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Re: Strange problem



Original poster: "Ed Phillips by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-uswest-dot-net>" <evp-at-pacbell-dot-net>

Tesla list wrote:
> 
> Original poster: "R.E.Burnett by way of Terry Fritz
<twftesla-at-uswest-dot-net>" <R.E.Burnett-at-newcastle.ac.uk>
> 
> Hi Bob,
> 
> I have not had this problem myself,  but would assume that your TC is
> sending a large amount of electrical noise back into the Mains supply.
> 
> High voltage spikes can cause arcing or breakdown of components such as
> MOVs in appliances connected to other circuits.  Only a small amount of
> energy is required to initially breakdown such components,  but the
> current follow through from the mains can easily kick out the breaker.
> 
> This sort of thing is quite nasty and can cause fires or damage to
> other electrical appliances.  I would recommend that you install a good
> quality RFI line filter,  and check the integrity of you RF ground.
> 
> Maybe you could post some more details about your TC setup.
> 
>                                                         Cheers,
> 
>                                                         -Richie Burnett,
>                                                         (Newcastle, UK)

	In the "good old days of SPARK" (up to about 1921) hams were frequently
troubled with "kick back", which was RF coupled into the power lines by
various means.  Peak powers of the transmitters were in the hundreds of
kilowatts or more (average power input allowed was 1 kW but often
exceeded).  As a result, "power arcs" could form in such places as light
bulb sockets.  There would be enough RF voltage to start a spark which
then lead to an arc with the line power going through it.  There were
numerous stories in the magazines about light fixtures melting down in a
puddle of melted brass, etc.  Suspect some of them were real enough. 
The way some people run TC's is frightening to me, and can certainly
lead to similar phenomena.

Ed