WIP Plasma Experiment / Homemade Terella

[Krankor55]

I am attempting to build a Terella / Plasma chamber at home to conduct a series of experiments on a theory of gravity I have.
I have mainly followed the setup described in this video, Though cleaned up and using a VARIAC instead.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZO5IZz9NgJA

I'm seeking advice here because I've run into a few problems & concerns I have.

1. Vacuum Pressure and Seal
My setup does not seem to be pulling the proper vacuum.
The gauge reads and maintains a 26 inHG (about 100k microns).
My setup is using a large glass jar, with a 1/2" acrylic piece for a lid, with a silicone seal (made for vacuum chambers). I'm using a JB Eliminator hvac vacuum pump to pull the vacuum with a vinyl hose and brass pipe fittings sealed with teflon tape. The air feed-through is sealed with a couple layers of RTV silicone.

Despite this, I have been able to ignite the plasma in the chamber, and the annode / cathode produce a healthy pink / purple glow. This leads me to suspect that my gauge is giving a bad reading.

2. Electrical feed-throughs and wire setups inside the vacuum chamber
What is the best method for creating electrical feed-throughs?
I currently have a pair of heavy gauge wires going through a pair of holes, sealed with JB weld 'clear'.
Though the insulation is showing wear. I confess that I'm ignorant of proper wire / insulation criteria, I'm open to suggestions.

3. UV Rays, X-rays and radiation
I keep the variac voltage below 60 (as per other DIYers) But I want to make sure I'm not exposing myself to too much radiation.
Do I need to acquire a Geiger Counter or is there a lower level of voltage / vacuum pressure I can maintain to keep from producing X-rays / radiation?

If there is more interest, I will share pictures and diagrams of my setup. Thank You for reading.

[JP Michael]

Even better: post video of your experiments, even if they are amateur! I would love to see more stuff like Jacob Gable does.

Jacob has a video of his set-up, and a second video on important cautions while operating high voltage plasmas.