RE: Then what's the topload FOR?

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

Original poster: "Pete Komen by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <pkomen-at-zianet-dot-com>

Christopher,

The topload does NOT store energy in the way you are thinking.  It does not
assume a positive or negative charge and build it up.  It's a resonant
circuit; the energy is stored in the cap (the ground and the topload) then
in the inductor and back to the cap (with the topload at the opposite
charge).  The ringing of the primary pumps energy into the secondary
resonant circuit.  If an arc lasts through a full cycle, it will have
current flow in both directions.  Even the instantaneous values in the AC
circuit are different than in a DC circuit.  Consider: di/dt  or dV/dt  in a
DC circuit, these could be non-zero but in a steady state DC circuit they
are zero.  In an AC circuit, di/dt and dV/dt are non-zero - meaning that the
current and voltage are constantly changing.  You can't extrapolate from an
instantaneous current flow in one direction (DC?) to constantly DC over a
long period of time.

Regards,

Pete Komen

-----Original Message-----
From: Tesla list [mailto:tesla-at-pupman-dot-com]
Sent: Friday, February 15, 2002 8:57 PM
To: tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
Subject: Then what's the topload FOR?

Original poster: "Christopher Boden by way of Terry Fritz
<twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <chrisboden-at-hotmail-dot-com>

Been following the AC-DC thread...got to thinking.....

Ok....by definition a Tesla Coil is an air-cored radio frequency RESONANT
TRANSFORMER...right? good

Now, Resonant and Transformer both seem to indicate an AC thing to me, I
have yet to see a DC Transformer (though I could REALLY use a few), or
anything that resonates only one way never crossing a zero point.

Ok....then, what's the toplaod do?

A Topload forms one side of a large air capacitor, cool, now, when the
capacitor discharges (i.e. a streamer) it does this either into the air, or
into a grounded object, the instantanious discharge would be DC because
we're dischargeing a capacitor.

But it's an AC system!???

Ok, now if the topload stores energy until it overcomes the breakdown of the
air and the maximum charge density allowed for the given curvature of the
toroid the it has to be storing that energy during several cycles of the
ringdown.

So...we're trying to charge a DC storage device from an AC supply...wouldn't
this just result in a net charge of 0V? Think about it....

Each bang in the tank circuit is of opposite polarity to the next. And Once
the bang occures there is a fast ringdown into the primary coil of a damped
AC waveform....everything is AC...each Bang is reversed, each cycle of the
ringdown reverses....how the hell do we get a spark at all?

In theory, at least in my own warped and twisted head meat, we shouldn't
have more than a few hundred volts, if that, ever seen in a topload.

I know I'm wrong (obviously) I just want to know why.







Christopher "Duck" Boden Geek#1
President / C.E.O. / Alpha Geek
The Geek Group
www.thegeekgroup-dot-org
Because the Geek shall inherit the Earth!



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