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Re: Why a toroid?





---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Fri, 10 Oct 1997 12:26:32 +0000
From: Greg Leyh <lod-at-pacbell-dot-net>
To: Tesla List <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
Subject: Re: Why a toroid? 

Bert Hickman wrote:

<SNIP>
>
> This explanation's probably clear as mud, huh! :^)

Au contraire; I understand your point.
There appears to be two definable operating regimes for a TC:

Gap break rates below about 100PPS, where the ions in the arc
have enough time to recombine almost entirely, resulting in a
new streamer on each gap firing.  This gives the 'gas burner'
appearance that Richard Hull described.  On my coil, the arcs
take on the gas burner look for the most part at gap speeds 
under 1000RPM (100PPS).

As the gap speed is increased to about 150PPS, predominant
streamers start to rise out of the brushy gas burner array.
In this regime, the predominant streamers become longer and
fewer in number as the gap rate goes up, until about at 300PPS
there is one main streamer at full length.  Higher speeds seem
to increase the length somewhat, but mostly cause the end of
the streamer to dart around even faster.

In this second regime, the holdoff voltage of the top electrode
is probably less of an issue, since there is only one main
streamer which is obviously compromising the holdoff capability
(or there would be additional streamers).  Perhaps a disk-like
electrode and a toroid are more similiar at these gap speeds.

Richard, do you remember what the gap break rate was when you
did the disk experiment?


-GL