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SparKIT

1,311 orders since Mar 21, 2017

Christchurch, Canterbury, New Zealand

Ships from New Zealand.

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Overall Rating:

Review Breakdown

5
35 4
32 3
4 2
1 1
2

Average Ratings

Product: (4.77)

Documentation: (4.53)

Shipping: (4.36)

Communication: (4.54)

All Reviews

Harley | Nov. 27, 2019

This generator was great

For SparKIT - Mini Electrostatic Generator

I love this, it has done all that it said it would do and it is perfect for playing with. The video instructions were ok, but I think that having them in writing would be better. All things considered, this was... AWESOME.

Knox | Oct. 22, 2019

Works Great !!

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Mine did not work at first, but after some quick adjustments it now works perfectly!
Be sure to check that the rotating wheels are not touching and that they are evenly spaced. Use something like a wooden Popsicle stick or a small plastic knife to
re-align the wheels, if needed.
Also, the 2 brushes should lightly be in contact with each wheel. If it still does not work, try touching 1 of the metal electrodes at the top with your finger to transfer an initial charge. Adjust the spacing between top electrodes for the desired arc length (mine works well at ~ 3/4 inch separation).
Shipping may have moved the wheels to the wrong position.

Have fun !!!
Knox

Bryan | Sept. 27, 2019

Good product and fun toy

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I have not had the best of luck with mine but I do enjoy it and I do recommend for getting children into science. I purchased mine fully assembled..... (Any mishaps of shipping fully assembled is not a problem with the product or the company).... It arrived within 2-3 weeks, as I live in the midwest of the USA that is very good time. When the package arrived I put the batteries in and tested it out. It worked well for about a minute and a half with a 20 mm spark gap (60,000 volts). After a short time one of the disks fell off and got stuck. This damaged one of the collector combs and part of the disk. At this point I was very disappointed. As a mechanic I decided to try and fix it at home (useing super glue) I reattached the disk and reassembled. After this I was only able to get at max a 3 mm spark if any. Took it to work and resoldered the combes, this restored the spark gap. I posted a video of it working on my YouTube channel. Shut it off and turned it back on and it doesn't work. This time I am assuming it is due to moisture in the air, as that will keep and whimsurst machine from working. I may purchase another in the future not assembled to see if I get better results.
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Response from SparKIT | Sept. 28, 2019
Thanks for the positive review Bryan, although we're disappointed you had those problems. We are always happy to work through any problems people have, and machines like this can have issues.
Start-up reliability can be due to moisture adsorbed in contaminants on the disk surface, so a blast with a hairdryer can help with that. Having disks a little too far apart is another cause for start-up issues- you can try giving the machine a squeeze to temporarily bring the disks closer.

James | Sept. 8, 2019

Very nice kit

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Works really well - started spinning the first time I switched it on and I was rewarded with blue sparks and the smell of ozone.

An easy(ish) build. The only difficult part was fitting the brushes. They're quite hard to get into their holes and tend to 'moult' in the process. An extra one in the kit might have been useful. Also the stands will fall off without a blob of solder to hold them in place. The kit has been designed for this but it's not mentioned in the instructions.

Nick | Aug. 10, 2019

Brilliantly simple

For SparKIT - Mini Electrostatic Generator

Great bit of kit, easily assembled even with my fat fingers dodgy eyesight and massive soldering iron. Get a finer soldering iron if you can. Instructions easy to follow, and online support fantastic. Watch out for customs charge in the UK though, should have bought two to get the average price down.

Philip | June 24, 2019

Great kit works very well

For SparKIT - Mini Electrostatic Generator

I watched a video of the assembly on Youtube before starting. The assembly was easy, but I already had a fine tipped soldering iron (If you don't have one get one before starting). I recommend using an extra hands station if you have one https://shop.harborfreight.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/i/m/image_22585.jpg

to make the assembly process super easy. The kit worked very well, I made my own larger acrylic base to which I added a home made leyden jar/capacitor so I had a choice of regular or much fatter sparks.

I didn't need to communicate with the SparKIT people so my rating of that is based solely on their included instruction sheet.

Fabio | June 19, 2019

Great device and good seller!

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I'm an Italian physicist.
The item took only two weeks to arrive in Italy from the other side of the world.
I love all electrostatic machines and this is perhaps my favorite.
It works perfectly, it's easy to assemble, it has a beautiful design and it's easily transportable!
Beautiful as an object to keep on your desk and excellent as an educational device for school.
In addition the Corona Spinner is a truly fanciful object.
Thanks!

Tyler | April 21, 2019

Well done

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Shipping was faster than expected, as was the build quality. Creative use of pcbs! It's a little louder than I expected, but that's probably because I didn't know what to expect. Well done!

Denis | April 20, 2019

Nice easy-to-build working generator, some issues with parts

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I've recently built the generator, so now I can write a review. The kit is nicely packed, small parts are in separate bags, silica gel added to the bags with humidity-sensitive parts. You also get a printed in color building manual with pictures (which also describes some cool experiments with static electricity). As far as I know, the kit included a mini-screwdriver earlier, but currently this is not the case, so you might need your own small screwdriver to screw motors onto boards.

The building is quite easy if you're accustomed to soldering (which is not hard for this kit anyway if you are a beginner). I've spent around 1.5 hours to build it.

One of the difficulties was to solder motor wires, as they are not prepared to be soldered easily (not tinned etc), so you would need to apply heat for quite a long time. Also be careful when soldering charge collectors, as it's easy to solder several of collector contact pads to the conductive tracks, which are very close to these pads.

One problem I had with the kit was wrong small screws (which are used to screw motors onto boards) I've got in my kit. They put seven of these (one is spare). I had five of them perfectly fit the screw holes in the motors. However, two of other screws were slightly thinner (and they in fact had different heads), which made it impossible to use them to screw the motor! These screws just fall out of the screw holes! So, I have one motor fully screwed, and another one is screwed only with two screws. Fortunately, it's enough to keep it in place.

I've also bought the corona spinner, which works well. The alligator clip is a little bit rusty in my kit, which does not actually affect it's operation at all.

All in all, the kit is great and really works without any hard-to-solve problems. I strongly recommend buying it if you are interested in high voltage or static electricity.

Matt | April 4, 2019

A great kit for high voltage experimentation

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I saw this on twitter and had to buy it. I have built a tesla coil but hadn't thought to try a Wimhurst generator. The kit was put together very nicely with clear and easy to follow instructions. I assembled it in about 30 minutes, and it made nice 10mm long sparks as soon as I powered it up.

I also bought the corona spinner and had never seen this demonstration before. Very nice!

Some things I've discovered after playing with the kit over the weekend:

- It's great it's portable and battery powered, easy to transport and show people
- The power isn't high enough to hurt (but still surprising if unexpected)
- The sound of the motors gives an indication of how hard it's working. So for example when the terminals are shorted, you can hear the motors speed up.

Phil | April 1, 2019

It's super fun!

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I am a high school physics teacher, and it was a lot of fun to use with my students! The suggested demos were fun, my upper level students asked a lot of questions about how it worked and how to modify it, all of my students loved watching it!
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Response from SparKIT | April 1, 2019
Thanks Phil ! we love to read about them being used in schools and inspiring students.

Marcio | March 28, 2019

Outstanding Kit!

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A lot of thought has gone into this kit, as evidenced by the small custom parts and the well written assembly instructions. This was fun to put together and generates a really nice spark when operating. Hands down a fantastic kit!

Hank | March 18, 2019

SparKit

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I purchased the SparKit and Rotor, assembled, and arrived in about a week. After I put put in the batteries, it started right up. Spark gap, Spark, charging speed, rotor all seemed to work fine. It is a superb next-step introduction to electrostatics, and the best price for a Wimshurst Machine that I've seen. Good quality, well-made, simple and clean design. It is a handsome desktop device.

One problem that I had initially was that it was making a whining, rubbing noise, because the disks were a few millimeters off-center, probably knocked during shipping. Julian and Luka Phillips answered my email request for help, promptly, providing a little more detail beyond the trouble-shooting information in the instructions:

Disk separation should be 1.5 - 2.5 mm, centered within the frame. To adjust the disks without dis-assembly use the handle of a cutlery fork or spoon to gently move the disk away from the frame by applying pressure at the spindle (not too much or the spindle will end up with a wobble). Pressing on the backs of the motors can be used to push the disks together thus sliding them back on the shaft and increasing disk separation when released. Using the two techniques together should allow you to move the disks into a better position. But don't be too afraid to dis-assemble, the tricky part is the soldering which is all done.

My grandson was able to make these adjustments, with a little guidance, and everything is working just fine. This device is well-made, and a little jostling due to overseas shipping was not unexpected.

For experiments, the adjustable spark gaps show different arcs and discharge frequencies, the rotor works fine, the expected shocks are minor, we were able to move a small stream of water, as well as a flame, to charge an electroscope, a Leyden Jar, and an electrophoresis - directly and by induction, and to move bits of tissue paper and foil. In a darkened room, we could see the various discharges, and also lit an old neon test bulb, florescent tube, incandescent tube, and vacuum tube. And, we solved a maze scratched out of aluminum foil. There are many simple experiments scattered throughout Youtube, as well as old books in the library. The main point is that my grandson is encouraged to explore and experiment.

Dale | March 6, 2019

Very pleased with the device.

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The wimshurst kit was everything I had hoped it would be. It was fun to put together and worked the first time I turned it on.

F.Artemis | Feb. 19, 2019

Do not buy the assembled units

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I purchased two assembled units. Both showed up damaged due to shipping. No biggie, bit I will need to take them back apart. I might as we have bought the kit. Otherwise I love this product and recommend it. There are very few options for motorized Wimshurst out there, and this is unbeatable for the price and cleverness of the design.
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Response from SparKIT | Feb. 19, 2019
Thanks for the positive comments, but we're sorry they arrived damaged. Could you please let us know how they were damaged so we might address how we package assembled kits in the future.

Nole | Jan. 21, 2019

Product is awesome, but they forgot to send the feet!

For SparKIT - Mini Electrostatic Generator

After seeing a video on YouTube, I ordered the SparKIT Wimshurst generator which arrived approximately 3 weeks later - as advertised (NZ - USA). I was happy they offered to ship the kit assembled for only $15 more, as some of the small components looked like they might be difficult to solder. The kit arrived assembled, undamaged and after a couple AA batteries (and some hair static off my comb) it worked perfectly the 1st time! Can't wait to use it in experiments and/or bring it to work as an 'executive' desk toy. Will need to fashion a base for it though, as it's feet are apparently still hanging with the Kiwis.
Edits - I received brief assembly instructions, but didn't expect anything. - Could not find an email address to communicate with the seller re: feet
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Response from SparKIT | Jan. 21, 2019
Thanks for the review, Nole. Sorry about the stands- we will get them to you ASAP. We include instructions as they have troubleshooting tips as well as experiments.

David | Jan. 17, 2019

Maxed out Cool Factor!

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I saw this reviewed on youtube and was instantly hooked, I had to have one.

I am trying to find a "safe" way to generate lightning style electrical sparks. Well, "safer" at any rate. My reason? Here's the abridged version of this story: I roast coffee. No big deal there, lots of roasteries in the Universe, but mine has a gimmick. All my roasts are performed by hand over an open fire that has been ignited using primitive methods. That means either foraged "natural" fire, or bow drill friction fire, or concentrated solar, or the fire piston, no modern butane lighters or matches. Of course the coffee doesn't care how it's roasted, and in essence it's no better or different, it's just a gimmick that has made itself obvious to me over dozens of camping trips and roasting coffee in the bush. The secret ingredient to Secret Ingredient Soup is.... nothing! See Kung Fu Panda for this obscure movie reference. Anyway, moving on..

Our ancestors had to gather fire as they found it occurring naturally in the wild. So meteor strikes, volcanic activity, lightning strikes, etc. And they were forced to do this because no one knew how to make it on demand. It is believed to be one of the most important biological pressures on our species, learning how to make fire. This learning process evolved over hundreds of thousands of years, no one knows precisely how long, but a wicked long time.

Back to the here&now, I have a rating system for such fire from Most Epic Sacredness, to not sacred at all, when it comes to igniting a "primitive" fire. I am not bold (or stupid) enough to chase actual lightning, or go rummaging along lava flows, but if I'm ever "fortunate" enough to be near some, and there are a few embers with little or no risk to my physical self, oh yes, I am definitely going to collect some of that! Then the idea as I watched that initial youtube video: hey! this little Wimhurst Machine may be an excellent "safe" way to simulate the mechanics of natural lightning without becoming human toast.

The shipping took about 10-ish days and was totally worth the wait. It was an exercise of patience anticipating my little experiment, and upon arrival I set everything up and immediately offered a small piece of charcloth into the spark gap. But it is too small to ignite even char. Bummer.

Even though my initial purpose for this little Wimhurst Machine was not met, I don't see this as a failure or a waste of money and time because, like I mentioned in the title, this thing is maxed out on the Cool Factor scale! I love it! My wife however, who is a college professor, is afraid of it (smile). Which is actually funny. She refuses to get any closer than a dozen feet when it's on. The effect of sight and sound and smell go a long way to impress and it's just fascinating to watch. Currently the humidity in our home is 27%. It's winter here in Rhode Island so the air is very dry right now. This one produces 11 mm sparks and will happily use your skin as a conductor if you touch the gap. It's no worse than any other spark one may get on a dry day when reaching for a door knob or whatever. Definitely heed the warning about sensitive electronic equipment, what seems harmless to you&me will eagerly destroy microchips or SD cards. I brought it into a humid bathroom after a long hot shower and it still pumps out the same size sparks, but at a slower rate.

In conclusion, this little Wimhurst Machine stands to inspire me to build a larger version that can ignite char, that way so I can legitimately lay claim to the marketing gimmick of using a primitive fire to roast my coffee. Thank you and Ignis Prim!

Jose Luis | Jan. 12, 2019

Es un buen producto didactico para hacer experimentos.

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Buen producto, con suficiente documentación para su montaje sencillo. Es un buen producto didáctico para hacer experimentos con electricidad estática.

Todo correcto y claro, muy bueno.

Robert | Jan. 6, 2019

Sparkling Unit

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Excellent unit. Was able to get approx 1" sparks almost instantly when the unit was spun up.
One minor fault, if fault it be, is that if the spark gap is set too wide, the electrostatic forces tend to pull the discs together, slipping them down the shafts of the motors. A tiny touch of glue may be useful, once the spacing is set correctly


Otherwise, a very minor hitch in the order meant a fully assembled kit arrived rather than a kit of parts, but, when contacted, the firm immediately offered to send a kit of parts, as the order had been mixed up with one for the US.

The firm also suggested the made up unit be passed to a friend/school; a nice gesture.

Rod | Dec. 3, 2018

Simply brilliant little Wimshurst, a must buy!

For SparKIT - Mini Electrostatic Generator

I own a large vintage Wimshurt and have also made small one using CDR blanks, that you find either end of a pancake of blank disks. The main problem home constructors find is not making the disks, but adding all the neutralizer bars, Layden jars, combs and other metalwork. This kit is so well thought-out, that the designer put everything on flat PCBs. There are 4 Leyden jars (2 per terminal wired in parallel) plus all the connections. It is simply so elegant, and makes you wonder why nobody did it this way before?
It also works first time, but you do need the disks close together to get it to self start - the smaller the machine the closer they have to be. The building instructions are clear and the video very good. One comment is, if I was building one again, to start with the combs, then the switch, battery box and brushes. The reason is that the combs are easier to put on a completely flat PCB, without a battery box in the way.
The designer should make a larger one (20cm disks or more) - I would buy it in an instant! Great if you could source transparent parts as well.
This one is so inviting to switch on every time I am in the room - great stuff. There is simply no other gadget that can do this so well.

Sverre | Nov. 2, 2018

Good priced, well working product.

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What others have already said - I can highly recommend this kit. It works really well and produces sparks close to 2cm. Instructions are clear and logical and the build quality is really good. It is quite clear to me that there has been put much time and effort in making this kit.

What also impressed me was the shipping time. From the day of order to the day of arrival in Denmark it only took 10 days, from what is literally from the other side of the globe (within a few 100 km's)

Nancy | Sept. 15, 2018

Fun product, promptly shipped, well-packed, no probs

For SparKIT - Mini Electrostatic Generator

I got this for my own education & amusement. Instructions were clear, Item is just as described. A happy price for a cool thing. No problems with transaction. These folks accomplished what their "mission" stated. Will recommend to friends & family

Stephen | Aug. 27, 2018

Very nice kit. Well put together and works as advertised.

For SparKIT - Mini Electrostatic Generator

This kit was very cleverly designed and went together very easily. You can trust designs by this vendor.

Jakub | July 31, 2018

A quality product for fair price

For SparKIT - Mini Electrostatic Generator

The asembly was easy (except for soldering of the charge collectors) and the instructions were clear. I took me about an hour. The device worked perfectly from the begginig and I saw some HUGE sparks. Producer claims that this device can make 10mm sparks so I was very happy when I measured spark length of 17mm. I use this mainly for static electricity experiments (lifting hair, attracing water/salt/sand) and it also works flawlessly. I think that this device is just awesome for its price tag. I highly reccomend it.

Salvatore | July 9, 2018

A wonderful, reliable, compact, and educational device!

For SparKIT - Mini Electrostatic Generator

I purchased one for myself and two more as gifts. Assembly is easy with basic soldering skills. All parts are well packaged in separate clear plastic bags.

The design and manufacturing of the all the parts is outstanding. Very high quality printed circuit boards with a formally elegant black soldermask top layer.

The steps of assembly are all simple enough to accomplish full assembly in less than an hour. The only thing that could be improved is the size of the photos in the tiny instruction sheets. All photos are too small and of very low resolution. Not enough clarity to identify the small parts orientation, especially the charge collectors and the brushes. After a few minutes of test fitting it is possible to guess the correct alignment for soldering in place.

The completed generator works immediately, with a very simple and reliable mechanism. The two motors turn the disks silently, quickly coming up to speed and creating a series of surprisingly long arcs between the terminals. The corona motor works beautifully!

Thank you so much for your skillful design of a fun and easy kit.

Chris | May 27, 2018

Awesome modern version of a classic invention

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This little unit is a great new interpretation of the classic machine invented by James Wimshurst, using thoroughly new techniques & materials.
Assembly was straight forward enough, but needed a moderated degree of skill with a soldering iron, and the machine worked perfectly first time.
Like most electrostatic generators, it is sensitive to humidity, so be sure to operate it in dry surroundings, or use a hairdryer to warm it up if performance is lacking or fading away.
I had the privilege of getting the first one in Tasmania, and am delighted to add it to my other high voltage paraphernalia.
An awesome unit, highly recommended!

Timo | April 23, 2018

Amazing product!

For SparKIT - Mini Electrostatic Generator

This mini Wimshurst generator is really cool once assembled, and is of very good quality and finishing. It creates electrical spaks up to 2 cm long, which is around 50 000 volts. It’s a nice educational tool but also a cool curious object for your desk or at home.

The kit is easy to assemble (you only need a soldering iron and a screwdriver) and there is little place for errors.

However, the supplied documentation has some low/bad quality printed photos that could have been more helpfull if they were printed in better quality. I had to use a video (provided on their website) to fully understand how to assemble some parts.
Besides this detail, I hightly recommend this kit.

William | April 11, 2018

This is a lovely kit!

For SparKIT - Mini Electrostatic Generator

This kit is really nicely engineered, well put together, well documented, and quite reasonably priced.
I've been toying with the idea of an electrostatic machine made from PCBs for years, but the pricing of "somewhat large" PCBs was annoying, at least until recently. So I was looking into it again, and low and behold, someone had already done pretty much exactly what I was thinking. And did it well!
I guess one of the best things I can say is that my unit did NOT work the first time I turned it on. So I continued to follow the "troubleshooting" part of the instructions, and ... they solved my problem! (I didn't have the spinning disks spaced correctly.)
Delivery (to the US) was about 10days after ordering.

Ruud | Feb. 25, 2018

Mini Electrostatic Generator

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Realy my compliments about the Sparkit delevery and instructions. Within a week recieved and the instructions were very good detailed. It works perfect. Thank you very much.

Ruud The Netherlands

Ian | Feb. 23, 2018

Really good Wimshurst

For SparKIT - Mini Electrostatic Generator

Easy to build and it works very well, especially considering the size, I have several larger ones and this little machine is very effective, Good delivery too.

Craig | Feb. 11, 2018

Delightful

For SparKIT - Mini Electrostatic Generator

Honestly I've always wanted a Wimshurst machine but I never found one that seemed affordable. This little guy is perfectly affordable, fun to build, works better than I expected, makes up to 12mm length sparks even in humid Oregon USA, and the gold plate on gloss black PCB version looks really cool even turned off. I am totally impressed with this and highly recommend it to any hobbyist.

If soldering is not one of your skills then order it pre-built.

Delivery to the USA from New Zealand was just a bit over one week.

Ben | Feb. 11, 2018

Elegant and fun Wimshurst generator kit

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Includes printed instructions with photos, so no need to hunt around online to build this. My generator worked perfectly the first time, and makes 1cm sparks easily. I chose the gold-on-flat-black PCB color option and it looks very nice. I love it!

David | Dec. 18, 2017

Cool product. Some slight issues with construction.

For SparKIT - Mini Electrostatic Generator

This is a very cool product. My son absolutely loved playing with it, shocking himself, lighting up lightbulbs etc. Mine did have a small issue. One of the plates is bent so the product doesn't work as reliably as I'd like and tends to vibrate a bit when in use. Otherwise, a really excellent design.

Trevor | Dec. 17, 2017

Lord Wimshurst would have loved this.

For SparKIT - Mini Electrostatic Generator

The parts are beautifully made and with a bit of attention to detail the assembly is straightforward. If you buy this for a schoolie it might be as well to be on hand during the assembly as some parts are easily overlooked and delicate ( as they have to be to do what they must ).

Top marks for this item. Sparkit have done a fine job. The land of the long white cloud has shown we Aussies how it's done.

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