Re: grounding miscellaneous stuff (fwd)

["Tesla list" <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, 26 Jun 2007 02:21:06 -0700
From: Barton B. Anderson <bartb@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: Tesla list <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: grounding miscellaneous stuff (fwd)

Hi Scott,

Think of RF ground as a "dedicated" ground. First and foremost, that 
means mains ground and RF ground are never physically connected. For 
motors (even RSG's placed underneath a coil stand), ground the motor to 
mains ground. Also, use a small filter rated for the motor if you have 
one handy on the input side to the motor (I mount this next to the motor).

I use RF ground for the center tap on NST's. Some do and some do not. I 
connect only the two hots to the NST from the house wiring. If you do 
this, always make sure you connect RF ground to the coil, otherwise it 
will find a path back to the house and will "not" have a clean path to 
mains ground (and then household electronics suffer). If you run the 
coil in this configuration and forget to connect RF ground to the coil 
like I did not too long ago, you might lose a computer and XBOX 360 
(hint, hint). But, if it is connected to RF ground, all is good.

On my pole pig, I have a 2 eared pig. I connect 1 ear to RF ground and 
the case to RF ground (I like to keep the inner winding of my flat 
primary at the same potential as the bottom secondary turns, and it 
allows only 1 hot wire to be distributed to the cap). Many don't run 
with this configuration on pigs. I keep mains ground only at the 
components that "I" am in contact with. The current ballast is where 
mains ground ends. If I connect mains ground to the pig (with 1 ear RF 
grounded), the coils RF base currents will be felt back to the 
controller cabinet and little shocks will occur, and they get stronger 
with higher power. By keeping the pig case at RF ground and not running 
mains ground to it, I eliminate those shocks. They simply do not have a 
path back to the controller. However, if I also forgot to connect RF 
ground, they would find a path (so never let that happen).

You don't need to run a 2nd RF ground for your center taps. There will 
be a potential difference in the ground currents between 2 different RF 
grounds that are not connected together. Eliminate the potential 
difference by eliminating the extra rod or by connecting the main RF 
ground to that rod.

Take care,
Bart

Tesla list wrote:

>---------- Forwarded message ----------
>Date: Tue, 26 Jun 2007 21:23:13 -0400
>From: Scott Bogard <teslas-intern@xxxxxxxxxxx>
>To: tesla@xxxxxxxxxx
>Subject: grounding miscellaneous stuff
>
>Hey everybody,
>     One quick question, do you use the RF ground to ground miscellaneous 
>stuff (such as a motor casing for a rotary spark gap), or the mains ground.  
>If I remember correctly, one always uses the RF ground for the center tap on 
>transformers.  Up to this point, I have been using a separate (smaller) 
>steak put in the ground several feet away form the RF, for my center taps, 
>is this a good idea, or unnecessary (I have recently procured a whole bunch 
>of good wire, and I plan on re-doing all my wiring, including putting in the 
>grounds that I left out on all the miscellaneous stuff (I know, I should 
>have put it in already, but better late than never right?)).  Thanks a 
>bunch.
>Scott Bogard.
>P.S.  Would it be prudent to ground absolutely everything metal in the 
>vicinity of the coil (such as the little metal brackets holding together the 
>wooden hardware) or is this also unnecessary (I am getting a lot of wire!).
>
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