Re: 2nd light of the "Green Monster" - sec vs. pri height

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Original poster: "David Rieben" <drieben@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>


----- Original Message ----- From: "Tesla list" <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Monday, August 08, 2005 1:13 PM
Subject: Re: 2nd light of the "Green Monster" - sec vs. pri height


> Original poster: kidd6488@xxxxxxx
> Ok, this is one aspet of my coil I haven't really messed with in the 
> past. Quick specs: 12/60 NST 1x9 geek cap MMC (forget the specs off 
> hand) multiple static spark gap. ~11 turns flat spiral primary of 
> .25" Cu tubing.  about 30x6 secondary #20AWG (~900 turns?)
>
> Right now my coil can only be raised above the primary.  Would it be 
> worth my time to try and adjust this up?  It is doable but would 
> take considerable work to do so.  Also, would it be worth it to try 
> to lower it? This would take a LOT of work, requiring some cutting 
> of my nice little table and changing / jury rigging some of my neat 
> wiring work.
>
> Just up for suggestions... Also, do you have to be subscribed to the 
> list to post to it? I sent one in from my work email, but then 
> realized it might not go thru.....
>
> thanks,
>
> Jonathon

Jonathon,

Have you operated and tuned in your coil yet? If so, you should
reasonably be able to expect 40" to 50"+ sparks from it once it's
completely tuned in and adjusted. Oh yea, what kind of toroid output
terminal do you have or are you planning to use? I would suggest
a 6x24 toroid size if you're using the dryer duct type. If you have
employed all of the above things into your coil but are still getting
considerably less output than say 45" sparks, then I would try
fiddling with the coupling. Remember, though that if you tighten the
coupling too much, you'll get those dreaded racing sparks. If you
ended up having to actually loosen the coupling (race the secondary
higher), it may be easier to remove a few of the bottom secondary
windings while leaving the secondary coil form vertical setting intact to
accomplish this. If you end up getting at least 50" output sparks from it
once it has been tuned in, then I wouldn't even mess with the coupling
as you're probably already adjusted for optimum coupling (if it's
working that good, leave it alone) ;^) Also make sure that you have
a spark gap design that can effectively remove the excess heat
that the SG produces for proper quenching. The SG is pretty
much the heart of a Tesla system and excessive SG losses due
to poor quenching/electrode overheating can really suck a lot of
energy from those streamers before they even have a chance to start (;^<

David Rieben