[TCML] Rectifying a Tesla coil

[Sfxneon at aol.com]

I'm amazed at how tough a fluorescent lamp can be for having such thin  
walls, which may actually be from having a vacuum inside. Because of it's  tubular 
shape, the pressure outside is really forcing the glass together,  instead of 
apart. But it takes only the slightest defect or scratch in the glass  to 
cause an implosion. Agreed, a commercially made rectifier tube of this size  would 
have much thicker glass, but I've used the glass from old fluorescent  lamps 
for many of my plasma experiments without it ever imploding. It's just  heck 
to work with, being so thin. 
 
Now I'm wondering if a small fluorescent tube could have some rectifying  
action by heating only one filament and passing AC through the length  of the 
tube. Would it act anything like a mercury vapor rectifier? I know it  wouldn't 
be practical because the unheated filament would start to heat up  and spoil 
the effect, if it even worked at all.
 
Tony Greer
*************  

In a message dated 9/1/2008 9:03:50 A.M.  Central Daylight Time, 
drieben at comcast.net writes:
 
<Snip>

>I still feel that a flourescent tube would be  excessively
>fragile for the proposed rectifier tube use. I think we'll  all experienced
>just how easily these tubes can break with all but the  most gentle han-
>dling!

>David
 



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