RE: TC Spark Energy

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

Original poster: "John H. Couture" <couturejh-at-mgte-dot-com> 


John F. -

I agree the spark length is a non linear function of the input wattage and
the overall energy efficiency of a Tesla coil is equal to

    Efficiency = output energy/input energy

The input energy is easy to find but the output energy is a problem when the
output is a spark length. I agree that for a certain spark length the energy
varies depending on the thickness and brightness. But how do you determine
the joules of energy with varying spark thickness and brightness? The spark
energy could also be determined by voltage, current, and time as one coiler
mentioned. To my knowledge no coiler has ever made these tests.

John Couture

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-----Original Message-----
From: Tesla list [mailto:tesla-at-pupman-dot-com]
Sent: Thursday, March 11, 2004 9:20 AM
To: tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
Subject: Re: TC Spark Energy


Original poster: FutureT-at-aol-dot-com

In a message dated 3/10/04 7:14:51 PM Eastern Standard Time,
tesla-at-pupman-dot-com writes:

 >The answer is also very simple. This rating method gives low ratings for
 >large TCs,  only a couple inches per input joule. In other words large TCs
 >appear to be very inefficient. This is a problem. Any comments?


John,

This is because the ratio of spark length to input power (or energy)
is not linear.
Rather the relationship follows the square law closely.  I don't
see this as a matter of efficiency or inefficiency.  Efficiency is
the ratio of input energy to output energy.  The sparks from a large
coil are not only longer but thicker and brighter in a sense.  This
takes a lot of energy to produce such sparks.  Your methods
would be true only for a particular spark length.  For example
you could compare a coil that gives a 10" spark with another
coil that gives a 10" spark.  You could judge the relative
efficiencies of these two coils by measuring their input power.

John F.