Hi Matthew,
My 4” PVC pipe static spark gap is ultra simple to build and works very well. Detailed photographs of my fan cooled and quenched static spark gap can be viewed on my tesla page.
http://www.twotowers.com/tesla/tessie_1_tesla_coil.html
Peace,
Steffan Heydon
On Feb 8, 2014, at 11:00 AM, tesla-request@xxxxxxxxxx wrote:
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> Today's Topics:
>
> 1. Re: Tesla coil- spark gap (Antonio Queiroz)
> 2. Re: Tesla coil- spark gap (Jim Lux)
> 3. Re: Tesla coil- spark gap (Jonathan Peakall)
> 4. Re: Tesla coil- spark gap (matty mcqueeney)
> 5. Re: Tesla coil- spark gap (w5als)
> 6. Re: Tesla coil- spark gap (Scott Bogard)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Fri, 07 Feb 2014 20:39:57 -0200
> From: Antonio Queiroz <acmdequeiroz@xxxxxxxxx>
> To: Tesla Coil Mailing List <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: Re: [TCML] Tesla coil- spark gap
> Message-ID: <52F560BD.1030600@xxxxxxxxx>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
>
> Em 07/02/2014 11:46, matty mcqueeney escreveu:
>> Could anybody help me find a reasonable spark gap, that is simple to make?
>> Thanks Matthew.
>> _______________________________________________
>> Tesla mailing list
>> Tesla@xxxxxxxxxx
>> http://www.pupman.com/mailman/listinfo/tesla
> Several copper or brass tubes in parallel, fixed by the center, so they
> can be rotated to adjust the gap length. A blower to keep the gap cool
> is important (specially if the base can't support much heat, as in my
> version).
> http://www.coe.ufrj.br/~acmq/tesla/mres4gap.jpg
>
> Antonio Carlos M. de Queiroz
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 2
> Date: Fri, 07 Feb 2014 09:13:53 -0800
> From: Jim Lux <jimlux@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> To: Tesla Coil Mailing List <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: Re: [TCML] Tesla coil- spark gap
> Message-ID: <52F51451.1010909@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
>
> On 2/7/14 5:46 AM, matty mcqueeney wrote:
>> Could anybody help me find a reasonable spark gap, that is simple to make?
>> Thanks Matthew.
>>
> The "two bolts on an L-bracket" scheme described by Scott and Carl is a
> good first start.. BUT..
>
> Scott's comment about air blowing on it is an essential thing..
>
> The problem I find with a "two bolt gap" is that inevitably, it gets hot
> spots which greatly reduce the gap firing voltage, so adjustment is a
> pain. A gap that just fires when cold will fire too soon when hot,
> reducing the voltage on the caps and reducing spark length.
>
> You'll see this as the coil "losing performance" as you run. It will
> also change sound, because as the firing voltage decreases, you get more
> sparks/line voltage cycle. And because the charging current/voltage is
> sinusoidal, you get interesting chaotic behavior. Cool effect in some
> ways, but makes it really hard to know if you're coil is "in tune".. did
> the sparks get shorter because I moved the tap too far, or is it because
> the gap is getting hot.
>
> I'd seriously look for something larger in diameter that has good
> surface area for cooling. (a couple pieces of pipe, or a pair of pipe
> couplers, works well)
>
> The other thing that helps is to have a fairly large area with equal gap
> distance (sort of the opposite of two needles), because then the sparks
> can jump from anywhere, which reduces the heating at one point.
>
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 3
> Date: Fri, 07 Feb 2014 10:39:40 -0800
> From: Jonathan Peakall <jpeakall@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
> To: Tesla Coil Mailing List <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: Re: [TCML] Tesla coil- spark gap
> Message-ID: <52F5286C.2030507@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
>
> My favorite for a good expense/performance ratio spark gap is the Gary
> Lau sucker gap. You can see my version here:
>
> http://madlabs.info/spark_gaps.shtml
>
> Jonathan
>> Could anybody help me find a reasonable spark gap, that is simple to make?
>> Thanks Matthew.
>> _______________________________________________
>> Tesla mailing list
>> Tesla@xxxxxxxxxx
>> http://www.pupman.com/mailman/listinfo/tesla
>>
>>
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 4
> Date: Fri, 7 Feb 2014 21:17:47 +0000
> From: matty mcqueeney <matty_queeney@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> To: Tesla Coil Mailing List <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: Re: [TCML] Tesla coil- spark gap
> Message-ID: <DUB109-W13296EC46816623D2E9BDCFCE970@xxxxxxx>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>
> Hi Scott,
>
> I have seen the design your on about. This is what i was thinking about designing. Have you got any simple examples I could copy from online?..... Is their anything from the top of your head you could think of as a non conductive component?
>
> Regards Matthew
>
>> Date: Fri, 7 Feb 2014 10:30:24 -0500
>> From: sdbogard@xxxxxxxxx
>> To: tesla@xxxxxxxxxx
>> Subject: Re: [TCML] Tesla coil- spark gap
>>
>> Hi Matthew,
>> Sure thing, if you are going for simple, go to the hardware store and
>> buy two small "L" brackets and thread bolts through them. Make sure the L
>> brackets are secured to something non conductive, and hook your transformer
>> up to them, and adjust the gap between the bolts so the gap will just
>> barely NOT fire when you apply power. THEN hook up the tank cap and
>> primary coil. If you want to be fancy (and you do, trust me) hook a small
>> fan up so the air blows over your gap, then vary the distance of the fan
>> (hence the relative blowing power) for optimal Tesla coil performance.
>> Obviously this is as primitive as you get, and performance wise you reap
>> what you sow; but if a working prototype is what you want, this is kind as
>> far as simplicity and cost effectiveness... I hope this is helpful, be
>> sure to peruse Google images to get additional spark gap design ideas.
>>
>> Scott Bogard.
>>
>>
>> On Fri, Feb 7, 2014 at 8:46 AM, matty mcqueeney <matty_queeney@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>> wrote:
>>
>>> Could anybody help me find a reasonable spark gap, that is simple to make?
>>> Thanks Matthew.
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Tesla mailing list
>>> Tesla@xxxxxxxxxx
>>> http://www.pupman.com/mailman/listinfo/tesla
>>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Tesla mailing list
>> Tesla@xxxxxxxxxx
>> http://www.pupman.com/mailman/listinfo/tesla
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 5
> Date: Fri, 07 Feb 2014 11:29:46 -0600
> From: w5als <w5als@xxxxxxxxx>
> To: Tesla Coil Mailing List <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: Re: [TCML] Tesla coil- spark gap
> Message-ID: <52F5180A.90806@xxxxxxxxx>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
>
> HI Matthew
> go to this site the first picture is of two spark gaps, one i made
> the other came to me.
> the one with the fan is simple to make. I am sure there are other who do
> this better
> but it work for me.
>
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/91001059@N08/?deleted=12310849055
> alton
>
>
>
> On 2/7/2014 7:46 AM, matty mcqueeney wrote:
>> Could anybody help me find a reasonable spark gap, that is simple to make?
>> Thanks Matthew.
>> _______________________________________________
>> Tesla mailing list
>> Tesla@xxxxxxxxxx
>> http://www.pupman.com/mailman/listinfo/tesla
>
>
> --
> Alton Smith antiqueradiotubes.com http://www.flickr.com/photos/91001059@N08/
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 6
> Date: Fri, 7 Feb 2014 22:20:50 -0500
> From: Scott Bogard <sdbogard@xxxxxxxxx>
> To: Tesla Coil Mailing List <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: Re: [TCML] Tesla coil- spark gap
> Message-ID:
> <CACCAFV1QW-gDZogLZmnT5Mcy_VO-9BOTS23o3N__JW5pW__A5Q@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
>
> I typically use plastic cutting boards as the base, the ones we get at
> Wal-Mart are high density polyethylene I believe, and they are tough,
> fairly easy to drill, and very non conductive. I use them for all of my
> propeller style rotary gaps and for a whole host of other high voltage
> purposes. Don't use wood, it will eventually carbon arc and short out,
> possibly becoming a safety hazard in the process... As for examples this
> is my OLD website, http://www.personal.psu.edu/sdb229/TCsparkgap.html you
> will see a modified single bolt design here strapped to a transformer.
> There really is a lot of room for experimentation, use your imagination,
> see if you can do better than this (shouldn't be hard, this was the worst
> spark gap I ever made that barely managed to function, but you can't beat
> the simplicity...) As others have said a big surface area of spark gap
> electrodes is generally better, but adds to design complexity. The sucker
> gap below worked much better, but was big and noisy, the rotary is king,
> but is a mechanical marvel in itself. There really is an infinite number
> of ways you can do this, try and hatch out your own plans, you'll be more
> pleased with the results that way.
>
> Scott Bogard.
>
>
> On Fri, Feb 7, 2014 at 4:17 PM, matty mcqueeney <matty_queeney@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> wrote:
>
>> Hi Scott,
>>
>> I have seen the design your on about. This is what i was thinking about
>> designing. Have you got any simple examples I could copy from online?.....
>> Is their anything from the top of your head you could think of as a non
>> conductive component?
>>
>> Regards Matthew
>>
>>> Date: Fri, 7 Feb 2014 10:30:24 -0500
>>> From: sdbogard@xxxxxxxxx
>>> To: tesla@xxxxxxxxxx
>>> Subject: Re: [TCML] Tesla coil- spark gap
>>>
>>> Hi Matthew,
>>> Sure thing, if you are going for simple, go to the hardware store
>> and
>>> buy two small "L" brackets and thread bolts through them. Make sure the
>> L
>>> brackets are secured to something non conductive, and hook your
>> transformer
>>> up to them, and adjust the gap between the bolts so the gap will just
>>> barely NOT fire when you apply power. THEN hook up the tank cap and
>>> primary coil. If you want to be fancy (and you do, trust me) hook a
>> small
>>> fan up so the air blows over your gap, then vary the distance of the fan
>>> (hence the relative blowing power) for optimal Tesla coil performance.
>>> Obviously this is as primitive as you get, and performance wise you reap
>>> what you sow; but if a working prototype is what you want, this is kind
>> as
>>> far as simplicity and cost effectiveness... I hope this is helpful, be
>>> sure to peruse Google images to get additional spark gap design ideas.
>>>
>>> Scott Bogard.
>>>
>>>
>>> On Fri, Feb 7, 2014 at 8:46 AM, matty mcqueeney <
>> matty_queeney@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Could anybody help me find a reasonable spark gap, that is simple to
>> make?
>>>> Thanks Matthew.
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> Tesla mailing list
>>>> Tesla@xxxxxxxxxx
>>>> http://www.pupman.com/mailman/listinfo/tesla
>>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Tesla mailing list
>>> Tesla@xxxxxxxxxx
>>> http://www.pupman.com/mailman/listinfo/tesla
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Tesla mailing list
>> Tesla@xxxxxxxxxx
>> http://www.pupman.com/mailman/listinfo/tesla
>>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> _______________________________________________
> Tesla mailing list
> Tesla@xxxxxxxxxx
> http://www.pupman.com/mailman/listinfo/tesla
>
>
> End of Tesla Digest, Vol 76, Issue 7
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