Re: H-E-L-P!!!

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

Original poster: "Malcolm Watts by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <m.j.watts-at-massey.ac.nz>

Yow........

On 23 Sep 2001, at 12:51, Tesla list wrote:

> Original poster: "Charles Hobson by way of Terry Fritz
<twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <charles.a.hobson-at-btinternet-dot-com>
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Tesla list <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
> To: <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
> Sent: Sunday, September 23, 2001 5:06 AM
> Subject: Re: H-E-L-P!!!
> 
> 
> > Original poster: "brian by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>"
> <ka1bbg1-at-mcttelecom-dot-com>
> >
> > Hi, well if Bert cant get a spark out of your coil your gonna be hosed...
> > probably need tuning,i usually use a stick and bring ground to the toroid
> so
> > i can see if there is any spark. usually you get some spark, then try
> moving
> > tuning and see if you gain. cul brian f.
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
> > To: <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
> > Sent: Friday, September 21, 2001 10:07 AM
> > Subject: H-E-L-P!!!
> >
> >
> > > Original poster: "Ted Rosenberg by way of Terry Fritz
> > <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <Ted.Rosenberg-at-radioshack-dot-com>
> 
> > > NOTHING. No output.
> > >
> > > I setup the coil last night.
> > > I applied power and I am pleased to report that
> > > 1. the external NST box and it's HV cables are fine.
> > > 2. the triggered gap runs well. snap-snap-snap-snap and bright!
> > >
> > > But...no output...streamers..sparks..arcs.
> > > I checked the DC resistance of the secondary and it is dead on with
> Bart's
> > > Java script:  45 ohms.
> > >
> > > I checked various cabling which also appears OK.
> > > The new LTR MMC...I checked DC voltage after a short run and it has a
> > slight
> > > voltage...about.05 and dropping.
> > >
> > > What now?
> > >
> > > There is so little in a coil how do I troubleshoot?
> snip.
> 
> Hi Ted
> 
> Run the coil continously for several minutes, shut down, and feel the
> capacitor and primary circuit connections  for heat. If the capacitor feels
> even slightly warmer than normal, something could be wrong with it. Poor
> connections will feel unusually warm
> due to I^2R losses.
> 
> Chuck

That approach will probably succeed in beating the capacitors to 
death, not to mention excessive gap wear and annoying the neighbours 
with wideband splatter on their TVs etc.  I suggest you position a 
grounded rod close to the coil, fire briefly (like 1 second or so) 
and look for a discharge. Move the rod in until you get one. Then, 
move the rod out a couple of inches, tap the primary coil in or out a 
turn and try again. As improvements happen you can progressively 
widen the gap between the terminal and the rod. The improvements will 
not be radical until you get close to tune. Once you get to peak 
performance like this, you can move the rod away altogether and fire 
of several seconds. If you don't get an output discharge this time, 
the radius of curvature of your top terminal is too large for the 
voltage your coil is developing. That problem may be corrected in 
several ways: widening the primary gap until you have reached an 
acceptable limit for the transformer you are using; adding more 
primary capacitance; adding a discharge point to the topload to 
reduce its effective radius of curvature. Try it and let us know how 
you get on so we can advise further.

Malcolm