Re: liberating pigs-Part 2

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

Original poster: "Christopher Boden by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-uswest-dot-net>" <chrisboden-at-hotmail-dot-com>

>Original poster: "ebyng by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-uswest-dot-net>" 
><ebyng-at-netlimit-dot-com>
>
>HAHAHAHAHAH, lol.
>Theres just one small problem with that that I can see.....
>
>Ive allready got the gear to do that sort of thing... i.e
>10Kv rated line gloves

Throw them away.
1. You don't have the proper equipment to test them regularly and make sure 
they're safe.

2. They will give you a false sense of security and make you careless.

3. 1 small pinhole...and you're toast.

I've personally had a BRAND NEW PAIR and worn them twise. I mentioned them 
here on the list and got no fewer than 10 flames about them. It was one of 
the best lessons I ever had. For that fact alone I probably owe this list my 
life (and I'm sure quite a few others out here do as well).

The best use for those gloves is for working LV (220 and under). At those 
voltages you have a GREAT safety factor. and it won't have the danger of 
corona/sparking like you do with HV. A pinhole won't kill you. You SHOULD 
have them tested every 6 months (every month if you use them often) and take 
meticulous care of them. Your local electrical company may even test them 
for free if you ask nicely.

>insulated prod

Hotstick? define Prod....a 5-A drumstick (yeah, I play) makes a great "Prod"

>insulated snips, cutters, wrench etc

Junk, junk, junk.....

Unless it's RATED and designed SPECIFICALLY FOR HV USE (I.E. they're usually 
red with BIG guards (like a hilt) and even then they're usually only rated 
for 1000VAC
I have some TERRIBLY expensive tools, and I don't trust ANY of them over 
440VAC, period. A healthy dose of paranoia has kept me alive for quite a 
while. NEVER work ANYTHING hot, not at this level of the game. You're too 
new to this (wow...did I say that?) I'm a VERY new coiler, and a newbie to 
HV as well (less than 5 years), but I've gotten to the point where, by the 
types of questions you're asking, I (and most others out here) can tell 
where in the learning curve you are to HV work.


I don't want to discurage you, and I don't want to sound like I know 
everything, because I'm a HV moron. But I've spent a few years getting 
flamed, trashing gear, blowing copious amounts of cash, getting blistered, 
and wasting months of work. I know a LOT of what NOT to do. I've asked a 
million dumb questions (and answered quite a few). I've paid a lot of dues 
in here. We all have.

The guys in here will bend over backwards to help you, it's part of the 
deal. They will also FLAME YOU HARDCORE (with the emails your posting I'd 
hate to see what your getting offlist by now). IT's OK, don't get 
discuraged. HV is a weird hobby. With trains, if you screw up, you start 
over, no biggie. With HV, the learning curve is rather severe. This is a 
VERY pass/fail hobby. If it doesn't burn down, you pass, if you're alive at 
the end of the day, you pass, get it?

There are a million ways to hurt yourself a LOT in this like of tinkering. 
And the sad thing is, when you need the knowledge the most, is when you have 
the least. None of us want to see you get hurt. All it takes is a few Tesla 
deaths for them to outlaw this for all of us.
In all the years of Coiling, only 3 (i think, it's still 3 right?) people 
have died. That's an impeccable record. Don't screw it up. :)

I KNOW what it's like to want the big bad pig coil. I KNOW what it's like to 
be all gung-ho about a project. I do this for a living, everyday. And I'm 
working on some BIG projects. But there's a lot of dues to be paid in 
getting to them. I've got a dream for what will be one of the largest coils 
on earth, Avalon, but it's not gonna happen for another 10 years or so. That 
doesn't mean I've given up, or that I can't do it. It means that I can't do 
it today, that's all. Coils take a LOT of scrounging, and the Avalon coil 
will take hundreds of thousands of dollars. I know what it's like to want, 
man :)

N.S.T coils may not be glamorous, but they work, and they work well. You CAN 
get 6' arcs of an NST coil (BOTH of the Geek Group coils have done it, 
Sparky (Mark Broker's) and Sam (Mine) are both NST powered). And an NST coil 
has some MAJOR advantages to a Pig coil, mainly BALLASTING. Ballasting is a 
mental kick in the sack. Just when you THINK you have this whole coiling 
thing in the bag, you don't, in fact, you're a moron....this is the point 
where I'm at. NST's are one of 2 types of trannies that DON'T need 
ballasting (Obits being the other), everything else (PT, PIG, X-Ray, MOT) 
ALL have to be ballasted. NST's are cool like that, you hook them up, and 
they work (for 10 mins till they fry....lol).

Learn the basics. Tesla Coils are VERY simple machines in the beginning. 
Then, as you learn, they get incredibly complex. Start simple, make a basic, 
rock solid, proven working coil. Then get weird :)
Build a basic 6"X24" coil, learn to TUNE, learn to PHASE NSTs, spend an 
evening with brine crusting in your arm-hair, get oil in parts of your body 
you didn't know you owned. Get a few blisters (gaps get hot, lol), get 
SCARED a few times with a near miss that would have killed you had you been 
running a Pig system. Take you time.


>one Friggin loud voltage sensor(its good to <1.5 volts)


Yeah, but is it good at 1000V?
Remember, you're trusting you life to that toy.


>
>But....
>There aint no abandoned buildings/shacks etc in seattle. nothing/nada/zip.

Yes there are, lots of them. You have to look :) I lived in Kalamazoo for a 
year before I found the plant. It was less than a mile from my house.


>
>If there were, I woulda been in and out by now.. :)


They're there....you just have to look. Contact the cities Dangerous 
Buildings Board, they keep a list of abandoned buildings. I'll post an email 
to the list about UET stuff and how it relates to coiling and pig hunting 
later when I get back from Sigma-6. That one's gonne be 5 pages, lol.


>
>Now then, before I do contact the CIA, how many of these excursions have
>you been on?? :)

The Geek Group runs several Urban Exploration Teams around the world. I head 
the one in Kalamazoo (that did the HV raids, with a few other members of 
this list, hi guys), Aleks runs the UET in England (for you UK coilers) they 
specialise in WWII Bunkers and such. We have a few otehr teams getting 
organised (Malaysia, Austrailia, Kentucky, etc...) Maybe we'll start one in 
Seattle, we have a half dozen members there :)

I personally have been on over 100 UE's, from Climbing, to Draining, to 
"Liberating" HV gear. We seldom swipe things though. Most of it simply 
involves being in places normal people don't go. We've explored the storm 
drains, abandoned buildings, tunnels (Steam, and city utility), and the 
mechanical rooms of most of the downtown hotels....even the top of the 
planatarium (a VERY cool place to eat lunch).


Have fun!

Christopher A. Boden Geek#1
President / C.E.O. / Alpha Geek
The Geek Group
www.thegeekgroup-dot-org
Because the Geek shall inherit the Earth!




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