Re: PDT (Pig) failure modes

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

Original poster: "by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <Tesla729-at-cs-dot-com>

Ken, all,

I realize ANYTHING manmade will eventually wear out and ultimately
fail, but it seems to me that Dave's pig failed LONG before it should 
have, due to aging! Pigs (PDTs-if you're politically correct:-) are de-
signed for the most rigorous electrical and environmental operation 
and are designed to operate in these harsh environments for 20 to
30 years without a hitch. Occasionally there will be a "lemon", but
the vast majority of them are like a Timex watch - they'll take a lick-
in' and keep on tickin'. Like Terry says, our "coiling" doesn't really
even come close to challenging the BIL voltage design envelope of
these beast :-) They're designed to withstand direct lightning hits
(with the help of  lightning surge arresters) on their primary line
inputs and the kickbacks of Tesla coiling are quite puny in energy
compared to to lightning bolt-to-line hits ;-) BTW, lightning surge 
arresters make good substitutes for safety gaps.

Coiling in Memphis,
David Rieben