Defeat the SGFP Transformers!

To: tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
Subject: Defeat the SGFP Transformers!
From: Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-uswest-dot-net>
Date: Wed, 09 Jun 1999 12:49:09 -0600
Approved: twftesla-at-uswest-dot-net
Delivered-To: fixup-tesla-at-pupman-dot-com-at-fixme
In-Reply-To: <375DFFA3.2CBF715A-at-bellsouth-dot-net>
References: <4.1.19990608162837.00a08bf0-at-pop.dnvr.uswest-dot-net>

At 01:46 AM 6/9/99 -0400, you wrote:

snip........
>
>While I'm writing, I must convey some other very bad news for
>Telsaphiles.  The neon transformer as we know it is gone.  In some
>of the dirtiest political trickery seen in a long time, a few
>manufacturers pushed through a new UL standard that they thought
>would give them a competitive advantage.  This standard requires the
>UL Listed transformer to trip off if any of the following conditions
>exist:
>
>*	More than 15 ma to ground
>*	Unbalanced load 
>*	the midpoint ground (what you guys think of as the ground stud) is
>connected to ground instead of the midpoint of the neon.
>*	The ground lead is disconnected
>*	The hot and neutral are reversed.
>
>Conspiring with this is great pressure from the safety lobby to move
>from tar potting to polymer epoxy potting.  The secondary ground
>fault protection (SGFP) must be arranged so that it is
>tamper-resistant.  As a practical matter that means that the SGPF
>electronics are potted in the can in unmeltable epoxy or polyester
>resin.  
>
snip......
>John
>-- 
>John De Armond
>johngdSPAMNOT-at-bellsouth-dot-net
>Neon John's Custom Neon
>Cleveland, TN
>"Bendin' Glass 'n Passin' Gas"
>

Hi John,

	For the short term is sounds like there will be a flood of transformers
around.  However, for the long term it looks like we will have to develop
the means to defeat or alter the new transformers for our use.  I would
love to get a scan, copy etc. of your x-rays if possible or get them posted
to the web.  Also, if there is any manufacturer's literature on these new
designs, it would help to know as much about them as possible before one
takes the saws-all and cobalt drills to them.  I would also imagine that
this has raised the cost of the transformer considerably...  Perhaps the
transformer would still work even with all this fancy stuff?  Perhaps they
would just make our coils a bit safer?

If anyone has info on these let's get it posted and let the fun begin!

I wonder if a Tesla cap discharged into the relay would help to weld it
closed :-))  Hopefully, we can figure out the work around before we ever
see the first one.  Of course, the neon sign guys may do it for use if the
thing works as poorly as I suspect...  Hopefully, the new gizmos will fail
often and send large numbers of almost new transformers to Tesla land...  I
bet the new designs will be dropping like flies.  Just a new bunch of parts
to fail.  This may be a good thing for us.

Sounds like a new challenge indeed!  Just what we like :-))

	Terry

References:

Re: Neonics wonderland!!!!

From: "B**2" <bensonbd-at-erols-dot-com> (by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-uswest-dot-net>)