Original poster: "Medina, Benjamin (UMR-Student)" <bamxbb@xxxxxxx>
Hello folks. Well, I finished the wiring of my TC today and started the
tuning phase. Using a static gap (temporarily donated by Scot D "aka"
bunnikiller), we first set the # of gaps to 2. By adjusting the knob on
the variac I got to the point where the gap just fires (with the cap &
primary disconnected). We then turned the power OFF and hooked the cap &
primary back to the circuit. Turned ON the power and had a grounded pole
right next to the toroid. At that moment we got some sparks, so by
tapping at different turns and moving the pole away further and further
each time, we obtained that the tap turn was between the 10th and 11th
turn. (Each time we changed the "tap", we turned the power OFF).
We then set the # of gaps to 6, and repeated the process. Then to 8, and
repeated the process. At this point we got around 8" sparks. Each time
we increased the # of gaps, the noise got louder and louder. There were
some students coming into the lab that were curious to know what was
going on, and they got to see the sparks.
We then set the # of gaps to 10, and set the variac to a level where the
gaps just fire. Once we hooked up the rest of the ckt, and turned the
power ON, we noticed that it was arcing in the capacitor bank. So I
immediately turned it off. I thought maybe one of my MMC (bought from
Terry Fritz) had burned or exploded, b/c the sound/noise level was HIGH.
I am thinking of changing the mounting design of my caps. In other
words, rather than having them in a pc board in series as shown below: