Re: Tesla Coil Firehazards (fwd)

["Tesla list" <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sat, 11 Aug 2007 23:19:11 -0700
From: Frank <fxrays@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: Tesla list <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: Tesla Coil Firehazards (fwd)

Tesla's lab burned down and he had a huge spiderweb coil running 24 
hrs/ day. Perhaps his coil was the reason.

I have seen and drawn small arcs from pieces of  ungrounded metal 
near an operating coil. Anyone who has used nails for part of the 
secondary construction will know the dangers.
I use a hand held TC as a stud finder, it will locate the nails very easily!

All the nails, sheet rock corners and other pieces of metal in a 
building can act as an antenna. Small insects, bits of dust or other 
debris can cause small arcs which could ignite and cause a smoldering 
fire, perhaps long after the coil was shut off, and turn into a major 
fire hours later.

I would be very cautious running a coil in a small enclosed spare for 
any length of time and especially when the arcs are hitting the 
ceiling, walls or floor, if they are wood.

As for an aerosol, the contents may be flammable, especially since 
the fools banned Freon and switched back to propane as a propellent, 
BUT it is inert as long as it is in the can. As long as the fuel to 
O2 ratio is out of balance, there will not be any combustion. Ever do 
the trick of putting lighted matches out in a full can of gasoline? 
Same principle.

Sparks inside an aerosol will not ignite. However if there is a pin 
hole and the escaping gas mixed with air, then you will have a fire 
for sure outside the can!
Aerosol cans are tough and hard to puncture, it would take a long 
sustained arc to puncture it or heat it up enough to rupture and I 
doubt a small coil has anywhere near the horsepower.

Some of the new aerosol cans are made from aluminium, not steel and 
the wall thickness is less. Usually those cans use CO2 as a 
propellent and the actual contents may be flammable if it is paint or 
oils. It is much easier to puncture those cans but again, an arc from 
a distance is doubtful it will do any damage.
Even a piece of aluminium foil can be punctured if it is between the 
coil and RF ground.

Although strange things have happened, I doubt the cans were ignited 
just by the coil, there had to be some external factors, like there 
was some wet paint of vapors present when the coil was operated, a 
leaking valve on a can or some other external source of fuel.

One thing for sure, treat an  operating TC just like a welding 
project, keep any and all flammables well clear and sick around for 
at least a half an hour after the coil is turned off if operated in 
an enclosed room. May sound silly but a fire is not!

Frank

At 11:18 AM 8/10/2007 -0600, you wrote:

>---------- Forwarded message ----------
>Date: Fri, 10 Aug 2007 12:25:20 EDT
>From: Mddeming@xxxxxxx
>To: tesla@xxxxxxxxxx
>Subject: Re: Tesla Coil Firehazards (fwd)
>
>
>
>Hi Chris,
>
>     Yes, streamers CAN start fires if they hit  something flammable. It's
>like flipping a lit cigarette into the woods. It may  happen the 
>first time or
>the 500th time, but given enough times, it will  happen. The worst 
>scenario is
>if a streamer hits the wiring inside a wall  where it can start the 
>insulation
>or paper facing of the  wallboard  smoldering or causes a short in 
>the wiring.
>A fire may break out minutes or  even hours later. Even hitting a water pipe
>inside a wall can cause the inside  surface of the wallboard to smolder while
>leaving only a pinhole on the outer,  painted side. (Guess how I know this)
>  Be careful,
>
>Matt D.
>
>
>In a message dated 8/10/07 11:56:28 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
>tesla@xxxxxxxxxx writes:
>
> >  > ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> > >  Date: Thu, 09 Aug 2007 14:33:05 -0400
> > > From:  Crispy <crispy@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> > > To:  tesla@xxxxxxxxxx
> > > Subject: Tesla Coil  Firehazards
> > >
> >  > Hello,
> > >
> >  > I was wondering how significant the firehazards relating
>to Tesla coils
> > > are.  The spark  gap will generate a large amount of heat
>for sure,  but
> > > how dangerous are the secondary  streamers on, say, a 1kW
>coil?  Could
> > > they easily ignite materials such as wood or paper  with a
>single strike?
> >  >
> > > Thanks,
> >  > Chris
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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