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Re: Amateur Night
On airblasting (suctioning) gaps....
> >It doesn't seem right to me, but after a little fiddlin' around with
> >the tune, it seems to put out longer sparks at around 85-90 volts? Go
> >figger :) Anyway from what i've read here, neons don't like
> >"overvoltage", so I didn't bother to try 140v on them.
>
> snip
>
> I've had similar experience. I've found it to be a function of the
> spark gap firing a little soon or not quenching well enough. I opened
> the gap a little bit and had significant improvement. Applying air
> suction to the gap for quenching really improved it. How do you quench
> your gap? Also, I've driven my 12/60 neons at 140 v without ill
> effects. Yet.
I think you'll find that not only does it quench better but may fire
at a higher voltage as well. I've been testing my new rotary in
several different modes at very low power and moderately high voltage
levels. I could get 4 series gaps to fire with the wheel static and
about 10kV but with the wheel spinning and air rushing round, I could
only get two to conduct.
Malcolm