Re: Rotary Spark Gap, the rpm's, and horsepower

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

Original poster: "Mark Broker by way of Terry Fritz <teslalist-at-qwest-dot-net>" <mbroker-at-thegeekgroup-dot-org>

<snip<

>http://www.spacecatlighting-dot-com/teslacoil10.htm
>
>The link above is my first spark gap ever.  (Yes, i did skip the static gap
>completely in my learning path)
>I'm using a 1/25HP, 1800 RPM hysteresis synchronous motor and it works
>beautifully with power to spare.  Whats a
>hysteresis synchronous motor you ask?  Well, in layman's terms, a hysteresis
>motor may not start up in the same position
>everytime you run it.  Therefore, you need to tune it every time you use it.
>For me its not a problem, but some might rather use a true salient pole
>synchronous motor.
>
>Hope this helps.
>
>The Captain

Dan, I shared a similar learning curve.  I had the motor, the machine shop, 
someone else was paying for the materials, and I'm a quick study (sometimes 
;) ).

A hysteresis motor is an interesting beast.  It is able to deliver the same 
amount of torque irrespective of the speed of the motor, right up to its 
synchronous speed.  The torque of squirrel-cage induction motor OTOH drops 
to zero at the synchronous speed.

Mark Broker
Chief Engineer, The Geek Group