RE: Poweer Controller and SAFETY?

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

Original poster: "Ted Rosenberg by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <Ted.Rosenberg-at-radioshack-dot-com>

Dan: Yes, all safety considerations were not only met, but over-engineered.
Jeff Parise provided some valuable input too which I still thank him for.

The main power (AC line) to the NST was routed through another socket so
that if the transmitter or receiver either failed completely in the ON
position or froze in the ON position, an assistant in the room could readily
unplug that cable in a fraction of a second.

Tests were done to verify that. Fortunately, we never had to do it during
'showtime'.
The only annoying occurence was that an installed backup Edison fuse in the
external NST power supply box would occasionally pop. Why? I never installed
PFC caps and I pushed the envelope of the circuit breaker. But that has been
rectified too (no pun intended. My thanks in that area to Terry and John
Morawa.

Let me assure you that the first year of operation, many hours of "what-if"
scenarios were discussed and addressed. I am glad to report that over 24,000
people saw that coil in 2000 and about 30,000 in 2001 during the Halloween
run. Not one was injured in any way. I wish others could be as safety minded
as you appear to be. Bravo.

Safety First

Ted

-----Original Message-----
From: Tesla list [mailto:tesla-at-pupman-dot-com]
Sent: Monday, August 05, 2002 5:39 PM
To: tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
Subject: RE: Poweer Controller and SAFETY?


Original poster: "Mccauley, Daniel H by way of Terry Fritz
<twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <daniel.h.mccauley-at-lmco-dot-com>



I hope you had some sort of safety switch hardwired to the coil especially
during a public demonstration in a haunted house, otherwise that would be
some seriously poor engineering where safety is concerned.

For example, what would happen in the situation where the coil was powered
up, something went wrong, and for some reason the remote didn't work.  Would
the operator be able to IMMEDIATELY turn off the coil?  Probably not.

Just keep in mind safety is VERY important when working with tesla coils and
EVEN MORE IMPORTANT when operating coils around other people.

Dan




Just a "showbiz" related comment.

While not used for a high powered coil, when I had my 900W coil in the
haunted house, I needed a method that allowed the room operator to turn the
coil on and off without wires.

After some testing, I selected a Heath-Zenith 27mHz transmitter, not unlike
a large garage door opener, to switch full 120AC to the NST. The transmitter
consisted of just 1 push button panel. Push on, push off. It's designed for
powering outdoor Christmas lights and handles 1100 W

The combo came in 3 different channels and my local ACE sold it for $30.

It was used hundreds of times each evening throughout the Halloween season
without any failures.

FWIW for others who might need this kind of settup with a less than 1KW
coil.

Safety First

Ted