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Re: Chokes
>Date: Thu, 25 Apr 1996 01:19:05 -0400
>From: "Scott M. White" <smw12-at-po.cwru.edu>
>To: tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
>Subject: Chokes
>How do I figure out the values that my chokes should have to protect my neon
>from getting fried?
>Scott White
Scott,
That's what all of us have been trying to figure out and which has
recently been the subject of much discussion on the net. In my own
experience I use a relatively high value air core choke on each leg
of the neon, I have used 140 to 320 millihenries with good success.
I then place a needle point safety gap directly across the neon. On
my 60 MA 15000 volt neon system (320 mH chokes in oil) this gap is set at 1&3/16th's
of an inch. It fires occasionally. I use no series swamping resistors and
have not lost a neon transformer yet. On the other hand, I HAVE lost transformers
when I've tried to employ 250 or 500 PF transformer bypass caps.
There are engineers in the group (no offence implied guys) with sophsticated
computer CAD programs who will tell you that my approach is doomed to failure.
I'm not convinced that computers can always model physical reality.
Software is only as good as the guy's understanding of reality who
wrote it. All I know is what works for me. Like anything else in life, ya pays your
money, and ya takes yer chances. Good luck.
If you desire more detailed info on my air core chokes, let me know.
Happy coiling!, rwstephens