Re: sec coil zap ouch!

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

Original poster: "Ed Phillips by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <evp-at-pacbell-dot-net>

 > Hi Josh,
 >
 > One trick to stop getting zapped is keep one hand on the torrid and wipe the
 > secondary with the other.  That will get rid of the static buildup on the
 > secondary.
 >
 > David E Weiss

	Of course, you will get "little (and not necessarily little) zaps" as
you run your hand along the coil.  Obviously due to DC charge stored in
the insulation.  In this regard, I have a little VDG which will throw
6"+ sparks.  On one occasion I stuck a thick plastic drinking "glass" on
my hand and held it up to the top terminal.  A moment later I couldn't
remember why I'd done that, as when I put my other hand on the OUTSIDE
of the same cup I got a real jolt.  Easy experiment to conduct and shows
that considerable charge can be accumulated in a dielectric layer.  The
real question is to how the charge gets there.  Rectification due to
asymmetric conductors seems to me to be the only reasonable explanation.

Ed