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Re: Triac-dimmers in TC's
-----Original Message-----
From: Tesla List <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
To: tesla-at-pupman-dot-com <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
Date: Saturday, February 27, 1999 4:26 AM
Subject: Triac-dimmers in TC's
>Original Poster: Gary Lau 26-Feb-1999 1740 <lau-at-hdecad.ENET.dec-dot-com>
>
>Has anyone had experience using a solid-state off-the-shelf lamp dimmer
>to control the speed of a motor in a Tesla Coil? I'm currently using a
>variac on my gap's vacuum cleaner motor, but I thought I'd save some
>space and just use a solid-state dimmer. The motor is an AC/DC
>"universal" type. I'm just wondering if the voltage spikes and
>interference would either toast the semiconductors or confuse the control
>circuit. Please don't speculate and suggest using a filter unless you
>know, from experience, that it won't work without it.
>
>Thanks, Gary Lau
>Waltham, MA USA
>
Gary,
I have had very good results using a light dimmer control to operate a
brush-type motor on a spark gap. This coil produced sparks up to six feet
in length, so the potential for RF interference was quite high, and the
control worked flawlessly. Having said that, I know others on this list
have had real problems making dimmers work around coils. My suggestion is
to get a couple of different brands and try them, I think you'll find one
that works just fine. A sandwich costs more than a light dimmer these days,
and the dimmers are so much smaller and lighter than variacs!
Bert Pool