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Re: new 6" coil & problems (fwd)



In a message dated 98-07-27 23:33:40 EDT, you write:

<<  Specs:  Secondary:
>> -6" PVC, 24" winding length, #28 AWG mag wire close wound, polyurethane, 
> homebrew toroid: 8"x21" stovepipe toroid with two 4" diameter aluminum 
> drier ducting toroids wrapped around the stovepipe
>           Primary:
> -14,400 instrument transformer, safety gap, .04uF cap, flat primary 
> tapped at 16 turns (#8 THHN closewound), RSG, 45A powerstat variac.
 
> Maximum spark length has been about 62"
 
> Well, I guess I am finally into the 5' club!
 
> Here is the problem. When I start cranking the power up with the variac 
> it maxs out at about half way. Any higher and performance diminishes. 
> Could this be due to not enough quenching in the RSG?
 
> Tristan Stewart
>  >>

Tristan,

Well, if your electrodes are becoming red hot, with sparks trailing around
the rotary...this wouldn't be a good sign.  But if the electrodes are staying
cool, with no trailing, then the RSG is probably ok.  But in any case, if the
RSG is overheating, it should give a good spark when it's first started up,
and then shrink in a few seconds, or longer.  Are you using some
sort of ballast?  You may need to adjust the amount of ballasting.  And
there could be other issues i suppose.  If that's a 1.5kVA transformer,
it should be able to give more than 62" with that size capacitor.  You
might want to adjust your rotary speed higher or lower too and see 
what happens.

John Freau