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Re: status report, questions, etc.



In a message dated 95-11-17 04:44:16 EST, tesla-at-grendel.objinc-dot-com writes:

>I have a bank of 3 15kV neons: 30, 30, and 60 ma. == 120ma.
>I used a compressed air gap that was opened to about 3/4" and had about 20
>psi blasting out the spark.  I measured the spark length by looking where
>the spark hit on the workbench and measuring from the closest spot of the 
>toroid to the bench.  One thing that bothers me is that I had to open up
>the saftey gaps quite a bit.  Electrically, this seemed reasonable since
>as the spark gap increases, the saftey gap would need to increase to keep
>it from firing instead.
>
>Chip
>
>

Chip,

3/4" for your spark gap does seem a bit wide.  You must have a good capacitor
to hold up with a gap that wide.  I think my safety gaps are set at about
1/2".  The widest gap I ever used with the neons was about .150" - using a
cylindrical gap with each individual gap at about .030".  Now with the pole
pig I am using a rotary gap in series with the static gap.  The safety gap
only fires when I get a strike down into the primary.

Ed Sonderman