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Gap Cleaning (fwd)
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, 12 May 1998 19:44:40 +0000
From: "Gregory R. Hunter" <ghunter-at-mail.enterprise-dot-net>
To: Tesla List <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
Subject: Gap Cleaning
Dear List,
I cleaned my RQ gap a couple of days ago. I just slid some
sandpaper between the gaps and gave them a good rubbing. When I
fired up the coil Sunday night, I couldn't believe the difference.
My little 450VA coil was a crackling, hissing beast! The 8"
spherical discharge terminal sprouted many writhing, multi-branched
streamers.
The 8" sphere normally requires a single thumbtack to produce a
reliable, single-spark breakout. After the gap cleaning, I noticed
that the spark from the thumbtack was very intense, and many faint
little streamers were coming off other parts of the ball. Puzzled, I
removed the tack altogether (which normally extinguishes my sparks).
To my amazement, the coil put on such a violent display that I was
intimidated to be closed up in my little one-car garage with it
operating.
If there's a point to this story I guess it's: keep your gaps
clean!
Or maybe: Minor tweaking can yield great improvement.
Greg
East Anglia, UK