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RE: Latest coil



Hi Malcolm:

When I was running with the .02uF cap, I was using a single-segment static
gap, and I had measured the firing voltage as 24KV.  More recently I have
switched to a synchronous RSG, 120BPS, and increased the cap size to .03uF.
I have yet to measure the firing voltage and have not yet done too much in
varying the rotor phase, still waiting for my HV probe to arrive so I can
scope these things rather than stabbing in the dark.

Regards, Gary Lau
Waltham, MA USA


		Original Poster: "Malcolm Watts" <malcolm.watts-at-wnp.ac.nz> 

		Hi Gary,
		             A couple of questions:

		> Original Poster: "Lau, Gary" <Gary.Lau-at-compaq-dot-com> 
		> 
		> Hi Alan. All,
		> 
		> I don't yet have any answers to your racing sparks
problem, but if misery
		> loves company, perhaps I can offer you that.  I'm in the
process of
		> converting from my static gap to a sync RSG.  I had been
getting nice 60"
		> arcs from my 4 1/4" secondary, power by a 15/60 NST and a
.02uF cap.  I
		> upped my cap to .03uF so as not to over-volt it, and I too
am now seeing the
		> racing sparks (who coined that name anyway?), and also
have a burnt spot at
		> the base of the secondary to mend.  And I tried raising
the secondary, still
		> got the sparks.

		Was your gap set to the same voltage as when you ran with
the 
		20nF cap?  If not, what was it set to (by comparison if
voltage not 
		available)?
		
		Regards,
		Malcolm

		> Right now I'm waiting for a HV probe that I ordered so I
can scope my cap
		> charging and phase, perhaps that will show up something.
I'll let you know
		> if it does.
		> 
		> Regards, Gary Lau
		> Waltham, MA USA
		> 
		> 		
		> >Original Poster: ajones-at-pointlink-dot-net 
		> >
		> >Hello everyone. I thought I would post a little about my
latest coil.
		> >The primary is flat with 3/8" tubing with slots in the
form to allow
		> >tapping from below. The secondary is an upside down
polypropylene
		> >trash can that measures 14" diameter on the bottom and
13" diameter on
		> >the top and wound with 18gauge magnet wire for 24-1/4"
winding length.
		> >Two toroids are being used, a corrugated drain pipe
wrapped with tin
		> >foil that measures 4"x33", and two flexible ducts taped
end to end for
		> >7"x 40". I am using two of the H&R transformers that are
wired
		> >anti-parallel for 10kV 300ma. Six sets of polypropylene
caps, .013uF
		> >each for .078uF or so total and a sync-gap. This isn't
quite resonant
		> >yet, but will soon be larger than resonant.
		> >
		> >The first run was just to see that everything worked.
There were
		> >serious racing sparks and as I found out, several spots
had burnt.
		> >Some turns had to be removed on the bottom and the other
spots had the
		> >burnt insulation scraped off and were coated with model
paint. Trying
		> >again the next night, one of the repaired spots burnt
again and three
		> >turns had to be removed. But there was a ground strike
before shutting
		> >down that I later measured at 80". Or 3.2 times the
winding length.
		> >Pretty decent, but will have to get better :-)
		> >
		> >I setup again tonight with the newly repaired secondary,
freshly
		> >soldered and re-painted. More racing sparks and some that
jumped
		> >straight down to the primary from the lower toroid. Since
I have never
		> >had these kinds of problems, I didn't really know what to
do. I have
		> >only run with crappy capacitors before that wouldn't let
the power out
		> >to the coil and these polypropylene caps are working
great. I tried
		> >raising the secondary some more to reduce the coupling.
It was now
		> >1-1/2" above the primary, but still had the racing
sparks. The only
		> >other thing I could think of was to lower the toroids
some. Now the
		> >racing sparks have been eliminated. But the spark length
dropped,
		> >probably from the reduced coupling. I'll try increasing
the coupling
		> >in a few days and see if the spark length comes back up.
		> >
		> >So, any comments or suggestions? All welcomed.
		> >Thanks,
		> >Alan Jones
		> 		
		> 
		>