Re: Resonant charging design

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

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

In a message dated 6/18/01 9:33:40 PM Eastern Daylight Time, tesla-at-pupman-dot-com 
writes:

> Original poster: "R.E.Burnett by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" 
<R.
> E.Burnett-at-newcastle.ac.uk>
>  
>  
>  Hi guys,
>  
>  About a week ago,  I said that I would go through my method for
>  designing the AC resonant charging circuit for a tesla coil.
>  
>  What I am going to explain is a way in which I propose that the
>  ballast and tank capacitor values for a particular system can be
> snip>  

Hi Richie,

>From what I can tell so far, this seems like an excellent approach
which will be a boon to Tesla coil builders everywhere!  It is also
a critical missing element in existing Tesla design programs. 

What was the reason for choosing an 85% power factor?  Is it 
the best that can be obtained, or was 85% chosen for some 
other reason?  Is it possible that better than 85% can be obtained
with certain ballast arrangements and breakrates?  I do realize 
that it's often hard to obtain better than 85% power factor especially
at higher breakrates.   I noticed that you did not
extend the graph down to 100 bps, were there problems with the
simulations in that area?  I guess the power factor could be 
improved even more by using unequal electrode spacings, and
I know you did some simulations in that area in the past also.

Can you explain why the graphs have the shapes and parameters
they do?  For instance why do the charging frequencies have to be
as shown, for best power factor?  I realize that the simulations show
them to be best for best power factor, but I was just looking for more
insight into why
the charging frequencies need to be as they are.  I would guess
that the other graph that shows the change in ballast L that is needed
to correct the power thoughput, is the way it is because of the effect
of the cap charging on the current limiting.  Inductive kick effects
due to the shorting of the transformers also figure into this I realize.

A computer program which lets one avoid the tedious math would
be a great convenience.  I like the logical design "flow" you used 
in your method.

Cheers,
John Freau