Fw: Thought... Cooling gaps

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

Original poster: "S & J Young by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <youngs-at-konnections-dot-net>

Hurray - the list is back!  Tesla list withdrawal symptoms are really awful!
This is a response to Rick's idea that didn't get posted before the list
went down.
--Steve

Subject: Re: Thought... Cooling gaps


> Rick & all,
>
> What Rick described was actually used in the early days of radio
> transmitters.  In Thomas Curtis's book "High Frequency Apparatus"
published
> in 1916, there are details of such a gap.  It uses two 8 inch disks of
zinc
> rotating in a vertical plane in opposite directions, with the spark
between
> the edges of the disks.  to quote "the rotation serves the double purpose
of
> always presenting a fresh sparking surface, and therefore a cool one, to
the
> point of discharge, and in establishing a strong current of air directly
> upward and between the sparking surfaces, due to the surface friction of
the
> periphery of the disks.  The effect of this current of air is to assist in
> the wiping out of any arc which may form during the discharge."  The book
> shows construction details of a number of old-time spark gaps.  This
> particular one was used in a Tesla coil setup which drove an array of
wires
> suspended over plants to aid in their growth!  Apparently it works - 10
> radishes grown in the RF field weighed 266 grams, and 10 grown normally
> weighed 180.  Of course, they didn't have an FCC back in those days . . .
> The book is (or was?) available as a reprint from Lindsay Publications,
and
> is quite interesting.  No triggered gaps in it however.
>
> --Steve
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
> To: <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
> Sent: Friday, August 17, 2001 9:16 PM
> Subject: Thought... Cooling triggered gap
>
>
> > Original poster: "Richard Williams by way of Terry Fritz
> <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <richardwwilliams-at-earthlink-dot-net>
> >
> > Hi List,
> > Nice water cooled gap Terry!
> >
> > Another thought.
> > I used to work for a X-Ray tube manufacture. Cooling is always a
problem.
> > Their solution is a rotating disk or "target". The target is massive, to
> > distribute the heat. These operate in a vacuum.
> >
> > Why not use two rotating disks as the main electrodes? Maybe fan blades
on
> the
> > disks to help cooling. The arc wouldn't be firing at the same spot all
the
> time
> > distributing heat evenly. Insulative shafts could be used.
> >
> > Just a thought.
> >
> > Rick Williams
> > Salt Lake City
> >
> >
> >
>