Re: Jacob's Ladder "Snap" (fwd)

[Steven Roys <sroys@xxxxxxxx>]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 15 Dec 2003 09:32:13 -0800
From: Jim Lux <jimlux@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: High Voltage list <hvlist@xxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: Jacob's Ladder "Snap" (fwd)

At 09:40 AM 12/15/2003 -0700, you wrote:
>Original poster: Steven Roys <sroys@xxxxxxxx>
>
>
>
>---------- Forwarded message ----------
>Date: Fri, 12 Dec 2003 10:56:35 -0800 (PST)
>From: Chris Roberts <quezacotl_14000000000000@xxxxxxxxx>
>To: High Voltage list <hvlist@xxxxxxxxxx>
>Subject: Jacob's Ladder "Snap"
>
>
>Hi Everybody,
>
>I was recently talking to one of my neighbors about the "strange lightning
>thing" that I play around with, and he told me of hearing a story about
>how a Jacob's ladder can hurt your hearing. He said that when the arc
>starts at the bottom, the "snap" heard is extremely loud, but so quick of
>a pulse that you don't register it as being as loud as it is. He didn't
>know whether or not it was true, and it sounded like a techno-myth to me,
>but has anyone else heard (pun intended) about this?
>

Yes, it's possible to a have a very short impulse noise that doesn't sound
loud, but actually is. Yes, one could damage one's hearing if one was
subjected to enough of them.

If you're going to be working around loud noises much, invest the $200 in a
decent set of level limiting hearing protectors from, for instance,
Peltor.   They have microphones that pass the sound through at full volume
(or amplified, quite handy for hearing that evil corona hiss), but clamp it
to a safe level.  Very, very nice for working with things that go suddenly
"bang".

By the way, if you work with something that generates high level acoustic
impulses repetitively (i.e. big Marx, etc.), you should be aware of the
fact that there are effects other than those on your hearing.  I worked on
a device that produced periodic loud explosions for theatrical use (to
replace conventional "maroons" using powder).  After running some tests all
day (several thousand shots), my hearing was fine (gotta love the Peltors),
but my whole body ached.  Turns out the shock waves cause microlesions:
essentially like getting beat on.  These were fairly big shots (many tens
of kilojoules each.. easy with chemical energy)