Re: Cadillac as coil ground for Halloween

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

Original poster: "Terry Fritz" <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>

Hi,

I can think of about 1000 better grounds than an old Caddy :-))  Even a
screw driver with a wire stuck in wet dirt...  "Ground the car" at any rate
otherwise it could get voltage on it or act like a 5000 pound antenna.  

I would really worry about the gas tank.  If your 70'S Caddy is like the
Caddy's of that vintage I used to own, it also has a large oil slick under
it that may or may not be flammable.

But a coil on one of the massive lids or the roof might look really cool
(especially if the car runs :-)))  If you ground the frame of the car to a
real safety ground and no flammables are around, it will be fine.  I'll
assume the 8 track tape player is already dead ;-))

Cheers,

	Terry


At 03:08 PM 10/15/2002 -0400, you wrote:
>> My late father-in-law's 71 cadillac has been sitting in
>
>> our driveway since 96. (No, it's not on concrete blocks)
>
>	Concrete makes a dandy conductor, in largish
>	masses.
>
>> I've been thinking about a safe way to coil for Halloween.
>
>> The object being the avoidance of french-frying young
>> children.
> 
>> So I thought, why not put the coil on top of the Caddy and
>
>> use it for ground?
>
>	Sounds like a counterpoise, rather than a ground...
>	(tires make insulators: I'm Assuming the tires
>	are on ...)
>
>> I think this is a fantastic idea. What do you think?
>	As a counterpoise, not bad.  I'd add a ground,
>
>	to real ground, tho others may differ.  Is there
>	GAS in the tank?
>
>	I'd add an explicit connection from base of coil
>	to metallic connection to car body:  If left to
>	chance lower HV might punch thru the paint,
>	damaging same.  If paint damage is of concern.
>
>-- 
>	best
>	dwp
>		(who actually started setting up HIS coil
>		for Halloween last night...  Small by
>		some standards.)
>
>...the net of a million lies...
>	Vernor Vinge
>There are Many Web Sites which Say Many Things.
>	-me
>