[Prev][Next][Index][Thread]
Air Temp/Humidity and Spark Length
From: Adam[SMTP:absmith-at-tiac-dot-net]
Sent: Wednesday, November 19, 1997 7:45 PM
To: tesla list; usa
Subject: Air Temp/Humidity and Spark Length
I finished assembling and tuning my 8" coil indoors today, and I was
getting a pretty decent 3 foot spark from my 4x19 toroid at half power
(9kV -at- 60mA). However, when I brought the thing outside, I could not get
the spark to break out of the toroid. Retuning was to no avail.
Apparently, the cold and relatively humid outdoor air (we've got snow on
the ground here in Boston) is very poor for getting a good arc. Adding a
second transformer still did not break out an arc. It was not until I
switched to a 3x14 toroid that I was able to get a spark, again 36" long,
but now at twice the input power!
The only other difference between my indoor and outdoor setup is the
ground. Indoors I clamps the ground cable onto my woodstove, and
outdoors I have a 1" by 8' hard copper pipe in the ground. Still, I
suspect the air is the problem. It was not windy, BTW.
-Adam
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Adam Smith
absmith-at-tiac-dot-net
Epoch, Inc. Digital Music Project
www.tiac-dot-net/users/absmith/ Now with MP3! Musik. Macht. Macintosh.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------