Re: [TCML] Secondary and Primary Assistance

[bartb <bartb@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Yes, that would be an interesting test. The Meager I use for Hi Pot 
testing on our systems at work go up to 5kV. Probably a near value 
considering voltages along the length within a small area, but that is 
really dependent on the coverage of a printed character for a given 
coil. Regardless, it's the difference between printed and non-printed 
area that counts. Another aspect not covered is that coil forms such as 
sonotube are usually prepared with layers of insulation before winding. 
This adds to the whole context, and in reality, if the ink is conductive 
enough, it would probably only show up as losses (and likely too small 
to measure due to the "ink"). I know sonotubes are said to be lossy, but 
is that before or after sealing and coating. If it's sealed, a rainy day 
won't make a difference unless the tube absorbed moisture, then all bets 
are off.

Take care,
Bart

Lau, Gary wrote:
> As Scott suggested, I think the most revealing test would be to hold a sample of the printed form up to a small sparking Tesla coil topload and see if the sparks want to surface track on the printed portions more-so than the unprinted portions.  A real easy test if one has a piece of Sonotube available; unfortunately I do not.  I don't know at what voltage a Megger (Meager?) operates, but probably the closer to actual TC voltages, the better.
>
> Using what I have, I just held a piece of 4" SDR PVC pipe with un-cleaned printing on it, to the sparks coming from my bug zapper-powered mini coil (http://www.laushaus.com/tesla/bzt_coil.htm ).  I was unable to see any effect that the printing had to the sparks.  However, when I drew a line with a graphite pencil on the PVC, the sparks made a very bright surface track along that line.  Similar behavior when I sprayed a water mist onto the PVC, though not as bright as the graphite.
>
> If someone has a piece of Sonotube and a small coil available, please try that?
>
> Regards, Gary Lau
> MA, USA
>
>   
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: tesla-bounces@xxxxxxxxxx [mailto:tesla-bounces@xxxxxxxxxx] On
> > Behalf Of bartb
> > Sent: Friday, March 21, 2008 9:08 PM
> > To: Tesla Coil Mailing List
> > Subject: Re: [TCML] Secondary and Primary Assistance
> >
> > Agreed, hence the questions. It's funny when we say something is
> > conductive. Everything is conductive at some point. It's probably just
> > another one of those areas of being safe rather than sorry. One would
> > need to hipot the ink at a distance and do the same for the non-ink area
> > at the same distance and compare. DC mentioned he used a Meager, so
> > maybe he did something similar to this.
> >
> > Take care,
> > Bart
> >
> > Lau, Gary wrote:
> >     
> > > With PVC forms, I remove the printing with Goof-Off solvent, only because it's
> > >       
> > easy to do and enhances the aesthetics.  I think it's important to accurately report
> > what we know as fact and with there is to back that up, vs. what we assume and
> > just _seems_ reasonable.
> >     
> > > Regards, Gary Lau
> > > MA, USA
> > >       
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