Re: Should I use a 4" or a 6" secondary?

• To: tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
• Subject: Re: Should I use a 4" or a 6" secondary?
• From: FutureT-at-aol-dot-com (by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-uswest-dot-net>)
• Date: Thu, 27 Apr 2000 17:13:31 -0600
• Approved: twftesla-at-uswest-dot-net
• Delivered-To: fixup-tesla-at-pupman-dot-com-at-fixme

In a message dated 4/26/00 4:29:16 PM Pacific Daylight Time, tesla-at-pupman-dot-com 
writes:

> 
>  [snip]
>  
>  >The sparks should not be more than 2.5 times the secondary length,
>  >so for a 114" spark, figure a 46" secondary coil.
>  
>  Hi John,
>  Why is that the sparks should not be more than 2.5 times the secondary 
> length?
>  Is this a rule-of-thumb for good output based on your spark-length formula?
>  (spark length (inches) = 1.7*sqrt input power (watts)) Or is it just a good
>  Tesla-coil-electrical-design parameter? Or is it something I'm completely
>  clueless about. (Most likely the correct assumption ;)
>  Just curious,
>  Dan

Dan,

As I stated in my original posting, the 2.5 figure is for 120 bps operation,
if the coil is running at a higher bps, the figure can be higher than 2.5,
and can approach 4.  It's just a rule of thumb to prevent flashover of
the secondary.  I learned this the hard way... by experience.

Cheers,
John Freau

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