Re: Differences between "bad" streamers and "good" streamers

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

Original poster: "Zagarus Rashkae by way of Terry Fritz <teslalist-at-qwest-dot-net>" <arbitrarily_random-at-yahoo-dot-com>

Ok, sounds good. Will more power make it brighter?

Thanks,

Chris
--- Tesla list <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com> wrote:
 > Original poster: "Justin Hays by way of Terry Fritz
 > <teslalist-at-qwest-dot-net>" <pyrotrons2000-at-yahoo-dot-com>
 >
 > Hi All,
 >
 > If you're getting 36" streamers, the arcs are going
 > to be just about
 > as hot as they can get. If you build the mother of
 > all spark gaps,
 > and put it on your coil, you'll notice an increase
 > in sparklength but
 > the brightness will be about the same. You might get
 > the sparks a
 > *little bit* brighter. Hardly noticeable. I would
 > leave your spark
 > gap as it is.
 >
 > You must realize that spark gap tesla coil streamers
 > are NOT bright,
 > I don't care how big and/or powerful your coil is.
 > They are invisible
 > with normal sunlight, hard to see in normal tungsten
 > lighting, and
 > only highly visible in the dark.
 >
 > The topload is mainly responsible for current in the
 > discharge
 > (brightness of the arc). If you're charging your
 > topload with
 > voltages enough to produce 36" streamers, don't
 > expect any more
 > streamer brightness.
 >
 > The streamers on my old 12" tesla coil, which made
 > 12 foot arcs, were
 > rather dim even with a properly sized (4 foot
 > diameter) topload. But,
 > when they struck something, they turned into a pure
 > white stream of
 > sparks, and sparks are where the fun is in my
 > opinion ; )
 >
 > A better spark gap will increase the brightness of
 > "ground strikes"
 > where the streamers contact metal or ground. A
 > larger topload will do
 > the same thing.
 >
 > Take care,
 >
 > Justin Hays
 > KC5PNP
 > Email: justin-at-hvguy-dot-com
 > Website: www.hvguy-dot-com
 >
 >