Re: Beer Gaps

To: tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
Subject: Re: Beer Gaps
From: Glenn Cerny <GCerny-at-ix-dot-netcom-dot-com>
Date: Mon, 13 May 1996 21:07:00 +0000

Malcom,
The Al beer cans in the US are so thin that they would never
last even for a short firing.  Scotty and I had a discussion a while
back about gaps and came to the conclusion that smaller diameter
is better.  The smaller radius would cause the arc to extinguish
quicker than a large radius.  As an added benefit we were left
pondering if the smaller raduis would enhance the venturi effect
in a vacume gap helping to quench even better.  I have not tried
any experiments with this theory, but it is on my list of things
to do.
Nothing like a cold beer or two after a hard night at the variac 
though :-)

Glenn 


> I cast an eye round the garage, looked at a pile of cans 
> in the rubbish tin, and had an idea. Has any body tried using beer
> cans in a cylindrical gap? Benefits : large radius of curvature, 
> recessed ends, and just think of the fun of preparing new electrodes
> while watching the old ones do their job! (I also thought about
> using unopened cans ( great heatsinking up to a point) but decided
> that the contents would be rather unpalatable after a 5 minute run
> (assuming the cans weren't prematurely opened).
> 
> Malcolm
> 
>