Coil Observations

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

Original poster: "WIZZARD . by way of Terry Fritz <teslalist-at-qwest-dot-net>" <pbobyk-at-hotmail-dot-com>

I threw in another 15 KV 30 mA transformer onto my 6" coil. ( 1.35 KVA 
Total ) Sparks reached 40" horizontal distance from the torid to a 
sharpened ground rod. The three NST's draw 12 Amps at 110 VAC. The sound 
intensity reaches 103 dB C weighting at 8'. This is not a system that can 
be run in an apartment LOL! ( Now where am I going to live ? )
Hearing protection is a really good idea even for short duration tests.

The sparks appear thicker and brighter. Light blue to almost white light 
during a ground arc.
They appear to flow from a single breakout point.
They are long enough to reach the primary but seem to prefer to flow 
horizontally from the middle outside edge of the torid. It is harder to 
obtain a breakout with this power level. ( Dont know why )
The ion output "smells different". It has an extremely light burning smell 
to it, and didn't seem to bother my throat as much.
( I don't think I'm crazy, nothing was on fire. )

When the coil was moved briefly outdoors, it did not behave well. It 
produced the loudest arcs I have heard from the coil between the primary 
and secondary. The safety gap also fired more often.
There did not seem to be a sweet spot to " tune out " the problems.
Until I find out why this happens, this coil will remain inside.

Sparks will travel down a piece of wood that is placed on the torid, 
burning paths until it reaches the end of the wood. ( Very interesting effect )
Virtually every piece of wood we tried started on fire in less than a minute.
Slighty wet the unlit end of a cigarette and place it on top of the torid. 
It will light.

Besides being an expensive cigarette lighter, is there any practical use 
for these things?
I get asked this question every time someone watches the coil !
I cannot move on to bigger and better coils until I can justify it . . . . . .

Dwight, Ontario
Canada