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Re: Minor details on coil design and operation



Original poster: Jim Lux <jimlux@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>

At 04:23 PM 5/3/2005, you wrote:
Original poster: Davetracer@xxxxxxx


I have a few relatively minor questions ...

(1a) Should the safety gap on top of the neon sign transformer be as physically _sharp_ as possible (for example, two nails pointing at one another), to help ionization and zapping across, or should it be a Jacob's ladder shape (gentle curve), or even moreso, smooth curves, something like doorknobs?

The reason I ask is that it seems to me in this application you'd want the safety gap to fire sooner, not later, and I believe that sharp electrodes will do that a bit faster. On the other hand a smooth shape may give wanted capacitance. I don't know, so I'm asking.

Needle gaps erode faster, and the breakdown voltage is more erratic.

Use something fairly sturdy with smooth curves. A popular technique is to use a couple pieces of AWG10 solid wire, with the ends bent into loops about an inch in diameter.



(1b) Also, is it necessary to run two safety gaps, each "side" of the NST to case ground?

You could.


(1c) Should the case of the NST be grounded, and if so, to what? Earth or wall-socket ground?