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3MV/meter



All,

There was an old article By DC cox in a TCBA NEWS of yesteryear.  In this 
article he suggested single pulsing a Tesla coil to determine the actual 
voltage output.

He recommended DC charging of the normal tank capacitor and single firing 
the system.  The resultant non-ionic spark length would represent the 
actual output capabilities.

I have thought this out a bit and if you were to just align you gap for 
normal presntation with air flow or whatever quench method you use, and 
apply any DC voltage which will charge the cap to its air break over 
point in the gap, it will fire as a close analog to real operation.  Next 
a grounded object which is relatively flat should be moved in or out from 
the toroid (which has a moderately pointed object on it (the capacity 
will not assist in single shot storage).  Room lights should be out or 
very dim.  At the point where a true streamer arcs (not just a brush 
connect), this is the output of you coil based on the DC, 3 megavolt/ 
meter, air breakdown rule.  It is important to closely mime the real 
conditions of your coil system to make this really hold.

A fan should be used after each shot to remove all ions prior to the next 
attempt.  Your tune may have to be moved back down the primary for best 
spark due to the absense of ion loading about the toroid.  Still, it is a 
better idea for the real voltage output of the coil than some arbitrary 
rule of thumb applied to running coils!  The result would be an informed 
estimate of a coil's capability.

There are problems with this method, but attention to detail and the 
realization that a lot of variables are still unresolved will put the 
test in proper perspective.

I'll try this soon with a small system first.

Richaard Hull, TCBOR