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3MV/meter
All,
There was an old article By DC cox in a TCBA NEWS of yesteryear. In this
article he suggested single pulsing a Tesla coil to determine the actual
voltage output.
He recommended DC charging of the normal tank capacitor and single firing
the system. The resultant non-ionic spark length would represent the
actual output capabilities.
I have thought this out a bit and if you were to just align you gap for
normal presntation with air flow or whatever quench method you use, and
apply any DC voltage which will charge the cap to its air break over
point in the gap, it will fire as a close analog to real operation. Next
a grounded object which is relatively flat should be moved in or out from
the toroid (which has a moderately pointed object on it (the capacity
will not assist in single shot storage). Room lights should be out or
very dim. At the point where a true streamer arcs (not just a brush
connect), this is the output of you coil based on the DC, 3 megavolt/
meter, air breakdown rule. It is important to closely mime the real
conditions of your coil system to make this really hold.
A fan should be used after each shot to remove all ions prior to the next
attempt. Your tune may have to be moved back down the primary for best
spark due to the absense of ion loading about the toroid. Still, it is a
better idea for the real voltage output of the coil than some arbitrary
rule of thumb applied to running coils! The result would be an informed
estimate of a coil's capability.
There are problems with this method, but attention to detail and the
realization that a lot of variables are still unresolved will put the
test in proper perspective.
I'll try this soon with a small system first.
Richaard Hull, TCBOR