Re: [TCML] pig Jacobs vrs x-ray transformer

[FIFTYGUY@xxxxxxx]

In a message dated 11/28/07 8:22:12 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,  
jmora@xxxxxxxxxxx writes:

 
>Since we are on the topic of high power JL's I used to drive a  pretty good

>flamer with a 14400v pig @ ~ 12KVA. I have a big 240v/150KV  x-ray

>transformer that I am converting for this purpose (ac out). I will  be

>limited to the same power level, at my house anyway. I believe the  arc

>should start at about a 2" gap, but would anyone like to speculate  how the

>JL will perform at a similar power levels or have practical  experience with

>a similar setup?


    I got a 125kVP/300mA XRT from Jack King recently  (check the archives). 
Very nice unit. I removed the filament transformers and  the rectifier 
assemblies. 
    I run the same power through it (240VAC/60A) as I  do through the 
10kVA/14.4kV pig I got from Resonance Research. I use the same  control box and 
home-made inductive ballast for both. 
    Main difference is that the XRT will start an arc  at around 12" of 
separation. Creepage distance is even more important, as  sometimes the arc will 
just float squirm around the base of the JL without  rising (somewhat resembles 
a white Sterno flame). So I took a pair of hose  clamps and made a new set of 
"starting points" for the JL about halfway up. New  points are foot-long 
pieces of copper tubing, angled to point downward and  inward. 
    From my experience, I believe that the  ultimate length of a drawn arc is 
dictated by the available power more so than  the open-circuit voltage or 
short-circuit current. The XRT has a max arc about  the same as the pig's, even 
though there's a six-fold difference in open-circuit  voltage. I'd like to 
think the pig has at least a bit more short-circuit  current available. 
Furthermore, I've run the pig with its tap switch in both  positions (7.2kV/14.4kV) and 
the arc looks pretty much the same (but a little  less stable at 7.2). 
Probably for the some of the same reasons that  TC streamer lengths are generally 
power-dependent. 
    P.S. X-Ray cable and plugs aren't cheap, but  they're hard to beat! 
 
-Phil LaBudde

 
Center for the Advanced Study of Ballistic  Improbabilities



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