RE: control panel measurments

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

Original poster: Terry Fritz <teslalist-at-twfpowerelectronics-dot-com>

Hi Luke,

At 06:47 PM 2/27/2004, you wrote:
>Thanx
>I might have to get one of them and hook it up when the time comes.
>Judging form the numbers on the link you sent am I getting the picture
>right?

Yep!  They are dirt cheap for all the wonderful stuff they can do!  I have 
blown one up but I was really torturing it.  I just keep a few extra around 
now ;-)

>VA is the voltage X current and would be considered the apperrent power?
>Power would be the actual usable power taking the power factor into
>consideration?

If we have say 10 Arms and 120 Vrms and the angle between the two sine 
waves is 30 degrees then:

The VA = 10 x 120 = 1200VA    VA neglects the power factor and is used to 
properly size wires and voltage standoffs.

The real power is 10 x 120 x COS(30) = 1039 watts

The power factor is real watts / VA = 1039 / 1200 = COS(30) = 0.866

Here is a nice link:

http://www.microconsultants-dot-com/tips/pwrfact/pfarticl.htm


>And is there anything special you would recommend to help protect this
>thing if I play with it for TC use?

I would keep the meter away from the coil by about 4X the arc 
distance.  The same as you would keep away digital cameras, calculators and 
such.  Just the high fields around the coil may have killed it.  So keep it 
far away down the AC line somewhere.

I was holding mine about 4 feet from the coil pushing the buttons wondering 
why it was flaking out...

Cheers,

         Terry


>Luke Galyan
>Bluu-at-cox-dot-net
>http://members.cox-dot-net/bluu
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Tesla list [mailto:tesla-at-pupman-dot-com]
>Sent: Friday, February 27, 2004 3:09 PM
>To: tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
>Subject: Re: control panel measurments
>
>Original poster: Terry Fritz <teslalist-at-twfpowerelectronics-dot-com>
>
>Hi Luke,
>
>See:
>
>http://www.themeterguy-dot-com/advertising/Kill%20A%20Watt/killawatt.htm
>
>I have killed them in Tesla coil use, but they are pretty tough in
>general.  They work very well!!
>
>Be aware that all the internal circuits are live AC and you should not
>hook
>into them without being very careful!!  They may be like 5 volt logic
>stuff
>but they are still 180V above ground!!
>
>Cheers,
>
>          Terry
>
>
>At 12:27 PM 2/27/2004, you wrote:
> >I recently saw a device in C Crane catalog.
> >It was called the Kill A Watt.  It is something you plug into the wall
>and
> >then plug something into it.
> >The literature stated it could measure the volts, amps, watts and
> >frequency.  It also said it could measure the power factor and VA of
>what
> >ever was pluged into it.
> >
> >This raises a couple questions.
> >First what technically is the difference between VA and watts?  I
>thought
> >it was the same thing.
> >Or does one have to do with power factor?
> >Is power the apparent power (not taking the power factor into
> >consideration and VA the real power or vice versa?
> >Or is there something else I am missing on this?
> >
> >
> >The next question is can I build a control panel that will give me
>these
> >values for my TC?
> >What I would like to see on my panel is measurements of the primary
>side
> >of my NST bank.
> >The values would be volts, amps, true power, apparent power and the
>power
> >factor.
> >If it is a huge undertaking then I probably will not go for it just yet
>
> >but if any of this can be obtained in a fairly simple manner I would
>like
> >to incorporate it into the coil I am designing now.  I know voltage and
>
> >amps is pretty easy just throw in a ct for the current and use panel
>mount
> >meters to read the voltage to the NSTs and the output of the ct for
> >current.  It is the power and power factor portion of this that has me
>at
> >a bit of a loss.
> >
> >Any one have some input for me?
> >
> >Luke Galyan
> ><mailto:Bluu-at-cox-dot-net>Bluu-at-cox-dot-net
> >http://members.cox-dot-net/bluu
> >