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Re: Stupid Question(From a different guy)

Hi Alan,

> Original Poster: ARSONIST01-at-aol-dot-com
>
> OK i know this sounds stupid..
>         But how do you measure your spark length? i can't imagine one going
> up to the Coil w/ a tape measure and letting sparks fly at him :Þ (unless you
> are suicidal or just plain stupid).
> Thanks
> -Alan the Psycho

Not a stupid question really. I would guess everyone has their own method,
least
of which is described above. I personally like a point of reference (of course
measured powered down).

Some coilers use a grounded rod or similar apparatus.
Some coilers reference free air arc lengths.
Some coilers call out the longest arc length reached during a run.
Some coilers call out the average arc length during a run.

I like them all and use them all depending on my objective. What is probably
important for us to do is to post our arc lengths and point of reference as
well
as the arc appearance so others get a better idea of what is being described.

For example, the past two weekends I ran my coil outside. Weekend #1 was great
and the average arc lengths were about 85" referencing numerous arcs that
hit the
pavement below the coil which was 85" from center toroid strait down. Of
course,
just about all arcs hit the pavement out about 2 or 3 feet from the coil,
so the
arc lengths were of course slightly longer. Now, even though I had nothing
around
the coil to arc to (horizontal), the arcs were on the order of 80" in average
(eye references to known surroundings).

However, weekend #2 was not as good. Yes, I did get 85" arcs to the
pavement, but
only periodically. The average arc length (horizontal) was down around 65"
to 70"
with only occasional arcs beyond that when running the same power level (1 or 2
of the photo's I took). The arcs were not as "white" in color as the previous
weekends runs. The arcs on both occasions broke out from several points on the
toroid and there were 4 to 5 arcs at any point in time. Obviously, toroid
sizing
is far from optimal. My problem on this run was major losses at 3 major
components, poor ballasting on my part, and being more interested in trying to
operate an unfamiliar camera.

BTW, major losses were
a) arcing of outer primary to rf ground connection due to close proximity.
b) found bad spot on ballast variac (I was running on).
c) mains filter failure (slowly) = my fault. hooked a main 240 line to nuetral
(obvious current rating problem using 3 phase filter on 240 single phase
hookup).
degraded through the run and finally - bang! all because of a recent
reconfiguration of filter in power cabinet and not paying attention.

To sum up, use and describe reference points for lengths, and don't forget
about
the other bits and pieces.

Bart