[Prev][Next][Index][Thread]
Strange Spark Phenomena
----------
From: Greg Leyh [SMTP:lod-at-pacbell-dot-net]
Sent: Sunday, February 01, 1998 10:12 AM
To: Tesla List
Subject: Re: Strange Spark Phenomena
Tesla List wrote:
> >This is very interesting. All 4 observations sound logical. I think these
> >strange sparks are telling us something but I don't know yet what it is. 2
> >out of 4 people have observed these strange sparks change appearence when
> >tuning the coil. Maybe it has something to do with having the coil tuned
> >correctly. Maybe its something different like having the capacacitor value
> >sized correctly for the total system. Or maybe its something else and maybe
> >its not even important. I noticed one time on another coil a 12" spark was
> >made up of 5 sections and had 2 hot spots spaced about 3" apart. Could this
> >strange spark have something to do with how the spark gap fires or how many
> >times the gap fires during the length of one discharge spark from the toroid.
I have seen this phenomena as well on my little hand-crank
CENCO Wimshurst Machine (that J. Mullins handily rebuilt),
so this also occurs for DC electrostatic discharges, where
tuning is not an issue.
The bright segment of the arc on my machine appears to be
about 20 to 40% of the entire arc length (about 3 in.),
and resides roughly in the mid-section of the arc. Weird, huh?
-GL