Re: resonant cap

["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 10/29/01 6:17:13 PM Eastern Standard Time, 
tesla-at-pupman-dot-com writes:

> Hi All, 
>  Shouldn't  a safety gap across the cap itself eliminate the overvoltage 
> problem of the main gap misfiring? 
>  Matt D.

Matt,

Yes.  The main danger with resonant systems is that
folks will open all the gaps too wide to maximize the spark output,
and this may lead to overvoltage NST distruction.
I used to use a slightly larger than resonant cap (0.0073uF) on my 
research coil for a year or so before I switched to LTR.  I had no
failures with the standard 12/30 NST while obtaining 42" max 
streamers.  My safety gaps made of 10awg wire were both set
at 7/16".  I used a sync rotary.

Cheers,
John