Re: MOT Coil operational notes

["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 12/2/02 1:36:46 PM Eastern Standard Time, 
tesla-at-pupman-dot-com writes:


>Corums did alot of work with async gaps and
> >found that the gap should quench in some TENS OF MICROSECONDS. There
> >is your problem right there. Your dwell time at "reasonable" break
> >rates is too high, so you get poor performance.


Greg,

This aspect of the Corums' work was somewhat based on a
false premise.  They thought that after the spark quenched,
the voltage built up 10 times higher.  For this reason, they
thought that the time of quench was more important than it
really is.  In reality the voltage doesn't build up any higher
after the spark quenches, and the spark reaches its full
spark length before the gap quenches.  It's possible that
1st notch quench along with tight coupling may give some
advantage, but no one seems to be sure.  It would seem to
be so from a theoretical standpoint.  In any case it's
very hard to achieve a fast quench with typical Tesla coils.
Generally to achieve first notch quench, the overall coupling must
be somewhat loose.

John