RE: Pigs and X-Ray Cabling

To: tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
Subject: RE: Pigs and X-Ray Cabling
From: "Chuck Curran" <ccurran-at-execpc-dot-com> (by way of Terry Fritz <terryf-at-verinet-dot-com>)
Date: Sun, 06 Sep 1998 10:43:51 -0600
Approved: terryf-at-verinet-dot-com
	I would also suggest that you do not use shielded cable.  Two years ago I
chose RG-11 coax to run from the pole transformer to the coil itself.  At
the coil end I tied the shields together from the two leads and connected
them directly to my main earth ground, which was three foot ground rods
spaced out.  This earth ground was run to the immediate area under the coil
itself so the connection point was right there.  At the other end of the
coax, by the pole transformer, I also had 6-8 inches of braid stripped off
the RG-11, which I just left hanging.

I powered up the coil, which was a 8" diameter secondary, and during the
run, I noticed heavy arcing between those same two braided leads hanging
loose by the output of the pole transformer--they were about 1/4-1/2 inch
apart at the time.  I switched to a different HV lead without a shield and
so far everything is now working fine.

During these early runs I also noticed many strikes to ground in the general
area of the HV leads.  In these early runs I then chose to purchase some
lengths of 2" diameter PVC pipe which I use to route all my cabling from the
control cabinet to the coil.  I have never had a strike to these leads, in
the last three years.  It's cheap and apparently gives one more level of
protection.

Chuck

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Tesla List [mailto:tesla-at-pupman-dot-com]
> Sent: Saturday, September 05, 1998 6:53 PM
> To: tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
> Subject: Pigs and X-Ray Cabling
>
>
> Original Poster: "Coiler" <mycroft-at-access1-dot-net>
>
> I finally decided I was tired of being afraid of cooking my
> neons, and have
> taken the step up to a pig (Damn shipping was 3/4 the cost of the unit
> itself :( )
> In any case, said beastie is not exactly what one would call luggable.
> As a result, the Pig will be some distance from the coil setup,
> rather than
> right next to it, as I do with my neons.
>
> Via a strike of luck, I find myself with close to 300ft of 250KV X-Ray
> cabling.
> This consists of a 1/8" outer sheath, wire briad with a
> semiconducting tape
> wrapper, 3/8" red rubber(?) insulator, and finally 4 conducters
> (2 14awg, 2
> 22awg)
> at the core. If I use this for the expected 20' or needed to run
> to my coil
> are there any gotchas I need to watch for? I know about the
> capacitance that
> the
> shield can present, and if needed I can strip the braid off (but
> I like the
> idea
> of the additional protection.)
> Any surprises from the lead inductance?
> How do others connect your coils to your pig?
>
> In the spirit of "build it yourself" I am going to attempt to wind a
> current limiting reactor myself. I plan to use about 10lbs of iron wire
> I have from another project to form a ring, and then to wind that
> with 8AWG
> wire.
> After the wire winding is done, use a hacksaw to cut a slot, then pot the
> beast
> in some high temp wax (to keep the gap fixed.)
>
> Comments?
>
>