Re: Teslas Ball Lightning

["Tesla list" <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Original poster: "Chris Rutherford" <chris1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>

Hi All,

I've just been doing a little digging around, looking for info about
the CS Electric Light Company's generator that Tesla 'melted down'.
As I understand it, Pikes Peak, where the lab was is quite a few miles
away from the generating plant.

http://www.coloradocollege.edu/library/SpecialCollections/CenturyChest/transcription23.html

There is some confusion over what that plant was capable of producing
when Tesla was using it.  For example initially electricity was
produced by CS Electric Light Co using multiple 50KW generators for
the purpose of electric ark lighting only.

Surely Teslas work would have had consequences for the lighting and
50KW MMGs, Indeed the report says there was a complete blackout caused
by Tesla  and they had to switch over to A single standby generator.
i.e. Tesla was not using the MMG plant, he was using a large
active/standby generator.  So this implies that Tesla must have been
using the new 1000KW station.

"In 1900 a new company, the Colorado Springs Electric Company obtained
control of the electric lighting company and proceeded to extend the
business, building a new generating plant on the Northern borders of
the city."

Tesla may have been using this plant, but this is debatable because:-

"The generating units at this new station, which was completed in the
spring of 1901, are of 1000 kilowatts. " - One year after Tesla had
gone??

So what was current/voltage was there available for Teslas usage?  Is
it possible that the date is misleading in the article and Tesla was
using the newer 1MW generator and not the 50K MMGs?

In any case, my point is, if Pikes Peak was so far from the power
station, then surely the transmission line would have prohibited the
high frequency oscillations from melting down the generator due to
damping and attenuation in going from Pikes Peak to the generating
plant.  Therefore the 1MW generator must have died from over current,
i.e Tesla was pulling the full 1MW.  - Just an idea, comments would be
appreciated, and so would confirmation about what power plant Tesla
was 'using' for his experiments.

If the article is correct and the generator produced 6KV then Tesla
could have put the raw supply straight across a capacitor / RSG
without needing the Westinghouse transformer.  -Would he have been up
for this?

If he was using the Westinghouse transformer then how could he have
blown the power plant, and how could the HF oscillations get through
the isolation transformer?


Also another fact I discovered about CS Pikes Peak.

"At an elevation of 6,035 feet, Colorado Springs has two-thirds the
oxygen found at sea level and Pikes Peak (14,110 feet) has only
one-half."


Thanks

Chris R



> Original poster: boris petkovic <petkovic7@xxxxxxxxx>


> > Where did the figure of 50KW for CS come from?
> -----
> >From Tesla's CSN directly.
> It could have been  several kilowatts  less or more
> than that.
> Anycase,the ballpark is there I think.
> Actually,in CSN there is his note regarding
> preparation for CS transmitter  working at ~50 hp
> supply capacity (little less than 50 kw).
> On the other hand,Westinghause transformer rating was
> 60 kVA  and Tesla put a remark  it could have been
> loaded ,if necessary and for a short period of
> time,2-3 times that value without overheating.
>
> These figures are to be compared with ~10 meter point
> to point spark,apparently the longest stricking
> distance Tesla achieved by the machine , and
> L::SQRT(P) requirements  for that.However,an
> efficiency may have play its role and it is not sure
> if 10 m spark was established by 40,60 or 90 kW input.
>
>
> One must be aware Tesla sometimes talks in terms of
> Megawatt powers consumption of CS coil,but these would
> be impulsive RF powers.
> Unrealistically high Qs of the coil Tesla used in his
> calculations could be another source of various
> errors.
> Q pumping modes were out of reach for him at the time
> anyway.
>
> All the Best,
> Boris