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Re: More Tuning/Debugging
Jim Fosse said (in response to a post from Richard Quick):
<Big Snip of prior posts>
> With an externally ballasted system, this effect is between
> the ballast inductor and the primary capacitance and probably
> between the PFC and the ballast also.
> However, given Richards 1.5 second delay factor, I would look
> for an interaction between the PFC caps and the ballast and
> variac also. Try removing most of your PFC caps and see if
> there is a significant change in the time constant or behavior
> of the system. Don't remove all of the PFCs because they
> prevent the voltage spikes from the ballast from blowing your
> RFI filters and home electronics.
Quoting Bert Hickman <bert.hickman-at-aquila-dot-com>:
> I don't remember your pig-based system using any PFC's,
> although some of your early writings did suggest their use in
> conjunction with neons to keep overall current draw down. Based
> upon some of the work that Jim has done, plus your comments
> regarding lag in responsiveness, it would appear that the use
> of PFC's could help "neutralize" much of the inductive lag
> without increasing real power dissipation. PFC's MAY also help
> suppress nasty voltage spikes from getting back into your
> (and your neighbors') mains.
No, I use a tiny amount of bypass capacitance across the HV
terminal, nothing on the LV side. I am not seeing any voltage
spikes on the mains, though I admit I have not run extensive
monitoring on these lines. My normal observations indicate that
if anything I am seeing a voltage drop accompanied by a large
current surge into the system.
> I'm thinking about adding as much as 250 uF of fused PFC
> correction to help counteract the inductive reactance of my
> ballast & pig AND to hopefully keep me from blowing up all the
> other electronic goodies tied to the mains.
> Any thoughts??
Sounds reasonable. I have an old soda crate packed with old PCB
high-value caps that I have used for power factor correcting
(pfc) caps on my neon banks. Once I get things up and running
again I may give it a try.
Richard Quick
... If all else fails... Throw another megavolt across it!
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