Hi Chris,
Those are indeed some examples of huge, albeit unintentional
JLs, mainly due to circuit faults in power transmission lines
but no, those are still pretty much regular shimmering, rag-
ged power arcs, though at a much larger scael than most of
us could ever duplicate in our personal high voltage labs ;^)
The phenomenon that I am referring to is that the arc suddenly
begins to take on a very smooth rope-like appearance with
little or no "shimmering" effect. It will often flair out hori-
zontally (not just the typical vertical thermal rise) from the
rails, in an almost horseshoe shape. It may strech out further
past the ends of the rails before breaking than it would nor-
mally at the given power level. Try to imagine how stable the
plasma is inside of an energized neon tube and that's almost
how shimmer free and stable the climbing JL arc appears dur-
ing this relatively rare occurance. Think a smooth, gently curving
rope, not a zig-zag snake. Of course, this would never occur
in the presence of any significant air currents so I'm figuring
that it may be easier to get this effect with the rails enclosed
inside a transparent tube enclosure.
--
David Rieben
-------------- Original message --------------
From: Chris Roberts <quezacotl_14000000000000@xxxxxxxxx>
So I am guessing that it appeared somewhat similar to this?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2QGdVc6MyI&feature=related
As far as large Jacob's ladders go, that one is definately up there on the list.
There is another video showing a very similar thing as well:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=codQKfK1AnQ&feature=related
So it looks like you are probably right about it being a feature of big ladders.
I wonder if it is something to do with the arc getting strong enough that air
currents do not affect it as much, but that is only a random guess. Mabye an
impromptu experement could be had by applying a gentle air current to the arc
when it does it again.
-Chris
--- On Fri, 7/18/08, David Rieben wrote:
From: David Rieben
Subject: [TCML] Jacob's ladder plasma "Rope"
To: "Tesla list"
Date: Friday, July 18, 2008, 8:16 PM
Hi all,
While playing around with my x-ray transformer fired
climbing arc "Jacob's ladder" this evening, I noticed
an effect that I have seen before, but it does seem to
be a rare occurrence. Since it happened to occur once
tonight, it got me to thinking about it again. This will
probably be kind of hard to explain in words but here
is my attempt at it.
Pondering,
David Rieben
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