[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Re: [TCML] Measuring Voltage?



Neal Namowicz wrote:
Yeah, you know, it just seemed too easy when I first put it together. Okay, so someone mentioned "guesstimating" the voltage, that works for someone like myself who is math-challenged. So, ballpark figures, what might my secondary output voltage be from a 4" coil, 9kv power supply? The streamers run about 25 to 30". Also, how would that change for a bi-pole coil with a secondary gap of only a few inches? I ask these questions partly for my own curiosity, but also when people see my stuff in operation, I can give a fairly decent answer to when they ask, how much voltage IS that?
Thanks everyone for your input!

Neal N.



there's a very, very loose relationship between spark length and voltage. (spark gap tables only work for short sparks in an essentially uniform field, neither of which is the case for a TC)

The voltage is limited, for the most part, by the radius of curvature of your topload. For a smooth sphere, the maximum voltage is about 30kV/cm of radius. That is, a 12" sphere (15 cm radius) can have about 450kV on it before it starts to make sparks.

And that's a maximum, surface imperfections and bumps will reduce it.

Most small coils probably run in the several hundred kV range. There's no way that a small coil is a megavolt or more (as you sometimes see in ads or such).

_______________________________________________
Tesla mailing list
Tesla@xxxxxxxxxx
http://www.pupman.com/mailman/listinfo/tesla