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Re: [TCML] first light
Hi Clive,
Congrats on first light!
Using a larger primary is not going to help performance. You need to
shoot for a coupling about 0.12 (+/- .01) regardless of the primary. The
type of primary used will dictate how close the coils need to be to each
other. Coupling is completely dependent on the inductances and geometry.
Helical coils work like any other, but they can be trouble. Flat
primary's help to relax the coupling change with position and also help
prevent troublesome pri to sec unwanted arcs. I personally like the look
of a helical primary from an aesthetics view and compactness, but I
don't like their sensitivities.
Sparks your seeing at the top of the secondary winding is due to the
breakdown voltage at the top of the secondary winding. You can easily
prevent that by lowering your toroid nearer to the winding (say about 1"
above the top turn).
There's much you can do to improve performance. If you want, send me
your dimensional specs off line and I will evaluate and tell you "what I
would do" in your situation with the coil.
Take care,
Bart
Clive Hansen wrote:
Greetings All,
This evening, I just powered up my new coil for the first time.
Three burned caps later, I had 3-6 inch streamers dancing on the top
load. I have pictures of the coil on my site here:
http://clivetech.thruhere.net (only works from 6:30 to 21:30 PST and
the pictures during operation are poor at best). The secondary is
quite long (thanks Miles) however, my primary is very short. It only
reaches 5 inches up the secondary. I have a larger primary, however,
it is very large in diameter and there is about 3 inches of room on
all sides of the secondary when it is in this primary. Would switching
these primaries have a large increase on performance? Additionally,
when I add my topload, a toroid made from heating duct, I can see a
faint arc between turns on the side of the secondary about 4 inches
from the top of the primary. There are no streamers at the top when
this occurs. Is this a flaw in the insulation? Can it be repaired?
Finally, my cap is only 1nf as this is the only one I currently have.
My power supply is 15kv@450va. Could this small cap also be a cause of
the poor performance?
Thanks to all for their advice,
Clive
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