RE: Noob Question

["Tesla list" <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Original poster: Ronald Fleshman <ronfleshman@xxxxxxxxx>

Just a quick question.  Does your transformer have some form of 
ground fault or overload protection built in ? This will sometimes 
cause strange things to happen.

Ron Fleshman

Tesla list <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Original poster: Yurtle Turtle

Perhaps your spark gap is getting very hot. Rather
than waiting a whole day, just check to see when the
gaps get cool then try the coil again. Don't burn or
fry youself doing this.

For the single streamer, a larger toploap should do
the trick. It doesn't have to be an expensive spun
topload; aluminum ducting works fine.

Adam

--- Tesla list wrote:

> Original poster: ben eells
>
> I've finished my MMC and It has made a significant
> i ncrease in
> streamer length but I am still having the same
> problem as stated
> before. The only info I can think to add is that if
> I leave the coil
> alone for a while, like maybe a day, and I try it
> again after a long
> rest it will run for quite a while again before the
> problem starts
> back up. I've had the transformer tested by a
> professional and there
> didn't appear to be anything wrong with it. I guess
> I should also
> note that I am now getting multiple streamers
> instead of just 1. What
> can be done to make the coil produce only 1 streamer
> again?
>
> Tesla list wrote:
> Original poster: "Lau, Gary"
>
> Comments interspersed:
> > Original poster: Jared E Dwarshuis
> >
> > Capacitors die quickly when c oils are out of
> tune, or when you get
> &g
t; primary strikes. (The symptoms you describe do
> sound a lot like
> > failing tank capacitors.)
> I can see how stress on the cap increases when out
> of tune - if the
> power consumed isn't going into sparks, it must be
> languishing in the
> tank circuit, mostly burned off in the gap but also
> in cap losses. But
> I'm unaware of any data or theory showing that
> primary strikes can
> threaten a cap. Conservation of energy just won't
> allow the primary cap
> to be charged to a voltage exceeding its initial
> bang voltage.
>
>
> > It is well worth the extra time to make a jacobs
> ladder from
> > coathangers to test the output of your NST. Over
> time NST can get
> > weak. This can also cause hard starting and
> general poor performance.
> >
> > Some people swear by RF filters. My personal
> feeling is that they are
> > only usefull for coils that are being tuned.
> > (no real data is available on the topic of RF
> filters for increasing
> > the longevity of NST, just opinions!)
> Agree 1000% on data and RF filters. My opinions at
> http://www.laushaus.com/tesla/protection.htm.
> My take is that setting the main gap too wide is
> likely responsible for
> most NST and cap failures, and filters won't help if
> one lacks the
> discipline to set the main and safety gaps properly.
> Most newbies
> (noobs??) see the gap width as just another variable
> to tweak for
> maximum performance, not realizing that setting it
> too wide just once
> may be fatal to their hardware.
> Diagnosing a suspect NST is relatively easy - just
> see if you can draw
> an arc from each HV bushing to the case. Assuming a
> midpoint-grounded
> secondary, both sides should be about the same.
> Diagnosing a suspect cap isn't so easy. It may test
> fine on any sort of
> capacitance or leakage meter, and only fail in TC
> operation at HV. Only
> by swapping with another known-good cap (o r by
> eliminating all other
> possibilities) can one be sure.
>
> > I do hope that you are using a safety gap, lack
> of such a gap leads to
> > tank failures during initial tuning.
> >
> > Sincerely: Jared Dwarshuis
> Regards, Gary Lau
> MA, USA
>
>
>