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Re: More Tuning/Debugging Next
O
>From: Chuck Curran <ccurran-at-execpc-dot-com>
>To: tesla-at-poodle.pupman-dot-com
>Subject: More Tuning/Debugging Next
>
>Hello All:
> Last night I fired up the coil again and it simply didn't work as well
>as the previous week. I had made several changes, so it looks like I'll
>have to hunt through all of these things this week to find what is now
>the new gremlin. Spark length was shorter and not very intense and the
>system power draw was down to about 40% of the original level. The
>items changed were:
>
[snip]
> I hope to look for obvious problems Monday evening here, it would be
>nice if something jumped right out screamed "I'm the problem!" Probably
>won't happen that way! As always, any ideas or suggestions will be
>considered. Please note how I changed multiple items at the same time,
>in order to make the faulty change, more fun to locate.
>
>Chuck Curran
>
Chuck,
Given no bad connections in your TC primary circuitry? I would
point to a change in your pig's current limiting ballast. If memory
serves me correctly, you are using an arc welder and resistance to
ballast it, did you change the arc welders current setting? Forget to
short it's secondary? Damage the resistive ballast or it's
connections?
The ballast is NOT an isolated part of a Tesla Coil, the inductive
portion of the ballast boosts the voltage into your main power
transformer after each gap commutation. Without the inductive
ballast's flyback effect you will see low current in the pig's
primary, poor gap quenching and a very poor output. (using just
resistive ballast, I can power arc my rotary gap completely around
it's 8"dia/~24"circumfrence and yet not be able to cause the combined
rotary and static gap to conduct.) You could also see poor gap firing
rate if it is set to wide for the non-inhanced output voltage.
jim