=?iso-8859-1?Q?Okay,_cap_discharge_time_isn=B4t_really_valid?= for TC usage.

To: tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
Subject: =?iso-8859-1?Q?Okay,_cap_discharge_time_isn=B4t_really_valid?= for TC usage.
From: "Reinhard Walter Buchner" <rw.buchner-at-verbund-dot-net> (by way of Terry Fritz <twf-at-verinet-dot-com>)
Date: Tue, 09 Mar 1999 23:10:17 -0700
Approved: twf-at-verinet-dot-com

Hello John, Malcom, Marco, all

Malcom (and the rest) wrote (similar):

>The gap does go out at some fixed voltage leaving a residual charge
>on the caps. If 50V is left on a 0.1uF cap that amounts to 125uJ
>which is rather miniscule.

Okay, I got it. I was thinking, if you didn´t have enough time to
fully discharge the cap, you might not be using the full energy
available. This IS true, but the energy left is indeed very small
and wouldn´t contribute measurably to the peak spark length
(not even in high break rate systems). If I use my cap (120nF)
as an example and let´s say it has residual charge of 1000V
on it, it would only be:

0.5*1000^2*120*10^-9 = 0.06J

A 120nF cap is a rather large cap, but even here the (high)
residual voltage doesn´t amount to any real stored (and lost)
energy. The reason is quite obvious, now, after looking at the
equation: The energy goes down with square of the voltage.

Thanks to all.

Coiler greets from germany,
Reinhard