Re: Why does my ammeter jump around when running my tesla coil?

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

Original poster: "by way of Terry Fritz <teslalist-at-qwest-dot-net>" <FutureT-at-aol-dot-com>

In a message dated 3/20/03 12:35:37 AM Eastern Standard Time, 
tesla-at-pupman-dot-com writes:

Adam,

The spark gap in a Tesla coil generally fires in a chaotic manner
which leads to the unsteady current draw.  By using a synchronous
rotary gap, or a STSG, the current draw would be much steadier.
However the unsteady current draw is nothing to worry about.

John


>When i run my tesla coil (currently running on 1 12/60 nst), i notice that
>the ammeter that is connected to the nst jumps from 10-13 amps the whole
>time i run it. It never stayes at one place for more than 1 second, why
>does it do this?
>Thanks
>Adam
>