Re: Magnifier Primary Capacitors - EQUIDRIVE vs. STANDARD

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

Original poster: "Dr. Resonance" <resonance-at-jvlnet-dot-com> 


A proposed experiment for active members of this list:


In all the coils we have built we have never (in over 45 years) seen any
charge remaining on a cap operating in an AC tank circuit.  I know Ed and
others have reported that charge does remain with an equa-drive system, but
with the standard classic configuration I have never seen any residual
charge whatsoever.

We operate a coil and we are tuning it and after shutdown we adjust the
tuning tap and adjust the sparkgap usually within 60 seconds and we have
never received an electric shock in any manner.  In theory, if you shut off
the coil at the exact AC peak, you should have some charge left but we have
never encountered any charge.

I've often wondered why everyone goes through all the trouble of soldering
all those resistors across the MMC caps.  I've never done this and we have
never found an MMC that retains charge on an AC circuit.  I've been using
MMC circuits for approx 3 yrs, and again, no residual charge remains.

If you are running DC in your system, then, of course, there will be
residual charge on the cap.

Other members of this list might wish to  verify this with volt meters on
their systems.  I would be curious to know the results.  It would sure save
a lot of construction time with the resistors.  We never use them except on
DC circuits with Marx generators, etc.

I've worked with Bill Wysock tuning a large coil (16 ft. spark length) and
he also never discharged the caps prior to making primary tuning
adjustments.  We were even working directly on a 0.2 MFD cap within 60
seconds of full power operation and no charge remained.

Terry F. with his HV probe on a TEK scope could leave the probe across some
MMC's and then shut the coil off.  I'm betting after 60 sec he sees nothing
or a value less than 60 Volts.  It has never shocked us so it has to be very
low if any remains.

Dr. Resonance

Resonance Research Corporation
E11870 Shadylane Rd.
Baraboo   WI   53913
 >
 > Electrically and performance-wise, two caps in series, no matter if
 > separated by the TC primary or back to back, act like a single cap with
 > twice the voltage rating and half the capacitance of a single cap.  But
 > esthetically, it has some appeal for those who value symmetry and
scientific
 > names to describe their setup.  One could argue two caps might help
isolate
 > the primary from the 60 Hz power source, but the equidrive setup is
probably
 > just as potentially lethal to the careless person who contacts a primary
 > while the coil is in operation as is a single cap configuration.
 > --Steve Y.