Re: Just a couple of Questions

["Brian Helms" <bhelms-at-dialpoint-dot-net> (by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-uswest-dot-net>)]

Looks like you started off a lot better than I did.  A few things in your
post caught my attention.  I have been using a franceformer for two years
with most of my HV projects.  I have put the thing through everything you
could throw at it.  It has been running with no load, used in untuned tesla
coil w/t no protection, and been in a tuned tesla coil still w/o protection.
This is just one persons experience I know but I would try another one for
sure.  Second thing is that I have 4 9/30 NST's and possibly a fifth one
that has not been tested yet and needs an insulator replaced.  If you are
interested e-mail me.  I live in North Carolina so keep that in mind about
shipping.
Good luck and don't get bogged down in all the small stuff because it can
take some of the fun out of the hobby if you are obsesive about it.

Brian Helms
bhelms-at-dialpoint-dot-net
----- Original Message -----
From: "Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
To: <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
Sent: Tuesday, August 29, 2000 10:02 AM
Subject: Just a couple of Questions


> Original poster: MaverickIce00-at-aol-dot-com
>
> List,
>
>     Recently, I have been planning my first (and second, I'll explain
later)
> Tesla coil and I've been wondering about a few things. First, what is the
> best manufacturer for 9/30 NST's? I was originally planning to use a
> Franceformer, but lately, I've been hearing pretty bad things about them
> (like them being too fragile, not lasting very long, etc...) and I want to
> know if it would be wise to go with my first decision. Second, about how
much
> do 9/30 NST's cost new (depending on the manufacturer, model, etc)? If I
can
> find a new one for a good price, I'll go with that, but I'll most likely
have
> to resort to scrounging around (my absolute favorite thing, seriously!).
> Third, how much does 30 mil polyethylene usually cost per square foot?
There
> is a plastics company nearby (it's called Regal Plastics, any good Gomez?)
> and their website is still under construction, haven't been able to contac
t
> them... I'll post the specifications of the proposed coil a bit later
(don't
> really know when) for someone to review and give me an okay. I've been
> running calculations, and I've designed a plate stack capacitor with an
> approximate voltage rating of 270,000 volts! (only 8.8 nF, but uses a mere
18
> plates, 5.5" x 5.5") Too inefficient anyone? And for an LTR cap, I've
> designed a second that I could hook up in parallel to add 4.4 nF (4" x 5"
14
> 30 mil plates, voltage rating: 210,000 volts) to the other for a total
> capacitance off ~13.2 nF. I've named my first coil Draco (me and
> constellations :-)) and by just building a second primary and hooking the
> second capacitor up to it for a slightly different coil for measurement
and
> comparison (named Gemini, which means "Twins" (I might make it a Twin Coil
> sometime later :-))) Before all of you doze off because of my rambling,
I'm
> going shorten this up and post the rest a bit later. Any tips or otherwise
> would be much appreciated. (I'm willing to drift from my current plans,
also
> looking for some old OBIT's in my spare time.) (Also, if anyone's willing
to
> sell me something surplus for pretty cheap, contact me offlist.)
>
> Thanks ahead of time,
> - Joshua
>
>
>
>