Re: solid state nst?

["Tesla list" <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Original poster: "Qndre Qndre" <qndre_encrypt@xxxxxxxxxxx>

Hey, Ed.

Yes, I agree with you. The fluorescent lamp inverters cannot work for 
classical Tesla coil duty due to the high frequency they produce. 
Most of the coils have a resonant frequency of only 2 to 4 times the 
frequency these inverters are producing. One half cycle of the 50 
kiloHertz output will take 10 microseconds. Try to charge your 
capacitor within 10 microseconds. This is impossible. It is far more 
impossible because of the few milliamperes of current these circuits 
can deliver. Furthermore their voltage is even lower than mains 
voltage so you can just throw the inverter away and place a choke 
into your mains for current limiting and charge your cap using mains 
voltage only. Maybe if you are having fast diodes you can rectify the 
output and use it to charge a capacitor working as a buffer so you 
have about 100 Volts DC available. But there are other sources for DC 
current as well which will perform much better.

Regards, Q.

PS: Frosty, no need to give up trying to unpot the circuit inside. It 
might be something different than a fluorescent lamp inverter since 
you said you noticed some low frequency component from the arc. 
However, from what has been written, I'd say it will definitally not 
turn out as an NST.

----Original Message Follows----
From: "Tesla list" <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: tesla@xxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: solid state nst?
Date: Fri, 13 Jan 2006 12:04:34 -0700

Original poster: Esondrmn@xxxxxxx

Frosty,

You can generally determine which type you have just by the 
weight.  The plain transformer type (just steel and copper) that we 
want, are heavy.  The solid state types are much smaller for the same 
rating and weigh one half as much or less.  I have lots of neon in my 
shop at work and have both style of transformers.  I understand the 
solid state type do not work well for Tesla coils but I have not tried them.

Ed Sonderman