RE: A Little more than general questions V

["Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>]

Original poster: "Lau, Gary by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-uswest-dot-net>" <Gary.Lau-at-compaq-dot-com>

Comments interspersed:

>Original poster: "Wade B AndB Anderson by way of Terry Fritz
><twftesla-at-uswest-dot-net>" <nabedaw-at-juno-dot-com>
>
>Hi People,
>
>  I seen the mention of "quenching" in a number of postings, and I'm
abit
>befuddled? Thats a good word, befuddled, but why quench the spark gap
and
>what are some of the better methods to use???

Quenching refers to the point in time when the spark gap stops
conducting.  Ideally this would happen exactly when the primary has rung
down and the secondary has rung up, but as often happens, the process
reverses and the secondary energy is coupled back to the primary.
Richie Burnette's web site has probably the most elegant description and
graphics describing this.  See
http://www.staff.ncl.ac.uk/r.e.burnett/operation.html#quenching
The best way to quench a gap is to provide substantial air flow through
the gap, and also to design the electrodes such that they are thermally
massive and don't develop localized hot spots.


>The Toriod.... Most, in fact all of the toriods that I've seen photos
of
>( with the exception of Tesla's) are donut shaped. Does a sphere
prevent
>the spark breakout???
>What are the advantages or disadvantages to using a sphere vs. a
donut???

A toroid is by definition donut-shaped, just like a sphere is
ball-shaped.  The thing on top of the secondary is called a top load,
and it is usually a toroid, though sometimes spheres are used.  Toroids
are better if you're talking at all about getting serious sparks, as a
toroid shields the top of the secondary coil from spark breakout, and
directs the sparks horizontally outward so that they can reach their
maximum length.

>Anyway, thanks,
>
>Wade

Regards, Gary Lau
MA, USA