Re: Ballast Puzzle

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

Original poster: "BunnyKiller by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <bigfoo39-at-telocity-dot-com>

Tesla list wrote:

> Original poster: "by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>"
<Rscopper-at-aol-dot-com>
>
> >sounds to me like you could use a total of four of these in series/parallel
> >for 100A.
> >Mike
> >geek # 1144  G-2
>
> Yes, but I would have to then build a bigger control box.  I think the
> infernal chanting of a few dozen self-proclaimed Geeks :) screaming "kill the
> computer...kill the computer" somehow convinced me to ignore my common sense
> and over-stress the system. Thank-you ma'am...may I have another.  I'll work
> on the next ballast when I get around to designing the next RSG - I've got
> plenty of watts, now I need to work on efficiency to get more sparks (20KW
> should get me more than 10-foot arcs - nice hot thick white burning plasma
> arcs such as they are).
>
> I'm going to spend some time instrumenting everything I can next.  I've got a
> mess of fiber optic cable, IR transmitters and receivers down in the basement
> just waiting for a project to call home.  Time to build some of Terry's
> circuits. WinTesla 4.1 is on perma-hold for now - I got some help with
> translating most of it to German for a Euro-version, and there have been
> enough discussions lately on the list to re-think some of the formulas, plus
> there are a number of you re-compiling your own code, no sense in 10
> different programmers re-inventing this wheel over and over.
>
> Last week I borrowed a Fluke scopemeter (to stay isolated) and measured my
> input voltage vs. current directly to see the phase difference.  Just running
> a Jacob's ladder from the pig at 100A 220V, the phase difference was approx.
> 90 degrees.  My little stack of PFC caps didn't touch it (150uf).  The two
> giant PFC (100KVAR at 2400KV) I got from The Geek Group had about the same
> effect (none), so I took one apart (not easy to do) and measured the
> capacitance of one stack (there were twelve inside).  The one cap was only
> 16uf, and there were bleeder resistors inside the box.
> I'll post the data as I gather it. I'm trying to borrow a spectrum analyzer
> to get a better picture of what's going on during a run (for some reason they
> don't want me to use a $50K+ instrument in the vicinity of an operating Tesla
> coil - buncha wimps - I told them I'd fix it if I broke it - they wouldn't go
> for it).
>
> Scott

Hi Scott ....

did I read that right ....2400KV ????????? 2.4 million volts???????   that
cap must
be HUGE!!!  especiallly at 16uF ...   what are you planning to do with the
resistors???   ( i'll buy em from ya ) I have taken apart smaller caps of
the same
nature and used them so so sucsesfully in T-coil operation for an extended
duration
( but eventually they die due to dirt and air bubbles and besides the oil
is really
nasty stuff) ....

thinka bout it ...  if you have no use for the resistors I want them...

Scot D