Re: [TCML] Brent Turner Playing "Thor" on History Channel THE REAL STORY

[bturner@xxxxxxxx]

Dex -

Yep. That's what I was saying / inferring. And your experience was with
only 0.2J... Multiply that times 100 for us...!

It sure can bite, WILL BITE, and DOES BITE. I've been THROWN off that
table several times. (Jeff Parisse witnessed one of them personally.) And
I know what the hell I'm doing.

Maybe current spike isn't the best term, current surging is more accurate
since even without a ground strike, there still IS current in the arc,
regardless where the sparks go.

Like has been said on this list by Jeff, myself and others, DON'T TRY THIS
YOURSELF. You REALLY gotta understand corona fields, corona control,
corona leakage, etc. Gotta KNOW where the e-field is and where the arc IS
or COULD BE / WILL BE going at all times. Otherwise it really hurts, or
even worse...

- brent



> Brent,
>
> Tesla coil power arc  20 J per pulse,from large topload,THROUGH the
> topload,if the topload is human,WILL bloody hurt that topload.
>
> Without exception.
>
> Only with chain mail suit or some other protective measures used to
> conduct current spikes the performer will stay unshocked.
>
> Once I did the experiement on myself "ala Danielle" with  low power SG
> coil.Me as topload,1.5"  power arc,0.2 Joule per pulse.
>
> It hurts,it bites!
>
>
> Dex
>
>
> --- bturner@xxxxxxxx wrote:
>
> From: bturner@xxxxxxxx
> To: "Tesla Coil Mailing List" <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: Re: [TCML] Brent Turner Playing "Thor" on History Channel  THE
> 	REAL STORY
> Date: Mon, 28 Jun 2010 12:02:55 -0700 (PDT)
>
> THE actual Brent Turner here. It's been a awhile.
>
> I keep noticing from time to time when either myself or Danielle make a
> 'media appearance', there is a flurry of posts, usually revolving around
> the following topics;
>
> 1) How do we do it. (What is the 'trick')
> 2) Why is it done in some place out in nowhere.
> 3) References to Danielle really not 'knowing' what she is doing.
> 4) Ground-stroke 'power arcs'
>
> I'm making this post in order to help set the record straight, and also to
> hopefully address the technical side just a bit to show that yes, there
> really IS the element of physical injury. That's why it's called a STUNT.
>
> The bottom line here is that we do this as a PERFORMANCE AND STUNT.
> Meaning, media concerns hire us. They (usually) aren't interested in
> technical details nor prowess. They want the glitz and the sparks. Period
> end of statement.
>
> Jeff (of kVA Effects) is correct, insurance issues unfortunately do limit
> us, HOWEVER, the most recent presentation ("Superhuman") on History
> Channel was shot out at Vasquez Rocks because the producer was a Star Trek
> fan, and that's were many original TV episodes were filmed. (It's actually
> a very common shooting location.) We have, and continue to, setup and film
> within conventional studios as well. The Ripley's filming was problematic
> from the beginning - the very long distance was for crowd control NOT
> spark control. There simply was NO WAY to 100% prevent someone in the
> crowd from running up close and possibly getting nailed with a
> ground-stroke discharge. And constructing a Faraday fence was impractical
> and visually disrupting. With the longer distance, it gave us additional
> reaction time. That's all. In closed-set conditions, I will say that the
> cameras and such are definately closer.
>
> Danielle is a performer, her specialty is really NOT Tesla coils, as I am
> sure most people here have determined. Danielle HAS, however, worked with
> my system for many, many years, and though she did join the 'million volt
> head spark' club, the set layout and my safety specs prevented that from
> becoming a full ground-stroke discharge - it was a high impedance
> discharge path into the surrounding air. It stung briefly of course. (And
> it's happened to me too.) We rehearse and review at EVERY performance,
> coordinate with the producer, etc.
>
>
> *** GROUND STROKE ARCS ***
>
>
> Yes, these are DANGEROUS. PERIOD. Even with the coil producing HF, what
> many people (except those who study or understand the complex waveform
> structures) do NOT realize is that it's not JUST the HF. That hot power
> arc has a LOT more things going on - sure, it's 'a shorting' across the
> secondary, however, since the coil itself is air core and loosely coupled,
> not a lot of that 60Hz really gets coupled across the system. That's not
> where the danger lies.
>
> And no, I am not going to 'give away' the secret (as there really isn't
> one.)
>
> The Tesla coil charges it's topload (torroid, globe, Danielle on the
> table, etc) quite rapidly during 'ring-up', a ground-stroke allows that
> topload to rapidly discharge as a current pulse rather than a progressive
> stepped-leader discharge into the air.
>
> We have approximately 90pf or so of topload with Danielle on the table.
> Taking a conservative estimate of 650-700Kv for the PEAK secondary impulse
> voltage rise, with the conventional e=1/2CV2, this works out to 18-20
> JOULES of energy discharging in a matter of microseconds. A medium-sized
> camera flash unit with 450uF cap charged to 400 volts works out to about
> 35 joules.
>
> In ADDITION, in the case of my Tesla coil, the primary tank circuit fires
> at 600pps - that's 600 pulses PER SECOND. Now conventional wall current
> alternates at 60HZ (in reality, the Vpeaks occur at 60pps). If 60Hz wall
> current causes muscle contraction and defibrillation of the heart, 18
> joule impulse discharges at 600pps are going to be even nastier. On the
> plus side though, the current duration is extremely short, far shorter
> than with 60Hz wall current. It's more like an EXTREMELY high-powered
> 'stun gun'.
>
> In a nutshell, the 'power arc' represents 18 joule pulses hammering
> anything in it's conductive path at 600 pulses per second. "Electric
> Fences" send out far less pulse energy and at a much lower rate. And those
> are no fun to hold onto, are they? Most heart defib units deliver 50-200
> watt-seconds (joules). At the very least, a 20-joule, high repetition rate
> current path can wreck havoc with the cardiac sinus rhythm as well as
> blockading neuromuscular signals.
>
> Now, as a final note to all of this, I myself will no longer be able to
> perform on top of the lightning table. Due to a most unfortunate onset of
> sudden hearing loss, I now have a Cochlear Implant device to allow me some
> semblance of hearing. I now have a complex computer chip inside my head,
> and thin wires running into the nerve endings in the cochlea. ***ANY***
> unintended current paths in the surrounding tissue area can destroy that
> chip, as well as possibly cause permanent and irrevocable auditory nerve
> damage.
>
> YES PEOPLE, THE DANGER IS REAL.
>
>
>
> - Brent Turner
>
>
>
>
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