RE: Triggered gap and safety gaps

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

Original poster: "Ted Rosenberg by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <Ted.Rosenberg-at-radioshack-dot-com>

John: Please excuse my jumping in on this but I have been chatting with marc
off list too.
I am rebuilding my 900W coil from last year after major damage to the
secondary (I dropped it onto concrete from 10 feet in the air).

I planned a tungsten carbide static gap and was on the verge of building one
when the triggered gap project caught my attention. On the surface it seems
so simple and it probably is. Except, initial setting and setup has me
concerned.

An now you say it is easy to lose your NST? Help.
My basic multi-segment static gap has a total width of .28
I have a safety gap set for about .3 with Terry's MOV array.
And finally, with a 15/60 NST, I have an MMC of .0117, slightly LTR.

If I initially set the main electrodes of the trigger gap to, say, 1" apart,
the safety gap should fire, yes? Then, with the dimmer set midway, I
energize the trigger electrode which is barely in the path and midway
between electrodes. That should precipitate the main gap to fire...correct?

Or, should I start with the main gap rods closer...say 1/2 inch.

I cannot afford to lose the NST so casually at this time frame so I want to
take whaever precautions are suggested to setup this new approach.
Marc has certainly been a big help.
But the initial setup process has been a stubling block and maybe you have a
simpler interpreation I can follow.

Much obliged for any assistance.

Ted

-----Original Message-----
From: Tesla list [mailto:tesla-at-pupman-dot-com]
Sent: Friday, July 27, 2001 8:37 AM
To: tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
Subject: Re: Triggered gap and safety gaps


Original poster: "by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>"
<FutureT-at-aol-dot-com>

In a message dated 7/26/01 10:47:26 PM Eastern Daylight Time, 
tesla-at-pupman-dot-com writes:

> Original poster: "jpeakall by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <
> jpeakall-at-mcn-dot-org>
>  
>  Howdy all,
>  
>  Converted my two-horned sucker gap into a three-horned sucker gap today,
>  with the third horn being the trigger 'ode. I can get it to work nicely, 
but
>  have to widen my safety gap much wider than previously. I have always had

it
>  set on the conservative side, so that it basically always fires with
140vac
>  in. Should I be concerned? This is my difficult to replace 15/120 nst, so
>  I'm a little worried. Any TG gap setting protocols out there?

Johathon,

In the interest of NST protection during these trigger gap experiments,
you may wish to run the coil at a rather low power, by using an input
main variac on the coil, and setting it low, at half or 3/4 level or so.
This way you can restore the original safety gap setting while you're
testing things.
If you''re using an LTR cap, that will also go a long way towards 
protecting the NST by preventing resonant build up, during times
when the trigger gap fails to fire.  If you're using a resonant or matched
size cap, the NST will probably be destroyed during experimentation.

John Freau

>  
>  Another TG question, does any of the NST voltage get crammed up the
trigger
>  circuit? I am not planning on touching any of the trigger equipment,
except
>  for the remote on/off switch during operation, but I would like to know, 
and
>  if so, any filters/snubbers that could be employed to increase safety?
>  
>  Thanks once again,
>  
>  Jonathan Peakall
>  
>  I don't know....Can I stop myself from going downstairs, hooking it all
up,
>  and seeing what happens??? Hmmm... ;-o
>