Re: ballast are bogus!!! (fwd)

["Tesla list" <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 5 Sep 2007 10:32:24 EDT
From: FIFTYGUY@xxxxxxx
To: tesla@xxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: ballast are bogus!!! (fwd)

 
 
In a message dated 9/5/07 9:02:45 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
tesla@xxxxxxxxxx writes:

>after lots of mesing around with it it work pretty good, like 6'  sparks! 
 
    6' sparks isn't a lot to brag about when you're  using a 'pole pig' as a 
power supply!
 
> i now sure wish taht i knew about you guys  first!


    Better late than never. Welcome  aboard!

> the 'pole pig' (heh) is 220volt and runs  off the welding outlet from the 
dryer in the garage. 
 
    What's that dryer receptacle rated for? Typically  they're only 30 amps.
 
> i have an old SKIL saw with a 10" beam blade that work great  for the 
rotary gap but the blade is >good for only mabye 5  runs.

Good thing that circular saw is double-insulated.  But it probably wasn't 
meant to hold off kilovolts. Even if the pig's  high-voltage side is left 
floating (two-bushings, non-grounded) you might be  running a lot of RF current back 
to the house via the cord on the saw. 
    Or maybe you're using a battery-powered saw?  

> but the website plans say to always use a 'ballast' like an old  stick 
welder, with a pole pig.  so i 
>did? but now the welder started smoking a little bit, because it was  
already very old.

In proper application as a ballast, the loads on  a welder should be no more 
than those it sees during normal usage. Unless you  were pushing the duty 
cycle too far?

>  so, i got mad and just took the welder out of the circuit.  and guess 
what?? the coil works  even 
>better!!!  it arcs way longer, and you can't even looka t the  SKIL saw 
anymore while its running!  the 
>pole pig makes the hummy hummy thumpy sound too so now i guess its  finally 
doing some work.
>   
> so the whole  ballast thing is a joke? i dont know what they were on when 
they said  that.




You're probably running a very high break rate with  that saw blade gap. What 
kind of capacitor are you using?
    And out of curiosity, what's the nameplate data on  the pole pig?
 
    Thanks,
 
-Phil LaBudde

Center for the Advanced Study of Ballistic  Improbabilities



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