Re: [TCML] tesla coil blowers

[Gary Lau <glau1024@xxxxxxxxx>]

Though no one asked, I'll offer my theory.  The air between the electrodes
in a sucker gap is at a lower pressure than the surrounding atmospheric
air.  As the pressure is reduced, the breakdown voltage of the gap is
reduced.  A lower breakdown voltage delivers smaller bangs, and lower
performance.  Just a theory though - I haven't run my sucker gap in many
years and I haven't personally witnessed this.

Regards, Gary Lau
MA, USA

On Fri, Nov 25, 2011 at 6:29 PM, Jonathan Peakall <jpeakall@xxxxxxxxxxxx>wrote:

> I found with my sucker gap that too much vac actually decreased
> performance. There was a sweet spot somewhere around the 20-30% power mark,
> as Gary describes.
>
> Jonathan
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Carl Noggle" <cn@xxxxx>
> To: "Tesla Coil Mailing List" <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Friday, November 25, 2011 8:04 AM
> Subject: Re: [TCML] tesla coil blowers
>
>
>  Thanks, Gary--after 20 years of running my coil I never thought of
>> that.  Probably make for longer motor life, too, although in that time I
>> have only had to replace it once.  Still, I had egg on my face in the
>> middle of a show.  A small step-down autotransformer would work well, too.
>>
>> ---Carl
>>
>>
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