10 layers of ordinary tape. A secondary or boost winding is wound on top.
To wind the secondary winding, a wire from the relay coil was used. Any compact 12 or 24 V relay will do. The wire diameter can be from 0.08 to 0.1 mm.
First you need to solder a piece of stranded wire in insulation to a thin winding wire, and then wind it. The wire is not cut at any stage of winding. The winding is wound in layers, and each layer can contain from 70 to 100 turns. Insulation is placed on top of each layer with the same tape. The result should be about 800 turns.
Next, the halves of the core are fixed, and a piece of stranded wire is soldered to the second end of the secondary winding. It doesn’t hurt to ring the winding with a multimeter to check for integrity. Then the final insulation is applied using electrical tape.
After completing all these procedures, it is necessary to phasing the primary winding. The beginning of one arm must be connected to the end of the other. This creates a middle point where the plus from the power source is connected.
Next, the oscillator circuit is assembled and tested for functionality. A high-voltage arc is formed already at a distance of half a centimeter and stretches up to 1 cm. This indicates normal operation of the inverter.
Now you can install everything into the case.
The FET was not installed on the heatsink, but it is highly recommended to do so. It is also recommended to hide all exposed parts of the circuit under heat shrink.
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Probably everyone has heard and seen on YouTube lighters (for cigarettes or a gas stove) that produce an electric arc, but in this design, thanks to modulation, sound effects are also obtained - a kind of plasma speaker. The design contains a Li-ion battery that powers the transistor switches. The control signal of the transistors comes out of the microcontroller PIC12F1840. It generates a 15 kHz PWM signal, and modulation to the rhythm of music allows you to broadcast sound through a burning electric arc. You will find the program code and diagram below.
Schematic diagram of a plasma lighter
Scheme of a plasma singing lighter on a microcontroller How does this work
The program controls the transformer using complementary PWM signals at a carrier frequency of 15 kHz to generate an arc.
It then modulates the signal (and therefore the plasma arc) at audio frequencies to create a melody.
The photographs show a ready-made factory device, but using the diagram above, you can assemble such a plasma singing lighter yourself -.
Disassembled device 
Electric lighter - board with parts 
Lighter with modulated electric arc The electric lighter is powered by a lithium battery of suitable size, for example from an old mobile phone or a battered smartphone. The battery is charged from Micro-USB () via a charger chip LTC4054.
Video of the lighter working
The operating principle of this device is simple - converting direct voltage into high-voltage, high-frequency voltage to produce a spark.
But as practice has shown, the main problem in the manufacture of an electric lighter is the high-voltage transformer: firstly, there are very high requirements for it in terms of insulation quality, and secondly, it must also be as miniature as possible.
These requirements are met by the diagram below: a ready-made transformer, TVS-70P1, is used here. This is a line transformer that was used in portable black and white televisions (such as "Yunost" and the like). In the diagram it is indicated as T2 (only a pair of windings is used).
The proposed circuit makes it possible to remove the dependence of the voltage supplied to the high-voltage coil on the response threshold of the dinistor (they are most often used), as is implemented in previously published circuits.
The circuit consists of a self-oscillator on transistors VT1 and VT2, which increases the voltage to 120...160 V using transformer T1 and a circuit for starting the thyristor VS1 on elements VT3, C4, R2, R3, R4. The energy accumulated on the capacitor SZ is discharged through winding T2 and an open thyristor.
As for the T1 transformer: it is made on a ring ferrite magnetic core M2000NM1 of standard size K16x10x4.5 mm. Winding 1 contains 10 turns, winding 2 - 650 turns with PELSHO-0.12 wire.
For other details: capacitors: S1, SZ type K50-35; C2, C4 type K10-7 or similar small-sized ones.
Diode VD1 can be replaced with KD102A, B.
S1 - microswitch type PD-9-2.
Any thyristor can be used with an operating voltage of at least 200 V.
Transformers T1 and T2 are attached to the board with glue.
The device is made on a printed circuit board and can be placed even in an empty cigarette pack
The discharge chamber is located between two rigid wires with a diameter of 1...2 mm at a distance of 80...100 mm from the housing. The spark between the electrodes passes at a distance of 3...4 mm.
The circuit consumes a current of no more than 180 mA, and the battery life will last more than two hours continuous operation, however, continuous operation of the device for more than one minute is not advisable due to possible overheating of the VT2 transistor (it does not have a heatsink).
When setting up the device, it may be necessary to select elements R1 and C2, as well as change the polarity of winding 2 of transformer T1. It is also advisable to carry out the adjustment with an uninstalled R2: check the voltage on the SZ capacitor with a voltmeter, and then install resistor R2 and, by monitoring the voltage with an oscilloscope at the anode of the thyristor VS1, make sure that the discharge process of the SZ capacitor is present.
The SZ discharge through the winding of transformer T2 occurs when the thyristor opens. A short pulse to open the thyristor is generated by transistor VT3 when the voltage on the capacitor SZ increases to more than 120V.
The device can also find other applications, for example, as an air ionizer or an electric shock device, since a voltage of more than 10 kV arises between the electrodes of the spark gap, which is quite sufficient to form an electric arc. At low current in the circuit, this voltage is not life-threatening.
This electric lighter will be an excellent kitchen assistant for gas stoves that do not have an electric ignition function. It is very convenient and trouble-free in operation. You can make it yourself by spending just a couple of hours of your time, having previously stocked up on a piece of one-sided foil fiberglass and a minimum of inexpensive and radio components. And a sketch will serve as a faithful assistant printed circuit board and a drawing of the proposed design.
The principle of operation of the homemade design is based on the cyclic charge-discharge of capacitance C1. This is done when the button SВ1 is pressed. Through resistance R1, diode VD1 and the primary winding of the transformer. And when C1 is discharged, current flows through the circuit of the open thyristor, diode VD2, and the primary winding of the step-up transformer. In the secondary winding of the transformer it is induced high voltage, which causes a spark to form in the gap between the electrodes and ignites the gas.
The transformer is made on a piece of ferrite rod 2 centimeters long from any radio receiver. Having wrapped the rod with electrical tape, the secondary winding is wound onto it in sections of 6 by 90 turns with PEV-2 0.06 wire. Then they isolate the high-voltage winding and proceed to winding the primary winding of only four turns, with a wire of the same brand, but with a diameter of 0.5 mm.
The peculiarity of this simple amateur radio design is that the printed circuit board is also a supporting structure.
Spring contact SB1 is made from a strip of brass 0.2 mm thick and 8 mm wide. The button itself is made of any insulating material, as an option, plexiglass.
The lighter body is glued from sheet polystyrene or similar material. Complete isolation of the high-voltage part from all others makes this device absolutely safe to use.
Of course, buy an electric lighter for gas stove today will not be difficult. There are plenty of them on the market, and the price allows anyone to buy it. In this article we will look at how you can assemble such a lighter yourself. This will be very useful, as it will allow you to learn its principle and possibly apply it in other homemade products.
The main idea here is to obtain high voltage with high frequency, as a result, a hot spark is formed between the electrodes. This spark can ignite gas, cigarettes or paper. Let's consider in order how to do it.
Materials and tools for homemade work:
- soldering iron with solder;
- charging for li-ion batteries;
- li-ion battery (18490/1400 mAh);
- field effect transistor IRFZ44;
- transformer for 50 W halogen lamps (or other similar);
- 0.5 mm wire (must be in the transformer);
- frame;
- power button and other little things.
Lighter manufacturing process:
Step one. Preparing the Charger
To charge the Li-ion battery, the author used a special board with protection. There are two indicators on the board, one lights up when charging is in progress, and the second lights up when the battery is low. Using such a device, the battery can be charged with a current of up to 1A through any 5V source. Alternatively, this can be done via a regular USB port.
Step two. Battery
The homemade battery is suitable for any size and capacity. As an example, the author installed a standard 18490 battery with a capacity of 1400 mAh. Its peculiarity is that it is somewhat shorter than the ordinary 18650. In general, the choice depends on the size of the lighter.
Step three. Converter
A transistor of the IRFZ44 type, as well as a high-voltage transformer, were used as the basis for the converter. The most difficult thing is with the transformer; you will have to wind it yourself.
The transformer will need a core from an electronic transformer for halogen lamps with a power of 50 W. A standby voltage transformer from a computer power supply is also suitable for such purposes.
First, the transformer must be carefully desoldered and the installed windings removed. You need to leave the network wiring, it will be useful for homemade work. To disconnect the halves of the transformer, they need to be heated with a soldering iron.
The primary winding has 8 turns and is tapped from the middle. The author measures everything roughly using his finger.
The wiring is wound in two busbars, with each busbar having 4 strands of 0.5 mm wire. The wire that was useful was the one that was used as the network winding in the previously disassembled transformer.
After the primary winding is wound, 10 layers of adhesive tape are wound on top for insulation. Then the author winds a secondary or step-up winding on top.
The secondary winding was wound with wire from the relay coil. As for the relay, any small 12-24V will do. The diameter of the wire should be within 0.08-0.1 mm.
First, you need to solder a piece of stranded wire to the thin winding wire, and then start winding. The wire does not need to be cut at any stage of winding. You need to wind it in layers, with each layer containing 70-100 turns. On top of each layer there is insulation, which is also made from tape. In conclusion, there should be approximately 800 turns.
Now you can fix the core halves, and you need to solder a piece of stranded wire to the second end of the secondary winding. You can also test the winding with a multimeter to check its integrity. The final insulation is electrical tape.
Finally, you need to do the phasing of the primary winding. The beginning of one arm is connected to the end of the other. As a result, a middle point is formed, to which the plus from the power source is connected.
Then you can assemble the oscillator circuit and check if everything works. The arc should form at a distance of 0.5 cm, and it can be stretched up to 1 cm. If this is the case, then the inverter is working correctly.