[TCML] Ground Rod Data

[Alice]

Hi all,

Just a question from someone who is just learning about all this: How deep 
in the ground do the ground rods go?  If you are indoors, how does one do 
the grounding part since one cannot dig?  Are the ground rods made of any 
particular metal, or will a number of metals serve the purpose?

Becky

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <fritz at Egli-racing.ch>
To: "Tesla Coil Mailing List" <tesla at pupman.com>
Sent: Monday, April 19, 2010 7:38 PM
Subject: Re: [TCML] Ground Rod Data


> Dear all,
>
> I do not at all want to question the experts opinion, that I respect 
> highly
> (Gary Lau).
> Here are only the observations I made when experimenting with my coils :
>
> --Forgotten to connect RF ground wire to the base of the secondary:
> violent arcing over between bottom of secondary coil and primary coil.
> RF ground connected: No more flash overs.
>
> --Poor RF ground (Long cable to ground rod, only one short ground rod) :
> Race sparks along the secondary.
> RF ground improved (Closer to coil, shorter cable, 4 long rods spaced in 
> the
> ground) :
> No more race sparks (without altering, reducing coupling !)
>
> --Dry ground in aera of ground rods :
> Reduced streamer length.
> Aera around the 4 ground rods watered intense :
> Considerabely longer streamers.
>
> Fazit: Above 3 RF ground issues had a VERY CLEAR effect on coil function 
> and
> performance.
>
> Nothing to do with RF ground quality,
> but to my experience also with some influence to coil function - spark
> performance :
>
> --Climate conditions. Air temperature, humidity, air pressure.
> When experimenting in the kitchen (I am divorced ...)
> in winter, room temperature 22°C, dry air, air in room ozon loaden,
> and I opened all windows to get fresh air in, ozone out,
> temperature outside aprox. zero, freezing,
> spark performance dropped considerably.
> Is ozone beside temperature, humidity, pressure the main influence factor,
> if coiling in room ?  (goverment lady absent)
>
> --Main gap electrodes (7 copper tubes) oxidized from long service, spark
> performance dropped.
> Oxyde polished away: Spark performance restored.
>
> --Race sparks, for now without obvious reason. A month ago, last runs, no
> such problem.
> Secondary coil was found very dusty. Coil cleaned, problem solved.
>
> --"Bad day?" of my coil: It happenes that for unknewn, unclear reasons
> "she" performs sometimes a bit less then usually.
> Without any corrective action, a other day "she" is again performing well
> ...
> (Are Tesla coils female ...?)
>
> Kind regards,
> Fritz Egli
>
> PS: Gary, we remain friends - ?
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Gary Lau" <glau1024 at gmail.com>
> To: "Tesla Coil Mailing List" <tesla at pupman.com>
> Sent: Monday, April 19, 2010 10:32 PM
> Subject: Re: [TCML] Ground Rod Data
>
>
> I think there is little or no correlation between RF ground quality
> and streamer performance.  I've not personally tried this, but have
> heard stories of folks forgetting to connect their secondary base to
> ANYTHING, and the coil performed pretty much the same as always.  The
> consequence to having a poor RF ground connection is how much RF is
> coupled through your AC mains.  Lacking a path to a real RF ground,
> the capacitive path between the secondary and the rest of your coil
> results in the return currents traveling through the only wire
> available - the AC power cord.  Plus, capacitive coupling to the
> earth.
>
> Regards, Gary Lau
> MA, USA
>
> On Mon, Apr 19, 2010 at 4:05 PM, Andrew Robinson <teslamad at aol.com> wrote:
>>
>> Does anyone out there have any data on the relationship between depth and
>> streamer output? Obviously the data will be slightly skewed by other
>> variables, but im wondering what relationships exist. If anyone has
>> modeled it, what was your correlation? The new coil is up running. Had
>> second first light the other night and just had my mobile grounding 
>> system
>> (x2 2ft rods which I know isn't optimal, but its easy and compact) I'd
>> like to put in a 8 ft rod here soon and will try to generate some data 
>> for
>> the community. Someone put in some input.
>>
>> www.teslamad.com
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