Re: Along the lines of "Trying this at home"

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

Original poster: "S.Gaeta by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <sgtporky-at-prodigy-dot-net>


----- Original Message -----
From: "Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
To: <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
Sent: Monday, July 02, 2001 8:29 PM
Subject: Re: Along the lines of "Trying this at home"


*snip*
> my coil puts out 12' ( foot) long streamers....  I wouldnt touch it with a
> 20' fiberglass pole
> ...   in a previous test I placed a 4' long glass tube near the toriod of
> my small coil ( which
> puts out 1 - 4' long streamers) and at low output ( normally 1.5'
> streamers) the streamer
> traveled across the tube and over to the grounded wire. Goes to show how
> "non insulative" glass
> is at higher voltages...
>
> Scot D
>

Hi Scot,
In the electronics industry this is known as "creepage" and does not reflect
that the material is a poor insulator. This happens when two different
dielectrics are in contact with one another ie: glass and air. The flashover
tends to travel along the surface of the insulator and happens at a much
lower breakdown voltage than what is rated for either of both dielectric
materials. This is why they put ridges on high voltage insulators. It
increases the creepage distance as well as the breakdown voltage.

You can actually increase the streamer length of your coil, using this
phenomina to your advantage! Next time, see what happens when you use an 8
foot fiberglass or PVC pipe. Don't do this indoors, the fumes are awful, and
use only scrap material, for you will eventully have a carbon track on your
pipe, deeming it no longer an insulator anyway!

Cheers,
Sue