Re: Brass Ball static spark gap not doing so well

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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: Saturday, May 26, 2001 1:21 PM
Subject: Brass Ball static spark gap not doing so well


> Original poster: "Pete Komen by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>"
<pkomen-at-zianet-dot-com>
>
> Second light on my coil.
>
>
> I have a new spark gap made of 15 - 1 1/8" brass balls spaced 0.022"
apart.
> Air is blown around them but not specifically at the gaps.  Things started
> out OK, but the arcs kept getting shorted over a period of 10-15 minutes.
I

Hi Pete,
I had the same exact problem with my medium coil when I was using a brass
ball gap (seven balls). I was using a 5" muffin fan which wasn't enough. I
would run the coil for a while, then the output would  suddenly drop. Then I
would clean it with sandpaper (after unplugging the coil!) and the streamers
would be their original length again. I solved this problem by going with a
Cu pipe gap.

I don't know if brass works well in a rotary. I hope it does because I made
mine with brass bolts. I am going to find out as soon as I get up enough
nerve to actually hook it up to a coil!

Sue