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Re: Static Gaps vs Rotary Spark Gaps



Original poster: "Chris Rutherford" <chris1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>

Hi,

I'm not an expert and I have no practical experience of large coils, but from
what I've read, Tesla used magnetic field quenching in favour of rotational gaps
due to the lower energy loss and higher rate of firing.


As a arc forms the magnetic field pushes against the field produced by the arc
causing the arc to move out of the gap and thus quenching it. I suppose the
lifetime of the arc would be proportional to the strength of the magnetic field.
You could experiment with different di/dt figures by changing the arc time.


Hope this helps, wouldn't mind some feedback on my response given that I've not
done any practical experimentation and have no evidence to base my hypothesis
on.

Thanks

Chris Rutherford

----- Original Message -----
From: "Tesla list" <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, March 30, 2005 5:54 PM
Subject: Static Gaps vs Rotary Spark Gaps


Original poster: "Medina, Benjamin (UMR-Student)" <bamxbb@xxxxxxx>

Hello Folks. I originally was going for an ARSG (Asynchronous Rotary Spark
Gap) but got a lot of responses from the TCML saying that it's not friendly
with the NST, that it might fry it, and that I had to stay at 24o BPS (at
least) to be safe. Therefore, I've changed plans and am thinking about
using a SG (Static Gap).

Using a 15kV/30mA NST, in terms of efficiency and performance, how does a
SG compare to a RSG? Is there any rule of thumb as to the # of gaps in
series? Does a RSG guarantee longer sparks vs. a SG?

I am doing a school project, so we have budget and time constraints. Which
of the following Static Gaps setups would you suggest I should go with? Or
anything similar to images below. Bottom line, I want something that is
reliable, easy to build, and efficient. Gary Lau suggested,
http://www.hot-streamer.com/TeslaCoils/Misc/terrygap.jpg


Your comments and advice will be very much appreciated.

Thanks again,

Ben Medina
Rolla, MO.


http://hot-streamer.com/temp/BenMedina/f73d20a6.jpg (How is the connection done here? Essentially, where is the gap?)


http://hot-streamer.com/temp/BenMedina/f73d20b5.jpg

(Maybe two parallel wood pieces. I am guessing I connect one end of the
screw/bolt to one end of the secondary side of the NST and the other end of
the other screw/bolt to the other end of the secondary side of the NST)?