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rotory problem
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From: FutureT-at-aol-dot-com [SMTP:FutureT-at-aol-dot-com]
Sent: Saturday, February 07, 1998 8:27 AM
To: tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
Subject: Re: rotory problem
In a message dated 98-02-07 06:01:27 EST, you write:
<<
> Hi all,
> I am having problems with my rotory gap. It seems to be only firing
> occasionally and the safety gap is firing almost continually. The safety
> gap is adjusted with the feeds disconnected from the tank and so it will
> not fire when transformers are energized.
> When the rotory gap is running I get many small breakout off the torus
> and once and a while I get a strong 46" discharge. The gap is a 12" dia.
> acrylic disc with a 11" dia. bolt circle with 16 holes. In the holes I
> have 8-32 stainless all-thread studs 1.5" long. The stationary electrodes
> are .25" Elkonite(75%Cu:25%W) that are ground to points and are 2.5" long.
Dwight,
Your break-rate sounds about right, but may be too high for your
system, depending on your available transformer power, capacitor
size, and ballasting. It is possible to run as low as ~300 BPS or
less, and still avoid phasing problems. Sharp pointed gaps are a
no-no, because they'll heat up at the tip and severely degrade the
quenching, which will degrade the spark output. The gap electrode
faces should be flat. The pointed gaps can contribute to arc follow-
around, in which you see arcs trailing around the rotor.
Since your motor is of the brush-type, try reducing its speed by running
it from a variac, to see if this helps. But first grind off the points and
make the electrodes flat. If none of this helps, then I would suspect
other problems such as tranny/cap/toroid size matching. Let us know
what happens.
John Freau
> Please give me your suggestions and any comments, they are all very
> much welcome and appreciated.
> Thanks,
> Dwight
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