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First Light, want MORE.
Running my 4.5 in secondary from an NST and SW caps, I have 6 in controlled
sparks and no breakout. Heres my specs and some plans for improvement,
however I remain 'open for suggestions' from the list. I'm sure you veteran
coilers have some good ideas on building a "Hawg Cheap" TC with good
performance.
SPECS:
Secondary 4.5 x 27 in, 890 t of #20
Toroid 8x24 in stovepipe
Primary A : 10 t 1/4 Cu tubing 48 in dia on PVC posts
Primary B : 30 t #6 Cu on 8 in blue PVC form
Primary C : 22 t #6 Cu, cone, 10 - 48 in dia, 30 deg ramp (not complete)
Excitation : NST 15kV/30mA,
Capacitor : One SW plastic bottle cap about 8.5 nF
Spark Gap : 12 section 'flexigap', 120 cfm airflow, typical set to 8
sections of 0.01 in
PLANS:
I think primary A (orig for 8 in sec) was undercoupled. Primary B may be
overcoupled, yet gives my personal best when tapped at about 25t. Am
building primary C so coupling can be varied by both inner and outer taps as
well as coil elevation.
Yes, the SW cap is glowing, and pops with too much static gap. Dielectric
failure usually occurs below the 'waterline', likely associated with tiny
defects in the plastic. Painting the bottle with polyurethane seems to
help. I have been using NaCl, MgSO4 and Ammonium Nitrate which is cheap and
plentiful. A bit of research here uncovers : HCl has a conductivity of 427,
NaOH and KOH are around 250 and EVERYTHING else listed is below 200. No
personal experience with these yet. The Smithsonian Table of Individual Ion
Conductivities lists H3O+ and OH- as the most conductive ions. To stop
dielectric punctures, maybe its time to go to glass cider jugs. Or 5g
plastic water bottles.
Am trying to keep this "Hawg Cheap" and "Hawg EZ" so any starving student
could duplicate it. Using my PT or buying a commercial C would be
'cheating' at this point, although I hope to pull out the stops later.
Aesthetically I prefer to maximize performance before cranking up the drive.
Even with this modest system, shouldnt I be able to breakout a 8x24 in
toroid ?
Comments ? Suggestions ?
Will