Re: noob question

["Tesla list" <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Original poster: ben eells <squeels2171@xxxxxxxxx>

I finished my MMC and it increased the streamer length as well as the 
number of streamers. It didn't fix my problem I've been having 
though. The only info I can think to add about this problem is that 
if I leave the coil alone for a day and try it again after a long 
rest it will run for quite a long time before the problem starts back 
up. Also, what can be done to make my coil produce only 1 streamer again?

Tesla list <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Original poster: Vardan

Hi,

Your new capacitor should completely solve the problem. The peak
primary current is roughly 100 amps which is probably too much for
the original caps.

Cheers,

Terry


At 12:25 PM 2/28/2006, you wrote:
>I am using a 6.5Kv 20 mA transformer and a .005mfd 10Kv AC
>polypropylene capacitor. My primary coil is 1/4" copper tubing
>spaced 1/4" between turns for a total of 15 or 16 turns My secondary
>is approximately 1100 turns of 26AWG magnet wire around 3.5 OD PVC
>pipe. My top load is an 8" x 2" aluminum toroid. My stated problem
>was worse when I was using one spark gap but I have recently
>switched to 4 gaps in series. This helps the problem as well as
>gives me longer streamers but it doesn't fix the problem. When I
>replaced the capacitor the first time the coil returned to full
>operation. I suspect it is the capacitor although it's been
>mentioned by another person in the list that it could be a ground
>problem. I am in the process of building a MMC based on the
>capacitance recomended by the tesla map program, around 10.8nf by
>using .0176uf 1500V polypropylene caps ran 8 strings of 13 caps in
>series. I tried to be as detailed as possible this time. Let me know
>if you need to know anything else. Thanks for your help and happy coiling.
>
>Tesla list wrote:
>Original poster: Vardan
>
>Hi,
>
>At 11:10 AM 2/27/2006, you wrote:
> >I've been looking for quite a while to find an answer to this
> >question and haven't had any luck. Please don't flame me too bad.
>
>We won't :-)
>
> >I've built my first coil based on the schematic for the 12" spark
> >coil from information unlimited.
>
>I have never seen this schematic and don't know anything about this
>coil. Can you give more detail on it so we know what is going
>on. There are thousands of different coils, so we can't say anything
>specific without knowing which one it is.
>
> >I can run my coil for maybe 20 seconds or so (depending on the width
> >of my gap) but eventually the spark gap stops firing and the coil
> >stops working and won't start again until I turn it off and back on
> >again. I've tried shortening the spark gap but the problem will
> >persist and the more I try to run the coil the sooner the gap stops
> >firing. Can anyone explain to me why this happens and what can be
> >done to keep the coil running while the power is on. The only
> >explaination I have been able to come up with by myself is that my
> >capacitor is slowly dieing (I've had to replace the capacitor once
> >already) and the longer I run it it can't produce the breakdown voltage.
>
>Did replacing the capacitor restore the coil to full operation
>(temporarily)? If so, it sure sounds like the cap is burning up. If
>we know more about the coil, we can find a cap that won't die.
>
>It could also be the gap gettin g dirty, but simply cleaning the
>electrodes would fix that. M y guess right now is that the cap is not
>able to withstand the coil. An MMC should fix that easily but we
>would have to known the voltage and value and something about the
>coil especially the type of transformer running it.
>
>I have also seen arcing inside the secondary do this, but that makes
>smoke and such.
>
>Cheers,
>
>Terry
>