Description: This recall involves neon power supply transformers designed to power commercial signs. They are in black metal boxes about 4.5 inches long by 3.5 inches wide with rows of vents on ...

[glasslinger] began his build by taking an old 15,000 Volt neon sign transformer and repurposing the coils and cores for his gigantic 50,000 volt transformer.

The neon sign transformer, Marx generator, or voltage multiplier was the hard part of the project. But nowadays you can get cheap high voltage modules that are quite inexpensive.

His reactor was modeled after a tokamak, a well-known design in fusion science. But rather than rely on lab-grade tools, he used a 12kV neon sign transformer to power the device.

Berger said about 200 tubes of neon and 20 transformers help light up the signs. While the front may look brand new, the back is still the same as it was in 1976.