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Re: Safety gap issues



Original poster: "JT Bowles" <jasotb@xxxxxxxxxxx>

I knew about the last thing you said. The fast break rate of tesla coil allows previously ionized channels to act like wires in the air, for future sparks to jump through. This effect allows the jackob ladder's effect, and streamer growth. Trust me, im not some idiot raving about laws and equations. I too have wondered if my calculatioons are way off, but half of my calculated voltage? Oh god that sucks- a mere 195KV output. Hardly a tesla coil at all.

*I HAVE GOOD NEWS THOUGH. I JUST BOUGHT SOME RATHER SWEET MMC CAPS ON EBAY. I WILL SOON RECEIVE THEM AND STRING THEM TOGETHER. AFTER I PUT IT INTO MY SYSTEM, I WILL FINALLY BE ABLE TO TURN MY POWER UP ALL THE WAY. ILL BET MY COIL WILL HAVE A MUCH HIGHER OUTPUT THEN. Currently im running at 60% power.

Thanks for the help :P

From: "Tesla list" <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: tesla@xxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: Safety gap issues
Date: Fri, 25 Nov 2005 08:01:12 -0700

Original poster: Mddeming@xxxxxxx

Hi JT

In a message dated 11/24/05 9:14:13 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, tesla@xxxxxxxxxx writes:
Original poster: "JT Bowles" <jasotb@xxxxxxxxxxx>

Use a counterpoise? You mean putting large amounts of al foil, spread
on the ground, as an RF ground? WTF no way dude, that ruins the
aesthetics of my coil.

A solid counterpoise wastes a lot of power in eddy currents. The most efficient form is a large number of wires set radially from the bottom of the coil like the petals of a daisy.

i DO have a 4 foot Cu pipe driven into the ground, and 15 feet of
wire is attatched to it.
*I use this separate ground as a ground for the sparks to jump
to.(from toroid directly to this)

*I have read all over, 1 inch requires around 25,000 volts to make a
spark connect. So, i have been measuring EVERYTHING using this
equation. IN OTHERWORDS, I USE 1MM=1000V. My sparkgap is set at 7.5
to 8 mm, thus 7.5 to 8 kV

Then read more carefully and thoroughly. It is true only at fixed pressure, temperature, humidity and composition of the air, and then only with quasi-infinite electrodes for uniform field. The first three change day to day, and you lose the four parameters as soon as the gap fires for a few seconds.

* my output is 15.5 inches- so i times that by 25,000 volts per inch-
to achieve a staggering
388KV tesla coil output

ONLY true for the very first pulse. After that, the repeating RF pulses cause the streamer to grow. This is the whole advantage of HF Tesla coils: the streamers grow much longer than voltage alone would indicate. Again one needs to read AND understand the whole law, including its restrictions before quoting it as gospel. Your output estimate is probably double the voltage you're really getting.

Hope this helps

Matt D.