Re: High Voltage Output

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

Original poster: Jim Lux <jimlux-at-earthlink-dot-net> 

At 08:00 AM 6/2/2004 -0600, you wrote:
>Original poster: DRIEBEN-at-midsouth.rr-dot-com
>Jim,
>
>Was this "several meter" spark self started at 60 kV (I would highly
>doubt it) or was it drawn out this far after bringing the elec-
>trodes much closer together to start the arc and then drawn  out
>to several meters (much more likely)?


A very large jacobs ladder at the Deutsches Museum, so, more like the 
latter, start small, and the spark gets drawn out.  I should also qualify 
that the several meters is along the general path of the spark (although 
not following all the little twists and turns).  The "end of electrode to 
end of electrode" distance is probably on the order of a meter. A picture 
can be found at: http://www.luxfamily-dot-com/travel/austria/index.htm about 
half way down.
or--- http://www.luxfamily-dot-com/travel/austria/images/dm2.jpg for the big 
version


This jacobs ladder is probably the most viscerally impressive thing in the 
whole HV demo.  The Marx discharge is impressive, but it is just a loud 
bang, and the hundred kV+ spark demos are up in the air above your head, 
and sound like a big TC.  The jacobs ladder is a few meters away, at eye 
level, and is really loud and bright.  The photo does not do it justice.


>Likewise, the 300 kV of the
>VDG is only able to jump as far as the ROC of the discharge electrode
>allows for the spark to self start and with the very limited avai-
>lable current, the "drawn out" arc length is basically limited to
>the "self-start" spark length.

Indeed..

I gave the examples to illustrate that spark length in a TC isn't 
particularly related to the secondary voltage.



>David Rieben
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: Tesla list <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
>Date: Tuesday, June 1, 2004 6:20 pm
>Subject: Re: High Voltage Output
>
> > Original poster: Jim Lux <jimlux-at-earthlink-dot-net>
> >  I have seen several meter
> > long
> > sparks drawn from only 60 kV (but there was several hundred amps
> > in the
> > arc).  Likewise, my Van deGraaff, which on a good day might get to
> > 300 kV,
> > can only make sparks 30-40 cm long, and they're pretty thin and wispy.
> >
>