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sparks for cheap
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From: Michael Nolley [SMTP:mhnolley-at-willamette.edu]
Sent: Friday, August 21, 1998 4:20 PM
To: Tesla List
Cc: 'Tesla List'
Subject: Re: sparks for cheap
On Tue, 18 Aug 1998, Tesla List wrote:
>
> ----------
> From: Jim Lux [SMTP:James.P.Lux-at-jpl.nasa.gov]
> Sent: Tuesday, August 18, 1998 11:43 AM
> To: Tesla List
> Subject: Re: sparks for cheap
>
> Tesla List wrote:
> >
> > ----------
> > From: Michael Nolley [SMTP:mhnolley-at-willamette.edu]
> > Sent: Monday, August 17, 1998 2:18 AM
> > To: Tesla List
> > Cc: 'Tesla List'
> >
> > I have some interesting information for those of you who would
> > like to generate huge sparks for cheap- - - last night I rigged a setup
> > which has been familiar to me for the last 2 years in my high voltage
> > work- I wired 5 MOT's together in a dual parallel-series arrangement,
> > with the primaries in parallel, and the secondaries in series.
> > Altogether I was able to generate foot and a half long arcs at 10 kv out of
> > the arrangement without the TC assembly.
>
> A foot and a half? You mean 18 inches or 45 cm? From 10 kV? Perhaps in a
> Jacob's ladder or drawing an arc with movable electrodes, but I'd find
> it unusual. Needle point breakdown at 10 kV is only going to be a
> centimeter or so. If you could get 18" arcs with 10 kV, then neon sign
> transformers would need MUCH better insulation and need to be much
> bigger.
>
> Perhaps you mean you got an INCH and half, which is reasonable and
> practical with a fairly high current 10 kV supply and a suitable rising
> arc gap or needle points.
>
>
>
You're right, you have to bring them within a centimeter or so
before the arc forms, but bringing the electrodes apart again creates the
said arcs, which tend to last for a few seconds after rising and
extinguishing due to their own heat. These arc lengths tend to indicate
for me how much amperage and/or voltage is being handled by the
transformers.
--Mike