RE: newbie question - spark gap and toroid

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

Original poster: "Rich" <rdjmgmt-at-socket-dot-net> 

I have a 30ma 15kv coil also and the spark gap works better with a fan ,
my first gap was with tungsten rods , then went to a RQ style with TI
tubes , they sparked on the end until I polished all the burrs off the
ends and the polishing makes sure the dia of the end of the tube is
smaller so there is not a sharp edge or point for the spark to jump to.
Rich


Original poster: "ho \[shu\] huang" <shuhuang-at-singnet-dot-com.sg>

Hey!

I've got my tesla coil to work but I've got a couple of quick questions
for
you pros out there: -

1. My SG spark gap's made from aluminium curtain rail, not copper pipe.
The
rail is flat, so it's easier to mount. Does it matter? My coil works,
but
I'm not sure if aluminium hinders performance in any way.

2. Does it matter that air isn't blown directly at the sparks? Do the
sparks require a lot of air to be "quenched", or will a bit of moving
air
be enough? In other words, is more wind better?

My spark gap (pic here:
http://web.singnet-dot-com.sg/~shuhuang/spark_gap3.jpg
) sparks at the ends of the rails, which is sort of shielded by the 10mm

thick plastic support. I can easily reconfigure it so that the sparks
get
most of the breeze from the fan, but I'm wondering if it's worth the
effort. The fans blow, rather than suck, BTW.

3. I used 2 aluminium wok covers joined together
(http://web.singnet-dot-com.sg/~shuhuang/tesla_coil_lab.jpg ), ~210mm wide
and
320mm in diameter, as a toroid but I suspect a traditioanl toroid might
work better. Believe it or not, I'm actually having a hard time flexible

drainage pipe. It's apparently not used very often any more...where I
live
(SIngapore) anyway. I came across the pool float toroid design on a
webpage, and I've found one on sale cheap. It's 23" in diameter and 8"
thick. Is that too big a toroid for my 15kV 30mA, 90mm 900 turns AWG 24
wire secondary coil, set up?

thanks!

Shu










---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft-dot-com).
Version: 6.0.778 / Virus Database: 525 - Release Date: 10/15/2004