Re: surface breakdown was Re: 20 joules at 100 bps vs 4 joules at 500 bps

["Tesla list" <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Original poster: "Peter Terren" <pterren@xxxxxxxxxxxx>

Here is a picture of surface breakdown giving sparks of 10 inches in 
parallel with an air gap of  3 inches from a single ignition 
coil.  It really brings home the 3 times distance of creeping 
discharges vs free air sparks.
http://tesladownunder.com/Other_HV_stuff.htm#Ignition%20coil%20sparks
Peter



> Original poster: Jim Lux <jimlux@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>
> It's well known that clearance distances should be 3-4 times the 
> uniform field gap for safety (which would be around 15-20 kV/inch), 
> and that creeping discharges typically have a breakdown 1/3 that of 
> free air in the same field.