Re: Pole transformer ballast

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

Original poster: "Gregory Hunter by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <ghunter31014-at-yahoo-dot-com>

I'm using an old "Buz Box" brand 230A AC stick welder
to ballast my 5KVA pole transformer. This welder is
the continuously variable type, using a "U" shaped
shunt that slips into the core windows between the
primary and secondary windings like a trombone slide.
The data plate says max primary current is 48A. As a
matter of habit, I keep the thing turned down to
minimum current all the time, and it still pushes 7 to
8 foot sparks from my 6" x 30" coil system with an
appropriate top load. I had to put a smallish toroid
on the coil to dumb the spark length down to 5 feet so
it wouldn't burn my garage down with wall & ceiling
hits. I normally run it with the welder leads shorted
together. I've tried it with the welder leads open,
which cuts the current draw dramatically. Oddly
enough, this reduces streamer intensity, but not
length. I'm not using any mains filtering, nor any
resistance--just the welder. I've had zero problems
with it and no growing pains except for the excessive
spark length mentioned earlier, which is a pretty cool
problem to have.

Regards,

Greg
http://hot-streamer-dot-com/greg

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