RE: Electronic damage

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

Original poster: "Jeff W. Parisse by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <jparisse-at-teslacoil-dot-com>

Anthony,

kVA Effects has the most experience running Tesla coils in dense
electronic environments. Success depends heavily on three factors:

1. Quality of Coil. - Some coils put out tons of RF into the air and
spikes into the console ground and mains. The RF will foul data
transmission (DMX Control, etc.) and the spikes will kill equipment.

2. Grounding Techniques - Not only do you have to properly ground the
secondary but you must also ground the console separately AND all of the
other vendors (lights, sound, video, etc.) MUST follow industry standard
grounding practices with THEIR equipment. This latter point is
especially difficult to control. Our contract states that all vendors
must comply with our wiring and placement directives. Our staff has many
years of experience in professional show systems (Bill W. and I are both
former sound engineers).

3. Clean Power - You must be isolated from power used by anyone else.
Use a large generator (3x load) or isolation transformer. Microsoft
FUBAR'd in the biggest way by "forgetting" to provide us with isolated
power for an arena show (even though our need for isolated power was
spelled our in numerous letters, emails and meetings). Displaying a
level of arrogance that could only emanate from Microsoft, they told us
to use "other" power and poof... they lost a $6,000 video switcher. The
show when on flawlessly and the tens of millions of dollars worth of
computers and other show equipment worked without error or incident.
Microsoft acknowledged culpability and paid the bill. This was the only
piece of equipment we've ever fried.

Bottom Line: Does your Tesla vendor carry insurance? We carry a five
million dollar liability policy.

Jeff
www.teslacoil-dot-com





-----Original Message-----
From: Tesla list [mailto:tesla-at-pupman-dot-com] 
Sent: Tuesday, June 18, 2002 6:35 AM
To: tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
Subject: Electronic damage


Original poster: "Anthony by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>"
<firework-at-firework.co.nz>

Hi there,

I am new on the list. Years ago when I worked in a University Physics 
Department building lecture demonstrations I built a 2 metre high Tesla 
powered with three neon sign transformers in parallel.

It worked very well and we just charged in to the lecture theatre and
used 
it with no thoughts of all the electronics just through the wall in the 
back room. It would dimly light dimly all the fluorescent in a room
seating 
350 students when we ran it. They had thyratron dimmers.

We never had any damage problems. But  recently I was asked to run and 
event where a touring artist with his Tesla coil is going to figure on 
stage indoors.

I am very leery of it but am I being too conservative?  Todays
electronics 
items are I think vastly less forgiving than those of 25 years ago.

We are also to supply pyrotechnic effects and they will be foil wrapped
in 
locked metal trunks  well  away till he is done.

But has any one had a computer blown?  I realise that in a small garage 
damage is easily done, but has any one ever run a coil on stage in a 
theatre with all the lights and sound gear up and running?

Any one fried all the nearby cell phones or killed a walkman or blitzed
the 
lighting dimmers on the wall?

I see how damage is possible but does it occur easily in practice?

Interested to hear of your actual experiences in the matter as I am so
out 
of touch now.


Kind Regards     Anthony Lealand             Firework Professionals 
Ltd          Web   www.firework.co.nz