Re: 81" Continuous Arcs!

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

Original poster: "Bert Hickman by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <bert.hickman-at-aquila-dot-net>

Bart, Sam, and all,

These are some very interesting observations! I'd propose the following
reasons:
Leaders (the bright, hot spark channels) are actually being fed
displacement current by multitudes of dimmer, bright blue colored
streamers. These diffusely glowing "cold" streamers extend far beyond the
tips of the brighter leaders, and they are constantly conveying charge
between the high fields at the tips of the leaders and the surrounding
regions of lower potential. However, streamer formation and conduction is
highly dependent on the local E-fields "seen" at the very tips of the
leaders, and these fields are a function of the distribution of charges in
the nearby air. In a bipolar system it's very likely that the presence of
local space charges from the streamer tips of one resonator "feed"
significantly more current into the streamer tips of the opposite resonator
since they are of opposite polarity. The resulting local E-fields seen at
the streamer tips are significantly greater and the degree of charge
transfer via cold streamer discharges between the two is greatly enhanced. 

The combination of stronger E-fields at leader tips, and greater
streamer-to-treamer charge transfer between resonators in a bipolar system
should result in enhanced streamer and leader propagation as compared to an
isolated resonator where leader tips only "see" a far-end potential of
ground. Enhanced avalanche breakdown, higher streamer currents, and longer
leaders should result when the resonators are located close enough so that
they favorably impact each other's E-fields at leader tips. Since the
dimmer streamer "glow" extends considerably past the tips of the leaders
and these streamers provide displacement current flow to support the
leaders, anything which benefits streamer growth or increases streamer
current will also tend to enhance leader growth and maintenance. This
improvement should be observed even when the resonators are far enough
apart so that the leaders are prevented from connecting. If we move the
resonators far enough apart, the leader length of each resonator would
decrease to that of an isolated resonator that's driven at HALF the total
input power. 

A further REDUCTION in leader length should be observed if the resonators
are driven with the SAME phasing since E-fields at the leader tips of one
resonator are reduced by the presence of the other resonator. A streamer
trying to grow towards the opposing resonator would, in effect, be trying
to "swim upstream" from an E-field standpoint. Because streamer growth and
current flow are considerably reduced, so are the leaders that head between
the two resonators. Leader length between two similarly phased resonators
is thus considerably shorter than it would otherwise be with a stand-alone
resonator.

Sort of makes sense, doesn't it?

Best regards,

-- Bert -- 
-- 
Bert Hickman
Stoneridge Engineering
Email:    bert.hickman-at-aquila-dot-net
Web Site: http://www.teslamania-dot-com

Tesla list wrote:
> 
> Original poster: "Barton B. Anderson by way of Terry Fritz
<twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <tesla123-at-pacbell-dot-net>
> 
> Hi Sam, All,
> 
> Tesla list wrote:
> 
> > Original poster: "Sam Barros by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>"
> <list-at-powerlabs-dot-org>
> >
> > At Tuesday, 12 June 2001, you wrote:
> >
> > >Original poster: "Barton B. Anderson by way of Terry Fritz
<twftesla-at-qwest.
> > >net>" <tesla123-at-pacbell-dot-net>
> >
> > >Your not speaking out of turn. I know twin-coil sparklength has
> > been looked at
> > >this way per previous posts on the subject. I personally have difficulty
> > >identifying sparklength potential because in a twin setup, there
> > is quite a few
> > >more mechanisms at work (i.e, potential differences, spark channel
> > effects,
> > >proximity effects, etc..).
> > >
> > >Here's a question I have. If say a 10kVa twin produces 20 foot arcs to
> > >eachother. If the twin is seperated to 25 feet beyond their collective
> > >potential, is each twin then still capable of 10 foot arcs?
> >
> >  In my experience, no. My Twin Tesla Coils always produce their longest
> > arcs when they are able to connect; otherwise the sparks are actually
> > smaller than for a single coil working at the same power level. More
> > information at http://www.powerlabs-dot-org/coil2.htm
> >
> >  Sam Barros.
> >  http://www.powerlabs-dot-org
> >  "If at first you don't suceed, increase the amperage!"
> 
> This was my gut feeling last night when I asked the question. It's
> interesting for the same power
> level, the sparks are smaller when seperated than a single coil and longer
> than a single coil
> when connected. I guess the potential difference and spark channel effects
> on one another effect
> the length more than I realized. I wonder if the long arcs occur when a
> positive and negative
> streamer formation collide. Well, all speculation from me. The Geeks can
> verify all this when
> they build their twin and see if this is typical for twin setups (sounds
> like it is).
> 
> Thanks all,
> Bart Anderson