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Re: Terry's GM HEI Coil Update



At 06:37 AM 11/18/98 -0700, you wrote:

>Original Poster: Terry Fritz <terryf-at-verinet-dot-com>
...

>At these extreme test levels, I must wonder if the
>output is getting near the lethal area.

I SWAG chunks of exploding flesh, rather than plasma burns

>I have simple 1/2 inch diameter steel rods for
>a spark gap.

How far apart are the rods? How do you get your gap working under 1KV?

>The firing voltage varied
>substantially so there is improvement to be made to get a more consistent
>firing voltage.  I'll have some experimenting to do with this new gap
>application!

For such low firing rates, you might consider a strobe light, using its
triggered flash tube as a spark gap. But IIRC, ratings are for a few
thousand flashes

>	This was very interesting!  The output voltage waveform always has a very
>high initial spike which is perfectly reproducible from bang to bang.  This
>initial spike is 50% higher than the next larger spikes.

You mean this coil doesn't "ring up"? Its tightly coupled, ringing down? Or
since the pulse is so long (10's microseconds) compared to typical TC's,
that an output arc is already lit on the first bang damping subsequent
primary-secondary energy transfer.

>Positive voltages
>appear to be able to jump 50% further than negative voltages from this
>test.  This is a very profound demonstration and the implications are far
>reaching!

I would like to build a bridge rectifier out of triggered thyratrons, to
rectify a TC's output, to see what a large charge pump could do in the way
of arcs. This too, IIRC was suggested while ago on the archive.

>BTW - Just in case anyone ran out and bought a coil and other stuff in
>hopes of claiming my coveted GMHEICSLR (General Motors High Energy Ignition
>Coil Spark Length Record) for themselves, the new record is 12.2 inches!!

Search the archive, for the post that says you can get 3-feet from 2 coils.

>Just remember, I may not be telling you everything... ;-))