Jan,
I notice very similar effects while running my green monster coil. When I run the power up higher (85 to 90 on the variac dial), I get more numerous and brighter ground strikes, but the sparks don’t really seem to ‘reach out’ noticeably further than they do at more modest power levels (60 to 70 on the variac dial). I surmise that the physical size of the coil definitely places an upper limit on the spark length, regardless of the power input. The solid state boys seem to be able to cheat the physical size limitations of the coil’s secondary coil height, as I’ve seen videos of some of these newer quasi-coils with squatty 12” tall secondaries hurling out 6 to 8 foot sword-like sparks!
David
Sent from my iPhone
> On Nov 22, 2019, at 7:04 AM, jan@xxxxxxxx wrote:
>
> Hi,
>
> I have just upgraded my coil to a little over 20 kW input, formerly it was
> more like 12 kW.
>
>
>
> The sparks are certainly fatter, brighter and louder at 20 kW, but they are
> also less interesting to watch.
>
> They tend to immediately stick to the nearest grounded object, the striking
> ring or the grounded protection net I use around the base. Visually they
> look like a giant TIG welding arc, burning the same spot without moving.
> They seem to not want to let go of the first grounded object.
>
> The raw power of the streamer is certainly a bit frightening, but the static
> behaviour is not very interesting. As they seldom ventures outwards, I can´t
> say much about max length. The distance to the floor is not more than about
> 6 ft.
>
>
>
> If I use the lowest ballast tap for about 10 kW, the streamers are
> constantly probing the surroundings in different directions, with hits to
> the floor, roof or occasionally objects at larger distance horizontally.
> They are much thinner, of course, but their behaviour is more interesting.
> Max length sideways is about 11 ft. If they start from the floor, they tend
> to climb outwards and then upwards, possibly because heated air movement.
>
>
>
> Besides the difference in power, the bps is set to about 240 at 10 kW, but
> more like 340 at 20 kW. Perhaps this also determines the stability of the
> streamer channel.
>
>
>
> Anyone who has similar experiences at different power levels?
>
>
>
> Jan
>
> Stockholm, Sweden
>
> _______________________________________________
> Tesla mailing list
> Tesla@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> https://www.pupman.com/mailman/listinfo/tesla
_______________________________________________
Tesla mailing list
Tesla@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
https://www.pupman.com/mailman/listinfo/tesla