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RE: The simple problem with Tesla coiling now... Re: Xfmrs
Original poster: Jim Lux <jimlux@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
At 12:59 PM 3/5/2007, Tesla list wrote:
Original poster: Brett Miller <brmtesla2@xxxxxxxxx>
Terry...all,
I think one of the key factors to ensuring our
collective nightmares do not come true with regard to
coiling disasters and subsequent regulation, has to do
with our methodology and how we mentally approach
solving our coiling problems. If we were stricter on
ourselves, we would tend to be more strict in how we
instruct newcomers and beginners. Critical thinking
should come first and assumptions and generalizations
should be avoided.
It is a lot of fun to us, but then those of us who
have been around for years have earned the right and
the ability to "play" around with this technology. We
have demonstrated repeatedly that we can do so safely
and wisely. I think there needs to be an end to
complacency...the kind that leads to us handing over
the plans to a 6-pack MOT stack to a beginner who
hasn't even built a flyback driver successfully.
What will foil your attempt to control the distribution of information is that
a) it's everywhere on the web already, sometimes with hideous
inaccuracies.. so we might as well take it upon ourselves to make
sure that the "correct" info is out there. Review those wikipedia
pages, folks!
b) the archives of this list, and others, are widely available and
searchable (and this is a *good thing*), so even if you walk someone
through the baby steps first, the grown up steps are right there in
the list traffic for someone to use.
I
know we can't always force someone to follow a HV
learning curve, but we should be trying for sure. I
always strongly encourage those who ask me for "plans"
to study the science behind the device first and seek
to understand it fully. By the time they accomplish
this, they should be able to design their own, and by
then they will have developed the mental tool kit
which will enable them to proceed safely.
But how would one decide who should and should not receive the
"secrets of the guild" and when?.. to a certain extent, we happy few
who do coiling are self regulating.. different people have different
ideas of what's appropriate or not, and we rely on near-death
experiences to regulate ourselves.
Surely, some fools will rush in and meet their untimely
demise. Such is the case for many activities: rock climbing, winter
mountain climbing, etc. There are calls for regulation following
suitably spectacular or notorious events, but, overall, the
regulatory environment for rock climbing today isn't hugely different
than it was in the early 70s when I started. True, equipment
manufacturers are structured differently. True, there are rules on
where you can climb, but those are also to limit the damage from
climbers as well as to address some perceived liability issue.
It's already basically impossible to buy a used pole pig in
California as a private person from a supplier of the things (more
for environmental reasons than liability).
And, let's be realistic, the vast majority of people (myself
included) build tesla coils not to probe some new science, but
because they provide a spectacular and potentially lethal display of
electrical power. It's that frisson of cheating death by virtue of
your skill and knowledge that provides the attraction. If the
possibility, however remote, of death didn't exist, it would remove
some of the fun.
This, too, is no different than other exciting activities. I have an
acquaintance who builds and drives motorcyle dragsters. Sure, the
skill and engineering to go fast is interesting, but it's also that
idea that a moment's inattention or a minor building error might
result in a spectacular crash and/or explosion lends to the
excitement. Same for leading a pitch on a real mountain, or surfing
a big wave, or jumping a horse over a 6 foot fence. You've
practiced, you've taken precautions, but in the back of your mind is
the certain knowledge as you start that there's a non-zero (and
appallingly high, in some cases) chance that you'll get hurt or
killed. That adds to the excitement and satisfaction when you
successfully complete the challenge.
I am the type of person who attempts to think
rationally, critically, and skeptically in all areas
of life, not just during scientific endeavors. I am
not always successful, and I realize not everyone
wants to think like this all the time. However,
coiling should always be approached scientifically.
People who want to just "throw things together
randomly and see what happens" ought to just stick to
ignition coils and 12v flyback drivers.
But should it.. if your goal is to find new knowledge (certainly
worthy), I'd point out that some famous person (who I cannot recall
right now) said that the most valuable scientific discoveries come
from something where someone goes "that's funny"
if your goal is for self improvement, then the strategy you've
outlined above will naturally be the one that you fall into.
if your goal is for entertainment (which is the source of many hobby
activities), then it's less certain that your strategy would work.
I think that for the latter case, our best bet is to make sure that
we fully inform folks of the way things work. Not in the form of
lengthy disclaimers, nor in the "reefer madness" hype, but in
credible, rational, convincing diagrams and prose that is simple and direct.
I am reminded of the change in the disclaimer on the back of ski-lift
tickets over the past few years. It used to be that there would be a
whole page of very fine print describing in detail all the horrible
things that might befall you as a skier ("including but not limited
to ...."). I'm sure nobody except the authors and very bored people
sitting on a stuck lift ever read it. Now it says something like:
"Skiing is dangerous. You are responsible for avoiding hazards and
skiing safely."
When people are faced by a recitation of obvious hazards, they tend
to ignore it all. Quickly now! How many of you have bought a ladder
in the last 10 years? How many of you have read all the warning
labels attached thereon? How many of you have stood on the next to
top step, just to reach a bit higher? How about the last hammer you
bought? Do you coolly and rationally consider the material you are
hammering? Analyze it for the probability of fracture and
brittleness? Have a metallurgical analysis done of a random sample of
the nails to confirm that their properties are what you think they
are? No.. you get the hammer, and start pounding nails, trusting in
your experience with hammering before, and accepting the fact that
occasionally a nail fractures, and even more rarely a piece of the
nail or the thing you're hammering into flies off, and even more
rarely than that, hits you in the eye.
I don't think a few electrocutions (worst case
scenario) would make it impossible for us to find MOTs
or build tesla coils anymore. I don't think a total
alarmest view is justified in light of any evidence
I've seen. When the internet started becoming
accessable in most every middle class home, kids
started finding pyrotechnic plans on the internet (the
same plans that had been available on BBS's for the
previous decade. They were now easier to get. There
were a few "incidents". Nevertheless...if a person
wanted to find those chemicals nowadays, it would not
be hard for someone with good chemistry training to do
so even in today's climate. I think there is a useful
analogy here.
I agree with this.. but I think that tesla coiling is already in that
situation. You can't just whip on down to the local Home Depot and
buy a NST or MOT. You can't just call up "transformers-r-us" and have
them deliver a pole pig to your doorstep. You have to scrounge the
things. Or, you find someone who knows where to get them and what to
say to the company that sells them. And that someone will typically
ask you why you want to know or will make an on-the-spot evalution of
your suitability. Just like trying to buy metallic sodium over the
counter at the local chemical supply place.
So far as I know, there isn't anybody who sells "big coil" parts
randomly to all comers. There's some sort of inherent credentialling
process.. for instance, most industrial suppliers will only sell if
you have a written or fax'ed order on letterhead or standard forms,
and perhaps a business license number or resale permit. Sure, you
can fake all that up with your computer, but the work required to do
that is itself a limiter of casual tomfoolery. You're unlikely to
build a pole pig TC on a whim because you just downloaded the plans
off the internet. It takes too long to get all the parts, even if
you DO have the knowledge and experience.
Terry had a good point, though, with the high powered solid state off
line stuff. All of a sudden, you're in a regime where anyone with a
credit card and some time can make something truly dangerous. Maybe
Ebay isn't the best way to sell this sort of thing? Maybe that's
really a decision for the seller, though?
Jim