Re: MOT-powered coil questions

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

Original poster: "Edward Wingate by way of Terry Fritz <teslalist-at-qwest-dot-net>" <ewing7-at-rochester.rr-dot-com>

Tesla list wrote:

 > Original poster: "Gregory Hunter by way of Terry Fritz 
<teslalist-at-qwest-dot-net>" <ghunter31014-at-yahoo-dot-com>
 >
 > OK Dwight,
 >
 > I stand corrected. Apparently, the lower limit for
 > spark gap tesla coil supply voltage has yet to be
 > established. Perhaps someday under the guidance of
 > this sage group, you can dispense with the transformer
 > altogether, and fire a coil directly from 120vac wall
 > current. However, I'm going to go out on a limb here
 > and assume that you are not interested in micro- or
 > flea-power coiling for your first effort, nor are you
 > interested in sub-kilovolt spark gap research. If I
 > correctly understood your initial query to the list, I
 > believe you are interested in building a practical,
 > MOT-based Tesla coil, and that you are seeking useful
 > advice to that end. If this is so, then based on my
 > limited experience, I suggest that 4kvac from a pair
 > of MOTs is a tough way for a novice to start out.
 > Quenching a low voltage/high current arc presents
 > difficult design challenges that most newbies would do
 > better to avoid. Raising the voltage a bit with a
 > level shifter, or by simply using 4 MOTs instead of 2,
 > sidesteps many problems and greatly simplifies spark
 > gap design. If you'd like to hear more of my
 > half-baked ideas on MOT power supply design for tesla
 > coiling, please refer to my various primers on the
 > subject.
 >
 > http://hot-streamer-dot-com/greg/MOT_chat.htm
 > http://hot-streamer-dot-com/greg/MOTDOC.htm
 > http://hot-streamer-dot-com/greg/4pack.htm
 >
 > Best Regards,
 >

Greg,

My response wasn't meant in any way to be a correction, merely an example 
of a very low tank circuit input
voltage/current working satisfactorily, which surprised me. Flea power is a 
realm that I rarely delve
into, a fact that those who know my work can attest to. :^)

You are absolutely correct about quenching being more difficult with the 
low voltage at very high current
an MOT can supply and the fact that newbies probably should steer clear of 
this type of challenge.

Ed Wingate RATCB