Re: Gets all "wimpy" seeks help still

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

Original poster: "Jim Lux by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <jimlux-at-earthlink-dot-net>

A change after running for a few seconds sounds like some sort of thermal
effect.  I noticed that a gentle breeze from a "muffin" fan on a static
spark gap is all it took to greatly improve performance.  Without the fan,
a couple of really hot spots developed on the electrodes, but with the fan,
the sparks occur essentially randomly over the entire surface.

Also look for a change in capacitance with internal capacitor temperature.
That is, maybe the coil is going out of tune as the cap heats up and
changes.  Especially if you're adding more transformer power, this might be
an effect.  Here's an experiment that might help isolate it.  Tune in very
short bursts to find the optimum point.  Then, deliberately detune slightly
on one side or the other.  See if a longer run works better or worse. In
theory, as the cap heats up, the value will change and it will actually
come into better tune as it runs then, probably, get worse as you go out
the other side of the maxima.

If no change is noticed, try detuning on the other side of the maximum
(that is, maybe you detuned the first time, and the thermal drift pushed it
farther away).

There is also a possibility of increased loss as something heats up.



> I would agree if not for the first few runs. This thing threw arcs as
> soon as the spark gap starts firing when I first fired it up. Power
> levels at about 40VAC!!
> Another thing I noticed is when it decides to go into wimpy mode the
> whole sound gets different. Almost like when it was first fired and was
> out of tune. Even the spark gap loses its sharp snapping sound.
> 
> 
> >> But remember to make the most of the 2nd NST
> you should increase your primary capacitance as well.
> 
> How would I do this? My cap is .01mfd and according to Tesla CAD I need
> .008 so am I already in the right direction? That is to say do I have
> more cap than I need now for the lone NST? I also have a 4 inch toroid
> that will break out with the new gap but not as well as the 3 inch one.
> I am tapped in at 8 turns out of 13 now
> 
> Thanks,
> Jim
>