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Re: Corona Rings (was: First Light ..)

Original poster: "D.C. Cox" <resonance@xxxxxxxxxx>
The breakout of the top turn without a corona ring will damage the insulation and usually begins to damage the coilform eventually burning a hole in it. Then interior arcing and damage begins to occur.
The Carnegie coil (Buhl Science Center) uses a corona ring back in 1903. It was built by George Kauffman of Pittsburg. I had several conversations with George prior to his passing on in the 1980s. George used this ring to prevent corona formation on the top turn and also to act as a small topload allowing more high power tuning.
George's father knew Tesla personally and passed this info from Tesla directly to George when he designed the coil. It was one of the first "pole pig" type power coils in the US and certainly is the oldest TC in the US. Primary cap was .07 uF with glass plate gaps and it featured a 10 electrode rotary, belt driven sparkgap. The sec coil is wound on a 2 x 4 framework. 

It is still on display at the Buhl Science Museum in Pittsburg, PA.

Dr. Resonance



Original poster: "Qndre Qndre" <qndre_encrypt@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Will the heat of the corona damage the coil or is it just to prevent energy losses? 

----Original Message Follows----
From: "Tesla list" <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: tesla@xxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: Corona Rings (was: First Light ..)
Date: Wed, 04 Jan 2006 16:18:07 -0700

Original poster: FutureT@xxxxxxx
In a message dated 1/4/06 10:37:25 AM Eastern Standard Time, tesla@xxxxxxxxxx writes: 



So a corona ring is essentially a very tiny toroid,
correct?



Yes, usually the corona ring is thinner than a typical toroid.
It doesn't take much thickness to kill the corona at the top turn.
Often the corona ring may be open in the middle and lack the central
web that a toroid has.  The corona ring would need some sort
of criss-cross spider arrangement to permit it to be mounted
onto the coil from a center bolt atop the secondary.  Sometimes
the corona ring is attached directly to the top of the edge of
the secondary instead.

On my old vacuum tube coil which gave 3 foot sparks, I was
unable to stop the corona from flaring off of the side of the
top winding of the secondary until I installed a corona ring
only 1/8" thick just above the top turn.  Usually though a
corona ring would be thicker than that.

John