who makes the chainmail suits then?
john cooper
-----Original Message----- From: Bert Hickman
Sent: Tuesday, March 10, 2015 6:10 PM
To: Tesla Coil Mailing List
Subject: Re: [TCML] PLAYING WITH HIGH-VOLTAGE WIRES, NO BIG DEAL
They're closer to cloth gloves. Unlike chain mail suits used by advanced
Tesla Coilers, the suit, gloves, and socks these linemen are wearing are
made from Nomex and microscopic stainless steel fibers. The suits are
quite effective at conducting 50/60 Hz displacement currents at up to
765 kV lines. They reduce the "surprise factor" and discomfort from
corona bursts and small streamers that can unexpectedly issue from
elbows, toes, and fingers while the lineman performs live line
maintenance on Extra High Voltage (EHV) lines. The Russians have used
similar suits to perform live line maintenance on their 1150 kV system.
They are also not as effective as chain mail suits for Tesla Coil
demonstrations. Many years ago, I watched as a volunteer, dressed in one
of these suits, at one of D. C. Cox's Cheesehead Teslathons, became part
of the topload of Cox's Big Bruiser coil. The suit material looks (and
feels) like silvery-gray cloth. He had streamers coming from the fingers
of his gloved hands and from the toes of the conductive socks on his
feet. Although the suit was effective at conducting _some_ of the
streamer current around his body, the volunteer was clearly feeling the
effects of current leaking through the suit and then through his body,
and he complained that his toes were getting burned. Following is some
information about these suits from providers.
http://euclidgarment.com/KVGARD/KVGard.html
http://www.hubbellpowersystems.com/lineman/accessories/suit.asp
Bert