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Differences in Van De Graaff Flybacks

Lightning at your fingertips is available through the work of flyback transformers, also known as horizontal output transformers, horizontal sweep transformers, line output transformers or simply flybacks. This type of transformer works on the same concept as the Van de Graaf generator invented by Robert Jemison Van de Graaff. It produces a high voltage with a low current. Where the Van De Graaf has remained basically the same in design, the flyback transformer has changed with the development of new materials.

Types
- People have developed flyback transformers of all sorts of designs -- from ones large enough to grip your fingers around, to ones that rest in your palm. Two major divisions exist: flybacks powered by alternating current, or AC, and flybacks powered by direct current, or DC.
DC Flybacks
- A DC flyback transformer is a common variety of flyback transformer that is sealed in epoxy. This kind tends to be more reliable than flyback transformers designed to run on AC.
AC Flybacks
- AC flybacks, unlike DC flybacks, tend to fail more often. Within the AC flyback category are several different kinds, one developed after the other. These types are as follows: a kind built before 1955, a kind used in TVs before 1968 and a third kind that, like DC flybacks, is sealed in epoxy.
Van de Graaff or Flyback
- When you need to generate a low-current high-voltage output, it is possible to use either a flyback transformer or a Van de Graaff generator. Use caution when using either of these devices to avoid electric shock.
Common Features
- Despite differences, flybacks in general do share some features. They have cores that are hollow and made of the magnetic material ferrite. The use of ferrite as a substance for the core marks the flyback transformer as different from other kinds of transformers, which use iron as the material for their cores.

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