Re: Ballast training 101

["Jim Lux" <jimlux-at-jpl.nasa.gov> (by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-uswest-dot-net>)]

The idea is that you want to know how to set the ballast for a given max
current into the pig.  So, you short the output of the pig (as if the gap
were firing continuously), put 1 volt into the system and then adjust the
ballast until the current is 1/240'th of what you want the max to be (since
it scales with voltage in).

Alternately, you could not short the output of the pig, and do the same
thing, but I'm not sure that will give you what you want.  IN reality, the
actual load is somewhere between open and short, and what you are
interested is the limiting case, (i.e. max current with max load, i.e.
shorted pig output).

As a practical matter, you can put a resistor in series with the inductor,
put a known ac voltage on the series combination, measure the two voltages
(across the inductor and across the resistor) and calculate the reactive
impedance.

----------
> From: Tesla list <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
> To: tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
> Subject: Re: Ballast training 101
> Date: Friday, August 25, 2000 6:51 PM
> 
> Original poster: "Metlicka Marc" <mystuffs-at-orwell-dot-net> 
> 
> jim,
> you suggested to run the pig and ballast with one volt in and measure
> the voltage/current and adjust accordingly? could you please explain
> this some more? this sounds wonderfully simple and i would like to learn
> this technique. sorry for seeming the dunce in class,   marc
> 
> 
>