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Re: component spacing for HV

Original poster: William Beaty <billb@xxxxxxxxxx>

On Fri, 12 Aug 2005, Tesla list wrote:

> Of course there is the risk of drawing an arc if the diodes
> are too close to one another, but are there any other factors
> that I should be considering?

Sharp burrs on your solder globs will create corona and trigger sparks if
too close to another conductor.

When in doubt, cover bare wires with a thick layer of RTV silicone caulk.
That type of silicone is a good insulator even before it hardens.


Hi-volt conductors on epoxy plastic such as PCB causes weird results,
because if you ever get a slight corona or dim plasma streamer going
across the plastic, it creates a slight carbon path.  Over time this
invisible conductive path can get thicker and grow longer (it grows a slow
forest fire, or like a lightning bolt, but over weeks rather than
milliseconds.)

So, if you must build some adjacent metal conductors fastened to a circuit
board with many KV between them, it's best to saw a "fire break" slot in
the PCB to prevent an outbreak of carbonization.  People familiar with HV
DC power supplies will have seen this trick used on the parts with the
voltage multiplier ladders.


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William J. Beaty                            SCIENCE HOBBYIST website
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