Shorted turns, primary proximity

To: tesla-at-poodle.pupman-dot-com
Subject: Shorted turns, primary proximity
From: Tesla List <tesla-at-stic-dot-net>
Date: Fri, 09 May 1997 23:46:05 -0500
Approved: tesla-at-stic-dot-net

Subject: Shorted turns, primary proximity
  Date:  Fri, 9 May 97 09:31:53 EDT
  From:  Gary Lau 09-May-1997 0916 <lau-at-hdecad.ENET.dec-dot-com>
    To:  tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
    CC:  lau-at-hdecad.ENET.dec-dot-com

The recent discussion about metallic toroid supports acting as a
shorted turn got me to thinking about the other end.  While the
toroid may be far enough away from the primary so as to have no
real shorted turn effects, there is potentially a lot of stuff
below the primary that may be affected - caps, gaps, motors,
fans, and big metal transformer cases.  I'm still in the earliest
stages of building my first coil and was hoping to make the
primary and stuff below it as compact as possible, for the sake
of esthetics and ease of storage.  Now I'm wondering if
compactness will work against me in creating eddy currents.

I do realize that all of the tank wiring must be viewed as
extensions of the primary.  Do people typically mount this stuff
just below the primary, or is there some deliberate distance
kept?

Gary Lau
Waltham, MA