[TCML] quench times again

Barton B. Anderson bartb at classictesla.com
Sun Nov 25 15:07:52 MST 2007


Thanks for the link Chris. I'll read with interest. Yes, wip and the 
ideas that culminate from the experience and the conclusions drawn are 
always a good read. These things are what spawns new ideas and innovation.

Take care,
Bart

Chris Swinson wrote:
> Hi Bart,
>
> I just posted to another thread about SISG, no doubt you will read 
> that one...
>
> I forgot to post the URL 
> http://www.future-technologies.co.uk/IMPULSE/coil/coil.htm  Half of it 
> maybe total nonsense as this was some time ago now. Though you can see 
> how things started out.
>
> the SISG fired on the zero crossing of the AC wave to increase 
> efficiency, though I did not like SISG series fire operation, so I 
> went for a parallel operation.. latter I started to add in resonant 
> mains side charging.... and things just kept on going... the pages 
> after that to be honest is "WIP" and "ideas" it should not be 
> published really, though ideas are always good I suppose....
>
> I did plan to build my SISG design though I stopped work on it after a 
> while, I moved onto much lower voltages using a single IGBT. much 
> higher current and less voltages... and yes my High Q system does 
> solve a lot of problems, but as you say opens up a whole new set of 
> problems!
>
> All the talk on the list at the moment is my second idea to build a 
> 20KV high Q system.... factors such as resistance are not much an 
> issue above 1KV... though 10VDC at 1,000amps, even a few fractions of 
> a ohm can seriously reduce efficiency..
>
> Also a small toroid should be used, or none at all. it increases the 
> capacitance and lowers the Q of the coil. With such a high frequency 
> anyway, a larger toroid is bad yet again.. Though at this point other 
> than trying it one could speculate for years to come, and already 
> spent the past year in speculation!
>
> I think some of the confusion with everyone is I have 2 systems in 
> mind, what may work with a classic coil may not work with a high Q 
> system... the spark gap seems the limiting factors in just about every 
> aspect, so if you remove that problem and use solid state then you are 
> onto a good thing and have much more freedom to experiment with "new" 
> designs... however solid state is low voltage which opens up its own 
> problems.. "win some, loose some"
>
> IMHO, Tesla coil's need a new direction to go in, as solid state seems 
> to be the direction then building a "new" type of solid state coil 
> should be interesting... If design can be made easier, using off the 
> shelf parts, with much smaller toroids, lower voltages, 100turn 
> secondary coils.. then the advantages speak for itself.
>
> No doubt if my design works, I will run into new problems in running.. 
> my secondary maybe under so much stress it could turn into a bright 
> flash off light and vanish into another dimension for all I know! 
> Simulations can only tell you so much!
>
> Waffle over...
> Chris
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Barton B. Anderson" 
> <bartb at classictesla.com>
> To: "Tesla Coil Mailing List" <tesla at pupman.com>
> Sent: Sunday, November 25, 2007 8:03 PM
> Subject: Re: [TCML] quench times again
>
>
>> Hi Chris,
>>
>> I agree that this can be done to a point and about the trade-off of 
>> losses in this system. The fact is no one has done this that I'm 
>> aware of and it "is" new territory. At first, I wasn't sure. Too 
>> often a coiler thinks he is doing something new only to find out it 
>> wasn't new. In this case, I think it is new. The only one I know that 
>> has done something along these lines is Dave Sharpe with is IDR coil, 
>> but that really is in the primary area. Your secondary is completely 
>> different and sets up a whole new set of issues as well as 
>> eliminating quite a few.
>>
>> You have the ability to use a high frequency and keep the Q very 
>> high. It will be interesting to see if you can apply this method to a 
>> high voltage coil (plan B). I think you've thought this through very 
>> well and it's been an eye opener for me. We don't really know what 
>> type of problems will be encountered.
>>
>> The ring up and how the energy is stored in the secondary and top 
>> terminal will be interesting. Now I understand why you were looking 
>> at dwell reduction. Unfortunately, that just doesn't help and I'm not 
>> all that confident that a rotary is the best avenue for the coil. 
>> Have you considered maybe an SISG approach?
>>
>> Take care,
>> Bart
>>
>> Chris Swinson wrote:
>>> Hi Bart,
>>>
>>> I think some confusion is that when I mean higher frequency, I do 
>>> not mean smaller coils.. my Q factors always go up with the larger 
>>> wire with larger secondary coils.. Though you can only do this to a 
>>> point as if you make the coil length longer to keep the same turns 
>>> but thicker wire, then the HD ratio is a poor figure and chances are 
>>> it will not couple correctly to the primary..
>>>
>>> So you are right in what you state, but it is not exactly what I am 
>>> doing...
>>>
>>> Higher frequency does increase losses in some parts, but in other 
>>> parts losses can go down by a factor of 4... It is one huge epic 
>>> counting up all these "new" pro's and con's, though overall the 
>>> higher Q system comes out best..
>>>
>>> The other problem is higher Q( generally) is higher frequency, which 
>>> needs a lower tank cap value, which reduces energy. So you cannot 
>>> use large tank cap values.. I got around about 250khz before running 
>>> into such problems.. So you have to rebuild and use a higher voltage 
>>> to keep the same power input with a small tank cap. Joules input is 
>>> a lot better at higher voltages and puts less current across the 
>>> spark gap.
>>>
>>> IMHO, once you get to 100nF tank cap, the voltage should go up for a 
>>> greater input power, not the tank cap value... In general 100-200nF 
>>> is about the limits at say 10KV, but I think 100nF should be the 
>>> largest tank cap which should be used. Rather than pumping more 
>>> current, it should pump more voltage instead... once you start to 
>>> pump more voltage input, you can use a lower value tank cap, so less 
>>> current, and it opens up the doors to much higher Q coils.
>>>
>>> Chris
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Barton B. Anderson" 
>>> <bartb at classictesla.com>
>>> To: "Tesla Coil Mailing List" <tesla at pupman.com>
>>> Sent: Sunday, November 25, 2007 3:53 AM
>>> Subject: Re: [TCML] quench times again
>>>
>>>
>>>> Hi Chris,
>>>>
>>>> Only a little confusing, but not too bad. Anytime I start talking 
>>>> decrease this, increase that, I personally have periodic 
>>>> cross-thought errors (type just the opposite than I meant due to 
>>>> wondering off on a different aspect).
>>>>
>>>> There are of course losses associated with higher frequency. 
>>>> Usually, when coilers are talking a high frequency coil, it's 
>>>> geometric size is small and Q is not high. Here again now I've got 
>>>> to state, and yes log me down for this statement: "higher frequency 
>>>> does not result in a higher Q coil".
>>>>
>>>> Increase frequency by taking any coil and reduce it in 1/2. Thus, 
>>>> divide the radius by 2, the height by 2, the wire size by 2, and 
>>>> keep the same number of turns. Your frequency will double and Q 
>>>> will lower because the AC losses begin to increase. If it were not 
>>>> for those losses, I would expect the Q to remain the same.
>>>>
>>>> In your case, there is a high Q due to the higher conductance. Eddy 
>>>> and skin effects will not be hindered in your coil as it would in 
>>>> one of the smaller high frequency coils. This should definitely not 
>>>> be related to Q, but rather to the large wire size and it's low DC 
>>>> resistance and unaffected AC resistances.
>>>>
>>>> It should be true that as we reduce the number of transfers, the 
>>>> gap losses should decrease. I'm not sure that higher frequency 
>>>> would help ionization at the gap except that it will help to 
>>>> decrease the transfer rate (so more energy over a shorter period).
>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> The idea really is that a higher frequency should allow a higher 
>>>>> current pulse with upsetting the RSG too much.  It was also my 
>>>>> point about "making sure" by decreasing the RSG dwell time. As 
>>>>> higher current will be harder to quench, then decrease the dwell 
>>>>> time and it should help matters also.
>>>>>
>>>>> A lot of factors come into play, as pointed out by yourself, John, 
>>>>> etc. Though this was really the overview of the "high Q" system 
>>>>> which I had in mind. A lot of ideas and corrections brought up in 
>>>>> all these posts thats for sure!
>>>>>
>>>>> Everyone has been down the classic road, wider coils, more 
>>>>> inductance, larger toroids... So I am thinking of a "new" 
>>>>> direction instead....
>>>> But when you see certain aspects like Q increasing, look at what is 
>>>> different. In your case, it's really the few turns of large wire 
>>>> over a large area. This is a huge difference. Just take your coil 
>>>> and reduce the wire size by half and you'll see Q start to drop 
>>>> without much affect on frequency.
>>>>>
>>>>> Another point which has not come into it yet, even though I 
>>>>> mentioned it. Higher frequency should also increase efficiency in 
>>>>> it its own right
>>>>>
>>>>> for example, running from a 12V test setup, at 15cm "range" ....
>>>>>
>>>>> 50hz  =0
>>>>> 39khz =0.5mV
>>>>> 124khz=5mV
>>>>> 1mhz  =50mV
>>>>> 1.2mhz =70mV
>>>>> 1.43mhz =120mV
>>>>> 1.87mhz =150mV
>>>>> 2mhz =200mV
>>>>>
>>>> But is that a result of the frequency or is that a result of the 
>>>> coil geometry? Higher frequency is resulting in a shorter transfer 
>>>> rate and as a result di/dt increases at the secondary which 
>>>> increases the amplitude since the AC and DC losses are so low. But 
>>>> the same cannot be said for a high frequency coil which is small. 
>>>> The losses are huge then. For your particular geometry, I think 
>>>> what you said is true, but not across the range of coils.
>>>>> I was wondering if this would also apply to coupling efficiency. 
>>>>> In a way it looks like voltage is lost over the coupling. Tighter 
>>>>> coupling would in effect reduce my "range" figure and double up on 
>>>>> the voltage.
>>>> I don't normally look at coupling as an efficiency number. Coupling 
>>>> will always be 100% regardless. There are of course losses over 
>>>> time at the gap and over the transfer. But yes, tighter coupling 
>>>> will increase di/dt.
>>>>>
>>>>> After a lot of testing I drew up that double the frequency gave x4 
>>>>> the voltage output. As a relation, 10 times the frequency gave 
>>>>> double the "range".
>>>> For your particular geometry.
>>>>>
>>>>> Going by these figures, if a normal tesla coil used 1,000 turns at 
>>>>> 100khz, then it suggests a magnetic field which runs "out of 
>>>>> steam" at 1,000 turns. So increasing turns does nothing at all 
>>>>> other than to gain a few volts and increase resistance.... the 
>>>>> point now that if we progressed to 1mhz then we should be able to 
>>>>> use 2,000 turns and the magnetic field will run "out of steam" at 
>>>>> the 2,000 turns mark.
>>>> In a normal coil, the losses in eddy and skin effects will come 
>>>> into play and will be significant. But, if we go down the road of 
>>>> increasing the wire size and coil size in order to achieve 10x the 
>>>> frequency and double up on the turns, then yes, we can get reduce 
>>>> those losses. However, in reality the coil would be physically to 
>>>> big to build.
>>>>>
>>>>> Also as  frequency goes up you get more voltage. take 124khz 0.5mV 
>>>>> to 1mhz 50mV . This is all at 15cm "Range". When I say range, I 
>>>>> mean the distance between the primary and secondary.  Remember 
>>>>> only the frequency changed and the voltage was constant at 12V.
>>>> You can only get more voltage if the di/dt is increased without 
>>>> significant losses. For your particular coil which is really 
>>>> extreme I can see that happening.
>>>>>
>>>>> It is one of those odd things which also confuses me about tank 
>>>>> energy going from primary to secondary. My own tests show there is 
>>>>> a voltage drop... if we take 124khz I input 12V and got 0.5mV output.
>>>> Sure, there's always a voltage drop for any given point in time. No 
>>>> doubt about that.
>>>>>
>>>>> Another problem is that Q factor was not taken into account with 
>>>>> the secondary. I used a variable capacitor to tune the secondary 
>>>>> to the primary. So Q factor probably was going up.. Though in 
>>>>> anycase frequency increase gave way to higher Q factor coils and 
>>>>> gave greater efficiency.
>>>> The cap in the secondary is a terrific approach on your coil. I 
>>>> agree, but due to the few turns, large wire size, and coil size to 
>>>> accommodate the wire size I believe is why. Your coil is so far 
>>>> outside the loss box that the main loss in your system will be the 
>>>> gap. In a high voltage situation, it would be interesting to see 
>>>> how the voltage stresses react.
>>>>
>>>> Take care,
>>>> Bart
>>>>>
>>>>> Even though I still have more tests to do. I got 16mhz as being 
>>>>> the best solution. I made me first think that the secondary coil 
>>>>> over the loose coupling would only obtain a fraction of the 
>>>>> voltage. In which case energy would be lost over the distance 
>>>>> between the primary and secondary coils.... always interesting 
>>>>> none the less!
>>>>>
>>>>> Chris
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Barton B. Anderson" 
>>>>> <bartb at classictesla.com>
>>>>> To: "Tesla Coil Mailing List" <tesla at pupman.com>
>>>>> Sent: Saturday, November 24, 2007 8:01 PM
>>>>> Subject: Re: [TCML] quench times again
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>> Hi Chris,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Another correction I need to make.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> As the number of cycles increases, the transfer rate will 
>>>>>> "decrease".
>>>>>>
>>>>>> What you are doing is interesting and how you are going about 
>>>>>> looking at how the frequency affects the transfer rate, 
>>>>>> efficiency, and gap conduction. Very interesting subject to me.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Take care,
>>>>>> Bart
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> As the number of cycles increases, the transfer rate will 
>>>>>>> increase. Here is the relationship.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Total Energy Transfer = (0.5/((1/(1-k)^.5)-(1/(1+k)^.5)))*(1/fr)
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>>>>>>
>>>>>
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>>>>>
>>>>>
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