in general, a tungsten/copper alloy should have a longer life then pure
tungsten, when used in a spark gap. It also has a better electric
conductivity and, what is very important for rotary gaps, it's density is
way smaller than pure tungsten. There are 3 mixtures available:
80% W / 20% Cu
75% W / 25% Cu
and, what is not used so often: 70% W / 30% Cu
Using thoriated tungsten is a very very bad idea! Getting microscopic
thorium particles into your lungs or digestive system by breathing in or
eating the dust of the vaporized electrodes brings a high risk of lung
cancer, because thorium emits alpha radiation, directly into your body.
Regards,
Stefan
----- Original Message -----
From: "Phil" <pip@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <Tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, March 12, 2015 11:24 PM
Subject: [TCML] Mouldy RSG electrodes?
Gents,
The electrodes of my RSG had quite an odd appearance when viewed up close,
after running at a recent teslathon, obviously not really mould, but I
have
never seen this occur before:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/33962508@N03/16794887172/in/photostream/lightb
ox/
(click to enlarge)
Ablation was only around 10 thou or so, and the ridges that you see are
mainly formed by deposits. The outer two are the stationary pair (3/8 inch
Tungsten/copper alloy), while the centre one, is one of the four rotating
ones (0.25 inch thoriated tungsten).The other three looked the same. Power
was around 7.5 kw
Phil
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