RE: Z-Machine Sparkage- Try this at home!!

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

Original poster: "brianb by way of Terry Fritz <teslalist-at-qwest-dot-net>" <brianb-at-antelecom-dot-net>

Adam,

Keeping the voltage a bit below break over enabled me to sustain the effect
as long as I wanted. but trying to get the lighting correct so it would show
up on the camera was tough.

Regards,
Brian B.

-----Original Message-----
From: Tesla list [mailto:tesla-at-pupman-dot-com]
Sent: Saturday, April 12, 2003 8:13 PM
To: tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
Subject: RE: Z-Machine Sparkage- Try this at home!!


Original poster: "Yurtle Turtle by way of Terry Fritz <teslalist-at-qwest-dot-net>"
<yurtle_t-at-yahoo-dot-com>

Very interesting work.

How were you able to capture the photo:
"electrostatic_9.jpg"? Since this was a short lived
event at the beginning of the discharge, was this
simply trial and error?

thanks
Adam

--- Tesla list <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com> wrote:
  > Original poster: "brianb by way of Terry Fritz
  > <teslalist-at-qwest-dot-net>" <brianb-at-antelecom-dot-net>
  >
  > Sue/all,
  >
  > I repeated your experiment and noticed some
  > interesting things happening in
  > the gap area. Some of these observations may be of
  > use for our Tesla Coil
  > gaps so I don't think this is to far off topic.
  >
  > My setup used a .06uf capacitor, 12kv-at-30ma NST, .75"
  > brass electrode, and
  > .25" gap between the electrode and the water.
  >
  > One of the things I noticed was the physical wave
  > created in the water each
  > time the gap fired. At first I assumed it was due to
  > the shockwave from the
  > superheated air in the arc channel (which also made
  > an acoustic "pop" each
  > time the gap fired). Upon closer examination I
  > noticed this was only part of
  > what was happening. What I observed was the water
  > under the gap being pulled
  > up towards the electrode due to electrostatic forces
  > then dropped as the gap
  > fired (dissipating the charge). This electrostatic
  > effect is quite
  > pronounced as I'm able to observe the gap distance
  > being reduced by over
  > half.
  >
  > I had made an assumption that the breakdown voltage
  > was simply due to the
  > static distance between the electrode and the
  > water's surface. But what I
  > found was a dynamic interaction between the gap
  > voltage and the
  > electrostatic forces. As the voltage is increased
  > the electrostatic forces
  > pulled the water up closing the gap distance until
  > it fires. With this in
  > mind I realized the cap was probably firing with
  > much less than a full
  > charge.
  >
  > In an attempt to get pictures of this effect I added
  > a bit of yellow food
  > coloring to the water and was able to capture a
  > couple interesting images
  > which can be seen at
  >
http://www.briananddebbie-dot-com/images/Backyard%20Science/Water_Arcs/water_arc
  > s.htm
  >
  > Next Steps:
  >
  > 1) I need to measure the cap voltage and see how
  > high it's getting before it
  > fires. My expectation is this will allow me to
  > increase the gap setting from
  > .25" to around .75" thus putting more energy into
  > arc.
  >
  > 2) I want to reduce the surface tension of the water
  > and see what effect
  > this has. It may create a more pronounced effect on
  > the water or maybe not.
  > I'm not sure.
  >
  > More to come...
  >
  > Regards,
  > Brian B.
  > www.briananddebbie-dot-com
  >
  >
  >
  > -----Original Message-----
  > From: Tesla list [mailto:tesla-at-pupman-dot-com]
  > Sent: Friday, April 11, 2003 9:38 PM
  > To: tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
  > Subject: Re: Z-Machine Sparkage- Try this at home!!
  >
  >
  > Original poster: "S Gaeta by way of Terry Fritz
  > <teslalist-at-qwest-dot-net>"
  > <sgtporky-at-prodigy-dot-net>
  >
  > Hi Brian,
  >
  > I agree. I would not start with the huge capacitor.

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