Re: Non ballasting a pig?

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

Original poster: "Jason Johnson by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <hvjjohnson13-at-hotmail-dot-com>

Ok. Fair enough. I build coils the way they work for me, and while I
wouldn't consider myself a risk taker (I still have fuses, breakers and
emergency cutoffs with way overrated contactors), I do tend to do a few
things a little differently. Like my all metal RSG rotor (well over 100
flawless hours BTW :-). I still stick by what I said, but I'll say that
it may not be a good idea nor work in every situation.

> Yipes, starting to dislike this thread..... oh well,
>
> Tesla list wrote:
>
> > Original poster: "Jason Johnson by way of Terry Fritz
> <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <hvjjohnson13-at-hotmail-dot-com>
> >
> > I have to disagree. I think that this is a very common myth among
tesla
> > coilers, that you HAVE to have a ballast with a pig.
>
> Hi Jason,
> It's not myth, it's physics and safety. Yes, there are myths out
there.
> This isn't one of them.
>
> > PT or MOT powered
> > coil. I run an MOT powered coil with two unmodified MOTs and
absolutely
> > no ballast,
>
> Unmodified MOT's would indicate internal ballasting (shunts). Possibly
you
> meant modified and you've done
> away with the shunts?

Well, yes and no. I've run the coil with two MOTs with no shunts and two
MOTs with shunts. I can tell no difference, and the fuse box reacted the
same in both circumstances. Right now, however, I use two MOTs with
shunts intact because they are the highest voltage units I have, and I
didn't take the shunts out before I submerged them in oil several years
ago. I don't use voltage doublers or anything so I went with the highest
voltage transformers I had at the time. The shunts do very little,
because when I short them by themselves the lights dim and the breaker
trips real quick. The PT is the same voltage as the MOTs and definately
has no current limiting and I can simply swap them on the coil, with
near identical performance.

>
> > and a PT powered coil with no ballast, either can run almost
> > indefinately (only limited by the spark gap heating) on a 120 volt
15
> > amp breaker (well the PT did until I lost the cap).
>
> Yes, as long as currents are low or fast enough to not trip the mains
> during magtization of the core (and
> while there is no failure). Should the transformer fail shorted
someday,
> hopefully the breakers will
> protect you and your house. Note that Ken's 10kva DID trip the
breakers
> which he had to upgrade. Why did
> they trip? I'll tell you why.. time and current.
>
> > I remember an old
> > school coiler running a 5kva pig powered coil with no ballast as
well
> > (he was never on this list to my knowledge, and lived in the UK) and
he
> > suffered no bad effects.
>
> That's lucky for him, but I don't think one man's luck is the issue.
>
> Maybe the word "must use" is what is being attacked. Ok, I'll change
that
> to "if your not a risk taker,
> you will" use a ballast. Because, you will want to protect yourself,
anyone
> around, your house, your
> components, etc.. from excessive current draw in the event of startup
> stresses, failures, and mishaps.
> Note this doesn't mean it "won't" work (alhtough in many cases - it
won't),
> it simply is smart protocol
> and the best advice I can give to anyone on this subject.
>
> Take care,
> Bart
>

Alright then. I didn't mean to offend anyone, and I won't encourage
anyone to run with no ballast, especilly newbies.

<< Jason R. Johnson >>
G-3 #1129
The Geek Group
http://www.thegeekgroup-dot-org/

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