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RE: New rotary wheel

 * Carbons Sent to: usa-tesla-at-usa-dot-net


Quoting Ed Sonderman <Esondrmn-at-aol-dot-com>:

 ES> To answer your question, yes I think I now have enough power 
 ES> and the system set up to produce 72" discharges - and then some.  

Well you finally got there then. Good job!

 ES> I think I am probably pushing the limit of the envelope at this
 ES> point. I am somewhat concerned that I might be pushing too hard and
 ES> will start to damage something.  

Well, things can fail at any time, at any power really. I think you are
right though that the coil is pretty well peaked out.

 ES> I think I will crank the welder down and limit the input current 
 ES> to somewhere around 30 amps for a while. I did go look at the 
 ES> breakers in the power box to confirm that they are 20 amp breakers. 
 ES> I am surprised they did not trip.

Humm, I suspected this. I have had the same problem. Different breakers
from different manufacturers tripping (or not tripping) under all 
different kinds of loads with seemingly little regard for the breaker 
rating. If you would be so kind as to find out what brand it is I want
to put this on my "don't buy" list. 

I can understand (and don't have a problem with) a breaker that will
allow you to slip over the line a bit without tripping. But I have
too much at risk to use breakers that don't trip when I exceed the 
rating by nearly 100%. Those worry me. Does anybody else have this
problem? What are the opinions about different makes of circuit 
breakers?

On circuits under 30 amps I use fuses exclusively. For some reason
I trust them a little more.

 ES> BTW, how do you protect your low power lines that provide power 
 ES> for the spark gap fans and motors from getting hit? I presently 
 ES> have them inside a plastic pipe which is inside a  2.0" dia. 
 ES> steel pipe which is tied to system ground (RF ground).

I now use lengths of cheap coax. Nothing fancy. I ground the sheaths 
to the system ground. If I see a length of coax that seems to be hit 
repeatedly, I slip some vinyl tubing over it for added insulation.

Richard Hull uses a setup similar to what you are using right now.
I think he runs his lead wires through grounded conduit that in turn 
is run inside of PVC pipe. BTW, Richard Hull bonds his 60 cycle ground
to the RF ground. But then again he has to go inside and unplug stuff
when he fires too... He has lost a TV, a dishwasher motor, and few 
other appliances.

 ES> Mark suggested grounding the rotary motor - which at this time is 
 ES> not. What do you do with yours?  I don't think I want to tie it to 
 ES> RF ground and I really don't want to run a 60 cycle ground out to 
 ES> the coil. 

I have two gap motors, a fixed speed and a variable. The fixed speed
requires a neutral wire as it is runs on 120 volts 60 cycle (120 hot &
a neutral). I do not ground the motor housing to the neutral wire. I
place a strike shield around the motor. I use a heavy duty reversed 
line filter to keep the gap utility lines from bleeding RF back to the 
power cabinet and breaker box. 

The variable speed motor is DC. Once again I do not ground the motor
housing. I cover the motor with a strike shield. I use the same 
grounded sheath coax as with my other gap utility leads to run in the
power. I use a small wire wound choke (off the shelf, 75 cents) in series 
with each coax center conductor, and a small bypass cap across the line
to help protect the four diode bridge from any RF surges.

I fuse each gap utility line separately. 

Richard Quick


... If all else fails... Throw another megavolt across it!
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