Re: Pole pigs, caps, etc

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

Original poster: "colin.heath4 by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <colin.heath4-at-ntlworld-dot-com>

hi greg
            i fully agree with you . even thre best components can fail in
tesla use and if they do you just have to swallow it.
i have ran a 6kv nst with no safety gap and no chokes for 6months with no
failure but would never recommend that anyone else do it nor would i be
suprised if it went bang
cheers
colin

----- Original Message -----
From: Tesla list <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
To: <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
Sent: Saturday, September 21, 2002 5:18 PM
Subject: Pole pigs, caps, etc


> Original poster: "Gregory Peters by way of Terry Fritz
<twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <s371034-at-student.uq.edu.au>
>
> Hello all,
> I have a story for you all. I'm not sure of the exact details but
> here it is in a nutshell:
>
> Several years ago there was a company who sold excellent commercial
> caps for tesla coiling at reasonable prices. Someone bought such a
> cap, and it blew up during use. He then tried to hold the company
> liable for damage caused. This company now will not sell caps to the
> public for tesla use, because they are afraid of being sued. We all
> know that caps do die in tesla service (except maybe the 600kV MMC -
> WOW! :)). And we all know that they CAN explode when they do fail.
> But we still CHOOSE to play with them and expose ourselves to the
> danger. We know we can get hurt. If this happens it is our fault, not
> the cap company, not the power company, not the transformer company,
> not people who gave advice on this list, not anyone else but
> yourself.
>
> I bring this up because there are alot of inexperienced coilers on
> this list playing with pole pigs. I wouldn't care if they were
> electrical engineers, but they ususally aren't. They are often young,
> and often ask questions like "why can't I lick my pole pig's
> terminals?" - OK that's a bit of an exaggeration, but you all know
> what I mean. I am not an expert on Tesla coil theory, but I have
> successfully been building them for 8 years without injury, and only
> now am I playing with more than two kilowatts of power. I have a
> healthy respect for the dangers present. If I do hurt myself, I know
> it is my fault. I will not try to sue the pole pig company. I will
> not sue the fibreglass company when my RSG flys apart and kills me.
> It will be my fault, because I didn't adequately shield myself from
> flying debris.
>
> I think it is only a matter of time before someone is injured or
> killed with a Tesla Coil. In Australia there is no legislation
> against playing with coils (other than RF interference). But we can
> not play with explosives and fireworks. The reason there is no
> legislation, is because there has been no need for it - YET. This is
> a fairly unknown hobby, with a good safety record. But if someone
> dies, I reckon it will be made illegal in a flash (at least that is
> the way things happen in Australia). So lets all play it safe, and
> not sue pole pig, capacitor, etc companies who are kind enough to
> sell us parts. Lets not ruin this hobby for everyone else.
>
> I don't want to have to stop coiling because no one will sell me the
> components. I don't want to see anyone die. Keep it safe. Be careful.
>
>
> End of lecture.
>
> Greg.
>
>
>
>