Re: TC quesions

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

Original poster: "Steve Greenfield by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <alienrelics-at-yahoo-dot-com>

Not a bad explanation, except that it is -not- a
transformer. The primary has high capacitance and low
inductance and so has very high circulating currents
and relatively low voltage. The secondary has low
capacitance and high inductance so it has much lower
circulating currents and correspondingly higher
voltage.

With the right combinations of everything, both
primary and secondary resonate at the same frequency
and so energy transfers from the primary to the
secondary via very loose coupling, resulting in very
high voltages. Tada, huge arcs.

Steve Greenfield

--- Tesla list <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com> wrote:
> Original poster: "by way of Terry Fritz
> <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <FutureT-at-aol-dot-com>
> 
> In a message dated 1/20/02 2:43:21 PM Eastern
> Standard Time, tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
> writes:
> 
> 
> >
> > How does a TC work and how does the secondary,
> primary, spark gaps, ect.
> > work?
> > How come you coulden't just wrap a sheet of metal
> around your pipe that you
> > were using for your secondary?
> > Thanks
> 
> 
> 
> To nameless person,
> 
> First you have a high voltage transformer which
> charges a capacitor.
> When the capacitor is charged, the high voltage
> jumps across the
> spark gap.  the spark gap completes a resonant
> circuit consisting
> of the spark gap, the capacitor, and a primary coil.
>  Since the
> circuit is resonant at a very high frequency, the
> energy quickly
> oscillates within the circuit.  This alternating
> energy transfers to
> the secondary coil via induction.  Since the energy
> is delivered in
> the form of a burst of energy, it tends to die out
> gradually like a
> bell does when you strike it.  As this energy
> declines, it transfers
> to the secondary by induction as mentioned.  The
> primary has
> few turns, the secondary has a great number of turns
> to give a
> voltage step-up (it's a transformer actually).  So
> now we have this
> high voltage, high frequency current at the top of
> the coil.  The
> voltage is so high, it breaks down the air and forms
> spark streamers
> which fly out from the coil's top terminal.  The
> capacitor is now
> discharged, and begins to charge again from the high
> voltage
> transformer, and the process repeats as long as the
> power is
> applied.  
> 
> Cheers,
> John
> 
> 
>