Re: Ballast Puzzle

["Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>]

Original poster: "Jason Johnson by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <hvjjohnson13-at-hotmail-dot-com>

Ballasts like this can work well, and can be wound on wood, but don't wind
them on any solid piece made of steel or iron!! The rod will act as a
shorted turn and generate ALOT of heat, and rob you of much of your power,
making your coil vastly innefficient. I saw what happens when you put a
steel bolt inside one of these, and then try and take the bolt out after a
few second run, OUCH!

<< Jason R. Johnson >>
G-3 #1129
The Geek Group
http://www.thegeekgroup-dot-org/

----- Original Message -----
From: "Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
To: <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
Sent: Sunday, August 12, 2001 10:30 PM
Subject: Re: Ballast Puzzle


> Original poster: "by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>"
<Hollmike-at-aol-dot-com>
>
> In a message dated 8/12/01 2:03:13 PM Pacific Daylight Time,
tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
> writes:
>
>
> >
> > Hey guys,
> >
> > You don't even need a core to make a ballast.  My ballasts are just
rolls
> > of
> > 8AWG THHN copper wound on a 1-inch wood rod 8-inches long. For 100 amps
I
> > have approx. 14 layers of 38 turns each for a total of 6.25-inches in
> > diameter.  It weighs in at 30 lbs. For 50 amps use 2. The 8 AWG will get
> > hot
> > at 100 amps, however, and cooling time between runs is required.  We
> > violated
> > this rule at the Geek's Teslathon, and it stayed hot for an hour
afterwards
> > (we're probably lucky the insulation didn't melt).
> >
> > R. Scott Coppersmith
> >
>
>
>
> sounds to me like you could use a total of four of these in
series/parallel
> for 100A.
> Mike
> geek # 1144  G-2
>
>
>
>