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

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

Original poster: "Laurence Davis by way of Terry Fritz <teslalist-at-qwest-dot-net>" <meknar-at-hotmail-dot-com>

I just attribute it to the nature of the beast.
Watch the arcs and their quality while watching the ammeter
(if you can.)  I would venture to guess that a long streamer
may draw more current than a period of smaller or lack of streamers.
while running 4 12kv /30ma nsts, i was drawing anywhere between 25/30amps.
I would also guess that a static gap coil would
vary more than a rotary gap due to better quenching.

try running at a lower power so that the streamers become
more controlled (yet smaller,) then watch the ammeter.
or try an obnoxiously huge toroid (tuned of course.)
The coil may not have enough power to generate an arc, but
the current draw should be considerably more smooth.

larry d.

>From: "Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
> >> 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?
>---
>