Original poster: "D.C. Cox" <resonance@xxxxxxxxxx> You can NOT use the 14 inch spark discharge to calculate the potential ---this is the long streamer formed after your plasma has "grown" to a great distance. With the coil you have described your true output is around 150 max!!! If you single shot pulse it you will find your true spark length. Then this value can be multiplied x 26.5 kV/cm to get the correct output potential.
I know everyone likes to tell their friends they have a 1/2 million volt coil, but it just isn't right. Our large Big Bruiser coil puts out an awesome 28 ft long spark running at 26 kVA and yet the true output voltage is only 833 kV --- it doesn't even break the 1 million volt level!!
Dr. Resonance
WOW, NICE. According to what you just said, my coil produces an absolute maximum of 533KV (if my toroid were perfectly smooth) Half a million volts seems too much for a mere 14" discharge average. But, if you say half a million, i'll go with that! :PFrom: "Tesla list" <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx> To: tesla@xxxxxxxxxx Subject: Re: Safety gap issues Date: Sat, 26 Nov 2005 12:51:45 -0700 Original poster: Terry Fritz <vardin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> Hi Jim, At 08:16 AM 11/26/2005, you wrote: ...........If you want to "estimate" the voltage on your tesla coil from it's physical design, your best bet is to measure the radius of curvature. The voltage won't be much higher than the radius of curvature in cm times 30 kV/cm, and will likely be lower (since that's the max voltage for smooth sphere with nothing around it).I have noticed that the "breakout voltage" does tend to correspond to the radius of curvature and all. However, the top voltage can then go substantially beyond that. If there is a lot of power behind the arcs.Then the "breakout loading" is just not enough to hold the voltage down.So it does not act like say a hard Zener diode, but rather a Zener with a big resistor in series with it.Cheers, Terry