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Re: Last weekend report...

In a message dated 96-04-08 18:16:06 EDT, you write:

>
>The first question is this:  We had an air blast gap (only) and a pole pig
>for power.  As I turned up the power, I noticed that the output peaked 
>before the full throttle setting.  This seems a little counter intuitive --
>I thought that as I turned up the juice that the sparks would get louder,
>longer, and fatter.  Instead, they actually got smaller, quieter and maybe
>even thinner.  Has anyone had this happen?  I do believe that the output
>voltage from the cabinet is not decreasing.  As I think about it, perhaps
>the spark gap was getting overwhelmed and not quenching, but arcing more.
>Any comments or suggestions?  I don't yet have the rotary gap made, so
that's
>why I wasn't using one.
>
>The second question:  With the pole pig, the sparks were _much_ louder,
>but not much longer (20" max for neon or pig).  Is the noise from the
greater
>
>input power, while the lack of length is due to the lack of adequate
>quenching?  
>Another thing this could be is a symptom of my ground getting overwhelmed. 
>Currently the ground is an 8' piece of 1" Cu pipe connected by (yes, I know)

>braided strap ~1/2" wide and about 15' long.
>
>Anyway, for a first run, without the requisite rotary gap, I was pleased
>with the overall performance.  
>
>Chip

Chip,

I had the same exact problem with my pole pig.  I initially tried to run it
with out an inductive ballast and that did not work.  After I got the welder
in the circuit, as I ramped up the primary pig voltage, it would come up
until the gaps fired then clamp down at a lower voltage.  The rotary fixed
all the problems.

Ed Sonderman