Re: Hi Power Discharge "Disruptive"

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

Original poster: "Gregory Hunter" <tesla_39560-at-yahoo-dot-com> 

 > Hi Guys,

Hi Chris,

 > I've been interested in 'Tesla' coils for about  7
 > years now since I first
 > picked up a book called "The fantastic inventions of
 > Nikola Tesla".  I have
 > a degree in Electronic + Electrical Engineering so I
 > have some idea of how
 > to build a coil.
 >
 > I am a little concerned about the standard Tesla
 > coil that everyone is
 > building as it does not appear to follow the models
 > in the original
 > patents.  i.e. people still seem to like the idea of
 >  using  an  LC circuit
 > for energizing the primary, where the capacitor is
 > after the spark gap and
 > in parallel with the coil primary, thus producing a
 > tank circuit.  Tesla
 > never only ever did this when working with AC and it
 > had nothing to do with
 > 'Disruptive Discharge' which I believe is the main
 > principle of the Tesla

??? I'm not an engineer, and I find your statement
confusing. All spark gap-based Tesla coils are
considered "disruptive" Tesla coils and depend on a
rapid, high-current capacitive pulse discharge into a
parallel-resonant tank circuit for operation.

 > Coil.  What should happen is a fully charged
 > capacitor should discharge all
 > of its energy in to the coil in one burst via a
 > spark gap.  Once discharged
 > the spark gap should close stopping any LC

Actually, the primary circuit stops oscillating when
the spark gap opens. In the lingo of the hobby, this
is called "quenching".

 > oscillations.  The process would
 > then be repeated with the capacitor fully charged
 > again.  Is this what you
 > guys do?

Yep. Cap charges. Spark gap breaks down (closes). Tank
cap discharges violently. Primary rings like crazy.
Secondary rings like crazy and sprouts sparks at the
top. Spark gap quenches (opens). Process repeats

 >
 > Also everyone seems to be using rectangular shaped
 > coils, where as Tesla
 > used cone shaped coils as shown in the patient
 > below:-
 >
 > http:/http.pbwwwrpbseorg/tesla93138.html
html> Has anyone done experiments with a cone shaped
coil
 > and a pure disruptive

I've seen conical secondaries in pictures. I have no
idea what supposed advantage they have over plain
cylindrical secondaries.

 > discharge with no LC oscillations?  I think one of
 > TeslasTeslastives was to
 > completely eliminate all possible LC and focus
 > purely on disruptive

??? I don't understand. How can L and/or C be
eliminated from a resonant system?

 > discharge.  Also Tesla gave up on using  motor
 > driven rotary spark gap
 > devices as they were too slow, instead he used a
 > strong magnetic field and
 > air blasts to 'quench' the spark as soon as the
 > current discharged from the
 > capacitor started to drop.  I can't find a link
 > right now, but he insulated
 > an electromagnet from the spark gap using mica.
 > i.e. the spark discharged
 > through a hign mhightic field, greatly reducing its
 > puls dpulseion.

Air blast spark gaps are common in the hobby.
Magnetically quenched gaps are uncommon, but I'm sure
somebody is using them. The choice of spark gap--sync
rotary, async rotary, air blast gap, or multigap are
driven by design or by empiricism--or both! The rotary
gap can equal or exceed the performance of even the
fastest quenching static gaps when used in an
appropriate coil system.

 >
 > Has anyone tried these designs out yet as his
 > articles say the resultive spark effects on the
primary are more like 'fire'
 > and exhibit different

Very high break rates can indeed cause the discharges
to look like a gas cooker flame. A slower break rate
tends to yield the familiar lightning-like discharges.

 > colors and shapes to standard HV air breakdown
 > sparks.  i.e. He said they
 > were smooth and flowing and more gentle.
 >
 > I would very much appreciate it if anyone could let
 > me know if they have
 > seen anything other than standard 'lightning'
 > sparks.

Yes. One time I topped my coil with a smooth, 12"
diameter sphere instead of the usual toroid. This
tended to create a single thick swordlike spark that
sort of waved around like a glowing cobra. It was very
neat looking. Eventually air turbulence caused the
flaming snake to dissipate, but it would reform again
every few seconds.

 >
 > Hope to hear from someone soon and I am delighted
 > that this forum exists as
 > I believe Tesla was a genius and none of us mere
 > mortals have the slightest
 > idea of what he was thinking when submitting these
 > designs.
 >
 > Thanks
 >
 > Chris Rutherford
 >
 >
 >

=====
Gregory R. Hunter

http:\\hot-streamer-dot-com/greg



		
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