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RE: mini coil



Original poster: "Steve Conner" <steve.conner@xxxxxxxxxxx>

>A good rule of thumb is to assume
>that the breakdown along a surface is 1/3 that of free space,
>so really, the breakdown voltage along a 20 inch PVC tube
>is probably around 400 kV.

I like to think that the presence of the secondary winding on a Tesla coil
stabilises the electric field along the surface, increasing the breakdown
voltage. The secondary winding could act like a large number of tiny grading
rings connected to a potential divider chain (although the "potential
divider" is of course an inductance not a resistance)

In theory I suppose this could raise the dielectric strength until it was
equal to that of free space. But in practice I don't know. None of my coils
operates above the 20kV per inch figure. The OLTC2 gives roughly 600kV along
its 30" secondary winding.

Steve C.