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Re: Damages to Electronic Equipment




-----Original Message-----
From: Tesla List <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
To: tesla-at-pupman-dot-com <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
Date: Monday, February 14, 2000 7:35 AM
Subject: Damages to Electronic Equipment


>Original Poster: "David Kronstein" <david_kronstein-at-telus-dot-net>
>
>    Hello
>
>I have a _very_ expensive computer in the room above where I am
>going to run my tesla coil.
>I haven't run it yet because i'm afraid it might damage it.
>The computer is connected to a network, phone and cable TV
>Could the network act as an antena and pick up interference?

Why certainly it could...



>There are three computers on the network.
>
>Could this damage anything?

You bet it could.. but, fortunately, it isn't likely, IFF you take a few
precautions.  Check the archives for extensive discussions and practical
results...

Off hand, For the greatest practical benefit, I'd say your best bet is to
make sure all the wiring going into and out of the computer boxes is well
filtered and has surge suppressors.  Especially the network cables.  There
are commercially manufactured transient suppressors for Cat 5 network
wiring, which is what I would use.  (Home construction of something that
will meet Cat 5 is going to be, to say the least, challenging, if not
impossible.)  Companies such as ProTek Devices (http://www.protek-tvs-dot-com/ )
and PolyPhaser (http://www.polyphaser-dot-com/) might be worth consulting, if
only for the applications notes.

That is, try to protect the sensitive device, rather than filtering the TC
(which you should also do, for other reasons).
>
>The coil is powerd by a single 15KV 60mA nst.
>
>Would covering the ceiling with some sort of grounded mesh be
>enough to protect it?

Not necessarily...The fields from a TC don't propagate like light, so they
can easily go around things (the wavelength is very long (300+ meters), and
a mere 10x10 meter sheet of conductor effectively isn't there..  The signals
can also be carried on a wire that goes around (or through) your ground
plane.  This is why filtering the output of the TC is kind of tricky.

>
>Thanks
>
>
>