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Re: Flaming Sparks]




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T>Stan wrote:
T>>
T>> This gives me an idea: lighter fluid.  Or butane or natural gas.  If you
T>> could find a way to "safely" blow a combustible gas into the top area of
T>> an operating Tesla, the results would be quite interesting.
T>>
T>> Tesla List wrote:
T>>

        I =like= the way you think, boy.  I =do= like the the way
        you think:

        Even a gas jet - something perhaps as lowly as a Bunsen
        burner or a handyman's propane torch might suffice to do
        something interesting:  It would surely get a stream of
        ions moving upward - and a column of heated (and hence
        low-density, and hence conductive) air headed for the
        ceiling.  (You do have a 24-ft. ceiling in your Tesla
        laboratory, don't you?)

                                        Blowing no smoke,

                                        Robert Michaels

T>>   M>Subject: Flaming sparks
T>>
T>>   M>I put some paper on top of my tesla coil and lit it. as the flames
T>>
T>>   M>started there were bolts coming from the ends of the flames, very
T>>   M>interesting. As the fire grew, however, the sparks came to a
T>>   standstill.
T>>   M>They did not return untill the fire subsided. Did the fire somehow
T>>
T>>   M>detune the coil?
T>>   M>--
T>>   M>Kevin M. Conkey
T>>
T>>           The combination of Tesla coils and flame phenomena is quite
T>>           a fascinating one.   As has been pointed out recently by a
T>>           List subscriber patently more sophisticated than I, a flame
T>>           is rich in ions and highly conductive electrically, even at
T>>           low (i.e. battery) voltages.
T>>
T>>           I've taken your lit paper experiment to several increments
T>>           higher and invite you to do likewise.
T>>
T>>           Obtain a Fourth-of-July  (or if need be Guy Fawkes Day)
T>>           fireworks "fountain".  Light the fountain and place it atop
T>>           the coil, and power it up.
T>>
T>>           Now try that with a roman candle.
T>>
T>>           Even a sparkler, or a group of them, is quite interesting.
T>>
T>>           Some of these items will self-ignite if upon the terminus
T>>           of an operating Tesla coil.
T>>
T>>           SAFETY NOTE:  Some fountains contain powdered aluminum
T>>           or powdered iron (iron filings) or powdered magnesium.
T>>           Some of these will self-ignite =internally=.  Do stand
T>>           clear in doing this work - and keep the area of combust-
T>>           ibles.  And for openers it's best to
T>>           restrict yourself to fountains containing only carbon or
T>>           powdered charcoal.  Else, remove the pyrotechnic compo-
T>>           sition from the fountain and place it in a loose pile
T>>           atop the coil terminus.  This is not quite as dramatic,
T>>           but it's =much= safer.
T>>
T>>           This work carries a double-whammy: if the high-voltage
T>>           doesn't do you the explosives may.
T>>
T>>                                   - - - - - - -
T>>
T>>           I've yet to try this with either a string of firecrackers
T>>           or a multi-shot tube item (widely called a "birthday cake"
T>>           in parts of the U.S.) -- but hey, one needs something to
T>>           live for, and the Fourth is only 4 months away!
T>>
T>>                                   SPARKS!! - any which way you can,
T>>
T>>                                   Robert (boom-boom) Michaels.

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