How to prevent interference between high voltage and dc motors

Let's Make Robots Beginners
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I have a device that has 6 DC brushless motors (bought at robotshop ) spinning discs around a cube with plasma inside. In order to generate the plasma I require high voltage electrodes. Whenever I turn on the electrodes, some of the motors either stop spinning or stutter. Without the high voltage they spin just fine so there is interference that I need to prevent.

I tried putting the high voltage generators inside a shielded box but to no avail. The high voltage that needs to come out at the electrode is required but is getting in the way. I’m looking for ideas on how to solve this problem. My ideas are:

  • Somehow shield the motors. I have no idea how or whether this is possible.
  • Move the motors away from the plasma and high voltage and connect them to a long flexible shaft that can spin the discs. I searched for long flexible shafts that can connect the D shaft of the motors but can’t find any.

Any ideas or help with the ones I have would be very appreciated!

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Hi @robbo and welcome to the forum.

Do you know how big are these voltage peaks that come to the motor?

My first idea was to use surge protection device: https://www.bourns.com/products/surge-protective-devices/dc-power-surge-protective-devices

These are usually used in industrial or home automation to protect device from surges (for example, thunders strikes) but could also work in your case.

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Thanks for the reply! I have no idea how large the surges are, sorry. But the high voltage is generate plasma so I’m guessing around 5,000 to 10,000 volts? I will certainly look into those surge protection devices.

Would you mind explaining the rational for the determination that a surge might be the culprit? As opposed to just the base voltage?

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Unfortunately I don’t have a detailed explanation :slight_smile:

Maybe this gives better idea: https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-difference-between-surge-and-impulse-in-electrical-engineering-since-they-both-refer-to-high-voltage