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Re: [TCML] DANGER Ground wire question



Hi,

If the DC current is very low. Any wire is a "ground". If the DC current is high, that big wire is just a voltage dividing resistor.

If RF, it is an RF impedance in all cases. The thicker and shorter the better. But... Don't put your tongue on it :D

Household 60Hz ground wires don't work at RF... Better than "nothing", but not good in any case... Go to the hardware store and buy some real ground rods and a sledge hammer ;)

Terry




Tim Wenzel wrote:
I think this is somewhat related to the last string I chimed in on and got shot down. I am prepared to get corrected again on this one, but would not be commenting if I thought otherwise.

I believe the voltages in question would be based on point of reference. If I ohm out my ground rod with the reference of another ground rod or the bottom of my secondary, with my coil running full or shut down, it measures 0 Ohms. When I measure voltage for the same reference points under the same conditions, there is 0 Volts.

So, when I touch the ground rod of my coil while it is running full out, whether I am firmly grounded or not, I feel nothing because there is nothing. If you have a floating ground, vis-a-vis a counterpoise, which is not grounded to mother earth there may well be a price to pay.

If your ground is hot while your coil is running, you had better have it isolated from your power grid through the use of filtering equipment. But I think the wisest thing to do is make sure you reference earth ground in all operations, unless you are running your own power grid at your house with an isolated grounding system.

----- Original Message ----- From: "Bert Hickman" <bert.hickman@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: "Tesla Coil Mailing List" <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Saturday, February 13, 2010 10:45 AM
Subject: Re: [TCML] DANGER Ground wire question


Chris Arielles wrote:
Is the ground wire and ground rod of a Tesla coil dangerous. If someone were to touch it during coil operation that is? Sorry im a noob.
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Chris,

Depending on the power level of the coil and how well it's grounded, the base of the secondary will typically have voltage peaks from hundreds to thousands of volts. Although the ground rod itself will have less, it is not wise to touch either while running your coil. =<:o

Bert
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