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Possible HV shielding
Hi everyone,
After reading all the postings on safety involving high voltage, I have
come to the reasonable conclusion that it is obviously best to avoid
taking a hit from any HV source at all costs. This is especially
important when dealing with larger and higher power devices such as
"pigs."
Since others have pointed out very clearly in the past that even
accidental and momentary contact with an NST or even worse -- a pig, can
be lethal, may I suggest one very simple and crude way to avoid making
accidental contact with the output terminals of these beasts?
From what I have seen so far, the output of an NST or pig is useless
in itself, right? I mean the arc from one of these transformers is not
normally of any experimental value by itself unless someone is building
a Jacob's Ladder, right? The output is instead used to drive a Tesla
Coil. So, would it not make sense to somehow shield the connections
from accidental contact? Would it be of some benefit, for example, to
place a simple thick glass or plastic transparent shield of some sort
over the output terminals of an NST? This may prevent the accidental
brushing of the hand over these precarious parts. Any needed wiring
connections to the terminals would just be made under this shield. The
same could apply to a "pig."
Obviously, this offers no protection from corona leakage from wires
leaving the transformer. If you were to accidentally touch the wires,
there is of course a good possibility that the voltage would break
through the insulation and you could still recieve a nasty or even
lethal shock. However, in this case, would it be possible to simply
enclose the wires in an insulating conduit, like PVC piping? Such heavy
plastic may be able to insulate the high voltage.
These are really simple solutions, and you have probably already
done things similar. But it's just another one of my whacky ideas.
Take care everyone.
Chris T.