Forced Air (was: Re. need some input)

To: tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
Subject: Forced Air (was: Re. need some input)
From: "Reinhard Walter Buchner" <rw.buchner-at-verbund-dot-net> (by way of Terry Fritz <twf-at-verinet-dot-com>)
Date: Mon, 22 Mar 1999 11:47:53 -0700
Approved: twf-at-verinet-dot-com

Hello Gary,all

Mega-snipola

>I've had good results with both single and multiple gaps.  But in both
>cases, it's VITAL to observe that the electrodes be rounded and smooth
on
>all arcing surfaces, and that the arc channel have forced airflow
through
>it.  Don't even bother if there's no airflow, performance will be
>terrible.

I have heard/read this several times, just like not using Al in a spark
gap, but I do it anyway, and get good results o:). The 22mm Cu/Al
static gap, I am using now (41"+ output), has absolutely NO forced
air flow across it. I am using 10 gaps total, tho (for 7.5kV rms). I do
agree with you that the surfaces should be rounded and smooth (this
gives a more consistant breakdown voltage as compared to a sharp
edge). However, (I don´t think you mean this) a polishing is not
necessary as the surface will erode over time anyway (and this
doesn´t seem to hamper performance at all).

I tried a single gap (similar to yours) with pressure (not vacuum!)
quenching. I got pretty rotten results, tho. I tried different spacings
and different pressures, but I never achived the same (or near the
same) results I get with my super-simple Cu/Al gap. I continuesly
find that multiple spark gaps outperform single gaps by a WIDE
margin (at least for me).

Coiler greets from germany,
Reinhard