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Re: Spark Plugs
My comments below
> Original Poster: "Thomas McGahee" <tom_mcgahee-at-sigmais-dot-com>
>
> The spark plugs in a car are designed to ignite fuel. The spark gap in a
> Tesla coil is designed to conduct massive amounts of current and then
> quickly quench. They are both spark gaps, just as a candle flame and
> the flame coming out of a flame thrower are both flames.
>
> Using a car spark plug as the spark gap in a Tesla coil will work,
> but it does not work WELL. Neither will it survive too long as a Tesla
> coil spark gap!
>
> Fr. Tom McGahee
Tom,
I agree that for a pig powered coil, the spark plugs may not last very
long, but for any NST powered coil, they are a very easy and economic way to
go. I can replace all my gaps in about 2 minutes for a cost of about $6. So
far I have not needed to replace them at all, and performance is great. I'd
much rather re-gap 8 spark plugs than clean and re-set a bunch of copper
pipes. Ever hear of GM's 100,000 mile tuneup? at 60mph thats 1666 hours of
operation. Even at .1% of that efficiency, they would last 1.6 hours. A good
automotive ignition system fires each plug at about 40,000v/and up to 1 amp.
You can do the rest of the math. For Ted's 15kv/60mA NST, I think spark
plugs will work great. What makes two copper pipes quench better than a
spark plug?
I am by no means a TC expert, in fact I am a beginner. I do know that in my
own experience, spark plugs work well in TC opperation. If anyone would like
to correct me on any of my statements, please do so. I'd like to build an
"RQ" gap and compare it to my spark plug gap.
Just my opinion,
Jon
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