I joined the group purely for this thread.
I realise most of the members are overseas (to me), BUT if there are any UK members that have one of these devices, if they are near the Midlands I am happy to X-Ray the unit for you (if it is a plastic device with potting compound) and return it while you wait FOC. Providing you pop some lead sheet (will be provided) over your delicates, you can stay in the room while I do it if you wish.
You get an idea what is inside - and so do I - and an X-ray will not harm the device in any way.
Only issue is if it is in a metal tube, I cannot help - if it is simply housed in a plastic tube with potting compound (as most stuff these days is), we can have a look inside without harming it. Clearly if you know it is in a metal tube and are able to remove that - to leave just the potted plastic inside, then we are good-to-go.
My guess is around half a dozen components and we will probably get a fair idea of the circuit once we trace out the wires from the x-ray and use some common sense as "what bit might that be".
It was interesting in one of the YouTube videos that putting the device in series had an effect on the drive circuit - reducing the frequency of the spark by some considerable amount. For those of you who have not seen the video, I have tried to attach it:-
If anyone is in the UK and wants to know what is inside with sacrificing it - get in touch, pop around and we can do some fluoroscopy / x-rays.
Mark