Quench vs Output

To: tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
Subject: Quench vs Output
From: Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-uswest-dot-net>
Date: Mon, 23 Aug 1999 11:57:01 -0600
Approved: twftesla-at-uswest-dot-net
Delivered-To: fixup-tesla-at-pupman-dot-com-at-fixme

Hi All,

	I was running some computer models today to see what effect  first,
second....  notch quenching would have on my coil.

The results are as follows:

QUENCH		PEAK POWER TO LOAD
1st notch		792 watts
2nd notch		684 watts
No quench		674 watts

So going from no quenching to nice second notch quenching would increase
the output power only 1.4%!

"IF" I could quench on the first notch, I could get 17.5% more output
power.  However, the added losses of a gap that could do that would almost
certainly eat up the additional power.

Lately I am coming to the conclusion that, for my coil at least, quenching
is not a significant factor in coil performance.  It is far better to
concentrate on making the gap and primary system have as low of series
resistance and loss as possible.


In another note:  In Tesla's Colorado Springs notes on his entry for August
31, 1899 he mentions the following:

"Light seems to interfere decidedly with the streamers from ball and wire
and it is also unmistakable noted that the noise of the discharge is
lessened when sunlight falls upon the apparatus."

I was just wondering if anyone has ever noticed that having a coil out in
the sun decreases performance as Tesla noted.  I would think the bright
sunlight and perhaps greater ambient noise of daytime would account for
this observation.  However, if there were something like humidity or the UV
of sunlight affecting streamer formation, it would be interesting...

Cheers,

	Terry