oil quenched spark gap

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Original poster: "Alfred Erpel by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <alfred-at-erpel-dot-com>

Howdy All,
 
 
    I just built the oil quenched spark gap shown here
<http://www.neongold-dot-com/public/1/oil_quenched_spark_gap.jpg>http://www.neo
ngold-dot-com/public/1/oil_quenched_spark_gap.jpg . The unit is shown partially
filled with oil, but it is totally filled when it is running. The 4 gaps were
set to a .003 opening (another .001 and they wouldn't fire). The submersed pump
was a continuous duty submersible pump available from Grainger for about $22.
The oil was EDM oil purchased in a 5 gallon pail from MSC. It is rated to break
down at about 50,000 volts. This is not it's dielectric strength volts/mil but
the voltage at which the oil should decompose. I ran a Franceformer 6020SE 6kv
150 VA transformer across the 4 gaps connected in series for about 20 minutes.
There were bubbles issuing forth from between the 4 gaps which immediately
perplexed me. Periodically I had to move the gaps closer because the spark
would suddenly stop. The transformer barely got warm, but was slightly
perceptibly above room temperature after 20 minutes. Suddenly the unit sprung a
leak and was squirting oil out at high pressure. I shut it down and it was then
that I realized that the bubbles I saw were pressurizing the unit. So I assume
that the oil was breaking down, but it isn't supposed to. 
 
Anyone have any ideas on this. Like is there a different oil or substance that
would be a good idea to run through this? Etc. ?  If I get this working, I will
post complete shop blue prints in .pdf format for anyone to use.
 
 
Regards,
 
Al Erpel