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Re: Re: [TCML] Odd VTTC Streamer Behavior



On Tue, Oct 21, 2008 at 10:26, <bamacoiler@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> You mentioned 34" and a 7.35% decrease in sparks. You still gotta remember
> your throwing way more voltage than the tube is spec'd for at the plate.
> Your using 2 series mots half wave rectified correct?


Two seriesed plus my voltage doubler, but I know I'm not getting 4x the
voltage of a single MOT.  Even though the MOTs I have are really beefy as
far as MOTs go, they're not matched, which leads to losses, and extra
current draw that does not go to increasing spark length.


> 31" from a single 833c was unheard of until Cameron Prince wowed us all
> with his maybe 36" single 833c vttc. Philip, Imho I think your being hard on
> yourself. 31" is not lackluster. 31" is an extraordinary acomplishment in my
> eyes.


Thanks for the compliment.

What still disappoints me is that I had it throwing off 34" sparks very
consistently.  Then I started playing with the grid resistance.  I turned
the resistance down to see what would happen, and unfortunately what
happened was a flash-over that destroyed my grid coil.


> I do like your give me more attitude. It will serve you well. But I am not
> suprised at all that your having some issues as this system is only been
> tried by a couple people to my knowledge besides yourself. Keep up the good
> work and keep sparking.
> Garry Neeley
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: Phillip Slawinski <pslawinski@xxxxxxxxx>
> Date: Oct 21, 2008 7:08am
> Subject: Re: [TCML] Odd VTTC Streamer Behavior
> To: Tesla Coil Mailing List <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>
>
>
>  I'm running a 2nF 12kV Mica transmitting cap. As I can recall the coil has
>>
>>
>> always misbehaved above 105-120V. The streamers still have that thudding,
>>
>>
>> but it's snappier like you said. Of course this is in stacatto mode, and
>>
>>
>> I've tried adjusting the controller to no avail. I did sharpen my breakout
>>
>>
>> point which helped a considerable amount, but I'm still two and a half
>>
>>
>> inches from where I was before. [That's a 7.35% decrease, which is
>>
>>
>> statistically signifigant.] I think the lackluster performance can be
>>
>>
>> pinned on the changes I made to the primary. When I was getting 34" hits
>>
>>
>> consistently I had unraveled my 28 turn primary by a about five turns,
>>
> but I
>
>>
>>
>> did not remove the extra wire, I had it coiled hanging over the side of
>>
> the
>
>>
>>
>> VTTC enclosure. When I decided to tidy this up I removed a little of the
>>
>>
>> wire, wrapped the rest around the form, glued it in place, and then added
>>
>>
>> taps.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> I sure hope my tank cap is not going bad, the last thing I need is another
>>
>>
>> stain on the carpet.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Mon, Oct 20, 2008 at 22:50, Dr. John W. Gudenas
>>
>> > wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> > Phillip
>>
>>
>> > I ran into a problem like this and it was associated with the tank
>>
>>
>> > capacitor starting to fail.
>>
>>
>> > If I increased the voltage after about 95volts the streamers got smaller
>>
>>
>> > and "snarpy".
>>
>>
>> > I wasn't running a staccato controller so like John F. said something
>>
> was
>
>>
>>
>> > going bad.
>>
>>
>> >
>>
>>
>> > While not a good idea, in complete frustration, I cranked up the variac
>>
> and
>
>>
>>
>> > waited for something to fail.
>>
>>
>> > I exploded a mica transmitting cap. Nasty mess. If you are running an
>>
> MMC,
>
>>
>>
>> > after a run see if they are getting warm.
>>
>>
>> > All it takes is one bad cap in an MMC. If your coil was running great,
>>
>>
>> > then it started to run not so great and you didn't change a thing,
>>
>>
>> > you likely have a failing component or poor connection somewhere. In my
>>
>>
>> > case it was the tank cap.
>>
>>
>> > Yours could be different. Good Luck
>>
>>
>> > John
>>
>>
>> >
>>
>>
>> > John W. Gudenas, Ph.D.
>>
>>
>> > Professor of Computer Science
>>
>>
>> >
>>
>>
>> >
>>
>>
>> >
>>
>>
>> > On Oct 20, 2008, at 9:28 PM, Phillip Slawinski wrote:
>>
>>
>> >
>>
>>
>> > I ran it for quite a while today, and I think I made some progress
>>
> towards
>
>>
>>
>> >> getting back to where it used to be. It's hitting 31.5", and it's
>>
> making
>
>>
>>
>> >> a
>>
>>
>> >> thudding sound while doing so. It does this while running just shy of
>>
>>
>> >> 105V. If I push it up to 115V or higher the sparks start to make a
>>
>>
>> >> cracking
>>
>>
>> >> sound in addition the the thudding. It's also at this point that the
>>
>>
>> >> sparks
>>
>>
>> >> start to branch and become shorter.
>>
>>
>> >>
>>
>>
>> >> I tried lowering grid resistance and it only results in shorter sparks,
>>
>>
>> >> and
>>
>>
>> >> only marginally at that. I'ma little wary to lower the resistance since
>>
>>
>> >> the accident that marked the end of the good performance I was getting
>>
>>
>> >> from
>>
>>
>> >> the coil. I kept turning down the resistance until the secondary
>>
> flashed
>
>>
>>
>> >> through the silicone sealant and ruined my grid coil. Of course, this
>>
> was
>
>>
>>
>> >> an extreme case, and foolish at that.
>>
>>
>> >>
>>
>>
>> >> I did move the grid coil down to increase the coupling a little and
>>
> that
>
>>
>>
>> >> seemed to help.
>>
>>
>>
>> >>
>>
>>
>> >> On Mon, Oct 20, 2008 at 21:03, wrote:
>>
>>
>> >>
>>
>>
>> >> The throaty popping sound may be a "bad" sound meaning
>>
>>
>> >>> the coil is not running just right. Some component may be
>>
>>
>> >>> failing. Or the staccato controller timing may have changed
>>
>>
>> >>> in some way. The solid thud sound is good, other types
>>
>>
>> >>> of sounds can be bad. Is it a raspy sound? If so that's
>>
>>
>> >>> a sure sign something isn't right. Maybe from the high
>>
>>
>> >>> power operation of the tubes, they became damaged.
>>
>>
>> >>> Or arcing may have been occuring in the tubes which
>>
>>
>> >>> can make a popping sound. You can try reducing the
>>
>>
>> >>> grid resistance to see if it helps. That tends to keep
>>
>>
>> >>> the voltages in the tube lower and may help. But it
>>
>>
>> >>> will make the tubes run hotter of course. But it may
>>
>>
>> >>> be helpful just as a quick test to get an idea of what's
>>
>>
>> >>> happening.
>>
>>
>> >>>
>>
>>
>> >>> John
>>
>>
>> >>>
>>
>>
>> >>>
>>
>>
>> >>> ---
>>
>>
>> >>>
>>
>>
>> >>
>>
>>
>> >
>>
>>
>> >
>>
>>
>> > _______________________________________________
>>
>>
>> > Tesla mailing list
>>
>>
>> > Tesla@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>
>>
>> > http://www.pupman.com/mailman/listinfo/tesla
>>
>>
>> >
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>>
>>
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>>
>>
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>>
>>
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>>
>>
>>
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