Triac-dimmers in TC's

• To: tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
• Subject: Triac-dimmers in TC's
• From: Gary Lau 26-Feb-1999 1740 <lau-at-hdecad.ENET.dec-dot-com> (by way of Terry Fritz <twf-at-verinet-dot-com>)
• Date: Fri, 26 Feb 1999 21:16:28 -0700
• Approved: twf-at-verinet-dot-com

Has anyone had experience using a solid-state off-the-shelf lamp dimmer
to control the speed of a motor in a Tesla Coil?  I'm currently using a
variac on my gap's vacuum cleaner motor, but I thought I'd save some
space and just use a solid-state dimmer.  The motor is an AC/DC
"universal" type.  I'm just wondering if the voltage spikes and
interference would either toast the semiconductors or confuse the control
circuit.  Please don't speculate and suggest using a filter unless you
know, from experience, that it won't work without it.

Thanks, Gary Lau
Waltham, MA USA

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