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Re: got it working... now need to make better

Original poster: "Gerry  Reynolds" <gerryreynolds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>

Hi Langer,
500-800mh??? This seems way too large to me. 500mh is 188 ohms at 60 Hz. If the ballast is on the primary of the MOTs and you are using 120Vac, This would be only 76 VA. Maybe you can elaborate some more on how the ballast is wired into the MOTs and the variac output voltage. Also, indicate how the ballast is made and how you measured its inductance.
If you want 2KVA at 120Vac and the ballast is in the primary, you need 7.2 ohms of reactance. At 60 Hz, this translates to about 20 mh of inductance. 

Gerry R.



Original poster: "Langer Giv'r" <transworldsnowboarding19@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Hey, so I FINALLY got my tesla coil working... wow it has been a long, long time trying to get it working, but im only getting about a 6 inch spark to my secondary ground wire. 
Here are my specifications
-2KVA 20A variac
-500-800mH (i dont know exact inductance) ballast
-15A circuit breaker
-4MOTS immersed in mineral oil
   -pri --> parallel
   -sec --> series mid point ground
-multi static spark gap (series)
-~30nF saltwater cap (parallel)  (assuming 28 bottles)
-safety gap to ground
-47mH primary 11 turns 1/4 copper tubing
-3"   18000 (dont know exact) mH secondary  ~1200-1300 turns 26AWG magnet wire
-15" outer diameter  4" diameter aluminum ducting toroid
So i turn it on and put variac full power, and I get a shorter than expected spark gap firing and when i bring my secondary ground wire to the toroid i get only 6" maximum streamers. I tried tuning it in close to every place but the place that yields the largest discharge is the 10th turn. I also put the spark gap in parallel instead of the capacitor but saw no real imrovement. I dont know whats wrong concidering this is my first coil, but perhaps everyone here who has the expertise does. Help would be very much appreciated, thank you.