Re: secondary question

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

Original poster: "Malcolm Watts" <m.j.watts-at-massey.ac.nz> 

On 8 Mar 2004, at 7:38, Tesla list wrote:

 > Original poster: dhmccauley-at-spacecatlighting-dot-com
 >
 >  >  > I have seen plenty of coils in person and pictures that produce
 >  arcs >  > much longer than the length of the secondary coil. What
 >  prevents to >  > voltage from the secondary from just arcing down
 >  it's own length? Its >  > the shortest path. >  >
 >                Steve Z > > > Prepare to be "shocked" - the voltage
 >  isn't actually high enough to > allow it to do that. It most
 >  certainly does happen if the voltage > gets high enough, an easy
 >  matter to arrange (just up the primary > energy sufficiently and it
 >  will happen). Long streamers are the > result of repetitive growth
 >  along a hot and possibly partially > ionized channel of air. > >
 >  Malcolm
 >
 > I beg to differ.  Take a look at this beauty of a photo I took of
 > Terry Blake's tesla coil at the RATCB 2003.  A very nice arc right
 > down the secondary!!! And BTW, thats an oil filled secondary as well!
 >
 > http://www.easternvoltageresearch-dot-com/ratcb2003/imagepages/240-4022_IM
 > G.html
 >
 > Dan

If the voltage is high enough, it will happen. I did say that didn't
I? The only way to really judge whether the voltage is high enough is
in single-shot operation. Repetitively propagated sparks can go just
about anywhere.

Malcolm