Re: MMC-What should I expect???

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

Original poster: "Jason by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <jasonp-at-btinternet-dot-com>

Hi Winston

> I soon will be getting by Geek MMC caps (thanks Chris!), and I'm
> wondering what to expect.  Until now I haven't run either of my coils
> with a "real" MMC.  My first cap is (it's still alive) a 3x4 array of
> 3kV, 0.1 uF filter caps.  I run my coil for about 20 seconds max, then
> shut it down to let the caps cool.  They are hot to the touch after 3
> runs.  My second cap was (it's VERY dead) an array of what were claimed
> to be pulse caps, but which turned out to be more like firecrackers.
> After 10-30 seconds of run time I would hear POP!...BUZZZZZZ! and then
> see flames erupting from the array.  I used up my 10 spare caps very
> quickly, and I doubt that I got more than 7 minutes of run time from the
> array ;-P.  I know I've never overvoltaged either unit, since I'm really
> paranoid about openning the gap up.
>
> With both units I've gotten 4-5 feet from my 6", 2kW coil, and the
> sparks are "bright" purple.  Ground strikes are thin and white.  So,
> what should I expect besides longer run times?  Would it be reasonable
> to expect a significant improvement in spark length?

Well, without knowing more about your setup, such as the type of SG and the
size of the primary etc. its hard to say. However, your current MMC bank
sounds very lossy indeed, and with proper tuning and paying attention to
using low resistance / low inductance components (bus bars instead of heavy
guage wire, that sort of thing) there is no reason why you should not see at
least 6 feet out of the coil. Keep in mind that geek caps are self healing
and can take up to 2x their rated voltae, so dont worry about opening up the
gap to get more power (eg. an LTR cap rated at 28kV on a 12kV xfmr is fine).
Geek caps are very good, and can take loads of abuse and dont die quickly.
Youy should get fat white arcs out of the coil once you fit the new caps,
and see some serious performance increase.

Have fun!!!
Best Regards,

Jason
[UK Geek #1139 Rank G-2]
[HV / Tesla / Laser / Comp]
[  www.thegeekgroup-dot-org   ]