Re: ignitron tubes

To: tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
Subject: Re: ignitron tubes
From: Richard Hull <hullr-at-whitlock-dot-com>
Date: Mon, 01 Jul 1996 10:26:37 -0700
Tesla List wrote:
> 
> >From hb-at-earthlink-dot-netSun Jun 30 09:40:55 1996
> Date: Sat, 29 Jun 1996 23:05:42 -0700
> From: WILLIAM HENDERSON <hb-at-earthlink-dot-net>
> To: tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
> Subject: Re: ignitron tubes
> 
> Hi  Richard,
>                thanks for the input on the ignitron tubes,it sounds as if you have tried them?
> for hi powered t.c.'s what would you recommend, rotary s. gaps emersed in nitrogen g. or sticking
> with finicky quenched gaps, i've tried both and found the rotary's to be more reliable,one of the
> problems i've had is the destruction of the gaps(tungsten & carbon arc)at hi current 75+ amps,it
> would be nice to have a system that you didn't have to rebuild every few hours?at one point i was
> running a mercury "interrupter" in nitrogen gas ,but found that the mercury had a tendency to
> squeeze out under hi rpm(breaks).I don't recommend anyone using mercury interrupters because of
> the toxicity of the material, unless they use a regimented safety procedure for handling it,
> glovies,face mask,respirator.One word of caution! Once mercury is absorbed into the body it's
> almost impossible to get out,this stuff is deadly so be careful!
>                                                                  Looking forward to your
>                                                                   response thanks
>                                                                                   Bill
>                                                                            hb-at-earthlink-dot-net


Bill,

For all systems of really high power , I would recommend a rotary gap 
with extra static gaps in series.  With special efforts, these might be 
serviceable up to 50KW of input power.  The highest power that I have 
ever run was with our large two coil system, "Nemesis" (13KW).  My rotary 
and 6 static gaps held up well over the 3 year life of the system.

You can try the pressurized nitrogen, but it might be more trouble than 
it is worth unless you go over 20,000 watts.

Richard Hull, TCBOR