Re: Spark gap not firing

["Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>]

Original poster: "by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-uswest-dot-net>" <Parpp807-at-aol-dot-com>

In a message dated 2/4/01 1:45:26 PM Central Standard Time, tesla-at-pupman-dot-com 
writes:

<< Original poster: "Barton B. Anderson by way of Terry Fritz 
<twftesla-at-uswest-dot-net>" <tesla123-at-pacbell-dot-net>

Hi Bart, Michael, All,

Gentlemen, Gentlemen, please:

We have here a prime example of the frailties of ASCII...it sucks!
A simple diagram is all that is needed.
I refer my myself and all interested to page 5-4 of John Couture's,
Tesla Coil Construction Guide, and page 14 of Brent Turner's, Tesla Coil Book 
which has the same schematic. 
The capacitor is in parallel with the NST. One side of the capacitor goes to 
the SG and to one side of the NST. The other side of the SG is connected to 
one side of the primary. The other side of the primary returns to the common 
side of the capacitor and the NST.
Again: One side of the NST is connected to the capacitor and one side of the 
primary. The other side of the NST goes to the other side of the capacitor, 
and one 
end of the SG. The other end of the SG goes to the other side of the primary.
Bart, perhaps you are referring to the safety gap which is shown in John 
Couture's
diagram. Perhaps Michael was referring to a safety gap, in which case I am 
the one who is confused...a not-at-all infrequent happening. I have never used
a RSG. Is it connected any differently than a static SG? 

Happy day,
Ralph Zekelman

> Hi Ralph, Michael, All, 
 
>Tesla list wrote: 
 >
 > Original poster: "by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-uswest-dot-net>"
 > <Parpp807-at-aol-dot-com> 
 >
 > In a message dated 2/2/01 10:44:55 PM Central Standard Time, 
tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
 >
 > writes: 
 >
 > <<  I now have it wired in series with the primary coil, which is made 
 >  from 1/4" refrigerator tubing and consits of 6 turns at 1/2" spacing with 
a 
 > 6" 
 >  inner diameter.  I have a calculated inductance of 10 - 11 microhenries I 
 >  believe (dont recall the exact number) It is also wired in series with 
the 
 >  capacitor.  The transf >> 
 >
 > Hi Michael, 
 > It sounds here as if you have the coil wired wrong. connect the capacitor 
in 
 > parallel 
 > with the NST.
 
 This is not right. The RSG should be in parallel with the NST. The cap should
 be in series with the primary. It will work as you suggested, but you will 
put
 the transformer at risk. Having the cap parallel with the transformer will
 cause the transformer to feel the full RF of each bang. By placing the RSG
 parallel with the transformer, the RF seen at the transfomer is greatly
 reduced. I beleive Greg L. stated the a reduction by a factor of 10:1. 
 
 As far as Michael's problem, it may possibly be on which side of the cap the
 RSG is connected. If the RSG is connected between the primary and cap then he
 will get nothing. The RSG should be connected between the cap and NST. (this 
is
 just a possibility). 
 
 Take care, 
 Bart 
 >
 > Then connect one side of the cap to one side of the primary. 
 > the other side of the capacitor goes to the SG, and the other side of the 
SG 
 > goes to the other side of the primary. Again: the cap is in parallel with 
the
 >
 > NST, and the SG is in series with the primary. 
 > The 0.0056 uF calculation sounds about right and should give you something 
if
 >
 > you connect things correctly. I would want to try something 
 > a little larger than 0.01uF. Since you built the cap are you sure you have 
 > 0.0056? 
 > Try to get a MMC as soon as you can. There is a lot of info in the Tesla 
 > archives and on the various Tesla links. Study the books by John Couture. 
 > Stay safe. 
 >
 > Cheers, 
 > Ralph Zekelman
  >>