Hey Matthew,
I am 53 now and haven't built a VDG since I was in high school. One thing I did notice when I did build mine those many years ago though is that since the belt column was not atmospherically sealed, it would not work too well in humid ambient conditions (which is pretty much the 6 months of spring/summer in my locale). My machine would have to be ran for a good 5 to 10 minutes to "warm up" to start producing the HV static when ran on a hot humid day, but would start up almost instantly when ran on a cold dry day in the winter. I was just wondering if you had also noticed this and how you dealt with it?
David
On Monday, August 24, 2015 9:37 PM, Matthew Sweeney <msweeney23@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Here are some videos from my older models. I did build a six foot model
with a 14inch sphere running at 10x power delivery. It was a beast but
caused me much trouble due to extremely high electrical field potentials
around the sphere opening. I used steel Ikea bowls and they just wanted to
buckle when I radius them. I have made a few corona rings that help, but
I'm not so good at joining the two ends and soldering a nice smooth joint =(
All my devices are completely home built including PVC form (well I
purchased the PVC), belts, rollers, corona tubes, comb assemblies and
various discharge rods. Of course the motor and hemispherical bowls were
items I could not make myself. Note all devices are extremely quiet- I used
high quality bearings everywhere and drill press for accuracy.
My 6 foot high-power version was insane throwing off continuous charges up
to 40 inches in length which seems way more than possible using a 14inch
sphere.
I have cannibalized my large generator and am building two 3 foot dual-pole
positive/negative generators in an attempt to 'double' the voltage
gradient. We shall see!
Next project is a new Thunderstorm built very high quality and full
self-contained re-pumping. After that it's either a giant Van De Graaff or
a tesla coil. I can build belts up to 6inches wide and many 10's of feet
long, but I cant yet built large spheres over 14inches =(
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fb-tWeJ3Z0Uhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABKCGXuJDlwhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRsl6rs2cEohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hs3K0C1CeVkhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3CSO9fIQu0https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8ZHrSiVEXshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6KdIKDr4Tchttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=em67iXD5-ms (voltage specified is likely
incorrect)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I37C5qWRi3A (voltage specified is likely
incorrect)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQTRKiYsCEc (just for fun).
Any questions please let me know, I'm certainly no expert but have learned
a few tricks to provide excellent charge rates, smooth operation, and huge
reduction in expensive (my 6ft long 2ft wide belts are only $3 each and
work better than any other I have tried).
Thanks!
Matt Sweeney
On Sat, Aug 22, 2015 at 9:54 PM, wt5y <wt5y@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
>
>
> Cornel dubilier 942c20p15k-f .15uf 2000v caps can be had $4.99 ea from
> easternvoltageresearch.com
>
> Sorry don't know mike. Someone else may.
> If you don't mind can I see some of the van DE Graaf you've made ie
> website,youtube? And what are Kelvin thunderstorm project, will Google it
> but never heard of it.
>
> John cooper WT5YWt5y@xxxxxxxxx
> Sent from my Samsung GALAXY S5™, a Cricket 4G LTE smartpho
>
> -------- Original message --------
> From: Matthew Sweeney <msweeney23@xxxxxxxxx>
> Date: 08/22/2015 16:10 (GMT-06:00)
> To: tesla@xxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [TCML] Seaching for Mike Delosier
>
> Hello, I recently joined this mailing because I didn't know it existed. I
> don't make tesla coils any more but I produce large Van De Graff generators
> and simple kelvin thunderstorm projects to amuse myself and keep my nephews
> amazed.
>
> Anyway I visited my local Axe-MAn today and learned that they have a
> customer named Mike Delosier who lives in minnesota and has some
> impressive coils.
>
> I am hoping very much to contact Mike but I have not been able to find his
> e-mail address. I don't see any recent posts with his name so maybe he is
> not a member anymore?
>
> So, if anyone knows him, I would be delighted to send him an email.
> Alternatively he can send ME an e-mail as to be less intrusive:
> msweeney23@xxxxxxxxx
>
> I did build several decent coils over 20 years ago with home made plate
> class capacitors and a horribly inefficient stationary spark gap. I didn't
> have any protection circuitry in place but somehow my HV transformers
> survived, however my capacitor eventually exploded.
>
> Now I have three perfect 15,000v 250ma NST's just sitting waiting for a
> purpose - so I think it's time to start planning a new build. I have never
> built a proper solid state coil and am considering this option. But a
> traditional rotary spark-cap coil with high-voltage capacitors would be
> much less effort. The secondary will be 5 Feet and using enameled magnet
> wire.
>
> I'm looking for good sources of (cheap) high voltage capacitors and much
> info on recent developments in the field. I especially am interested in
> inductor usage to prevent spikes back to the NST. Also I need some advice
> on secondary wiring cable is there a preferred variety for recent coils?
> Ill use copper tubing for primary. I may also build my own rolled
> capacitors but I'm thinking obtaining newer HV caps in a bank may actually
> be cheaper.
>
> If there other members in the Minnesota/Wisconsin I would also like to
> connect. I'm desperate to find a powerful coil to blow my nephews minds =)
>
> Thank you for any help you can provide. I'll be reviewing the lists looking
> for new info also but direct contact for any suggestions would be welcomed.
>
> Regards,
>
> Matt Sweeney
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