Re: why did my "solid state" 10 KV NST quit working?

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

Original poster: "Harvey Norris" <harvich-at-yahoo-dot-com> 


--- Tesla list <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com> wrote:

 > Original poster: "Jack Vandam"
 > <snotoir7674g-at-mindspring-dot-com>
 >
 > A month ago, I had one of the newer "solid state" 10
 > KV NSTs.  I believe the
 > frequency output was on the order of 20Khz.  I
 > thought that a transformer
 > like this might be ideal for feeding a high voltage
 > multiplier, so I hooked
 > one up.  Within 30 seconds, the transformer went
 > dead and has not been heard
 > from since.  I thought something might have tripped,
 > so I looked around for
 > a reset switch but none found.  I tested the
 > multiplier and it worked fine
 > with another drive source.  Any idea what could have
 > gone wrong with this
 > NST?  Unfortunately, I couldn't open it as it's
 > epoxied closed :(.
 >
 > Thanks for any thoughts,
 > Jack
I have played around with these things a bit. It seems
that they need a neon tube as a load in order to
function. I wanted to use them to set up some source
frequency resonant circuits at 20 khz, but the
discreet L and C components in series would not
function as a load. The device just made some funny
clicking noises. It does the same thing when driven by
a variac and approaching the ignition voltage of the
neon tube, before the tube ignites one can hear
clicking noises. A neon should be in place for the
load, for the solid state device to effectively even
work. I took a 4 inch tube and also put it in series
with an inductor. Then I took an analogue (needle)
voltage meter and put it across the bulb. Surprising
results, because the high frequency of the source will
interact with the internal impedance of the meter, and
of course those meters are not made to fuction at such
an excessive frequency, the normal internal impedance
spec.s on the meter are probably the internal
impedances restered at 60 hz, so in this case the
actual internal impedance near 20,000 hz would go sky
high. The voltage meter(across the 4 inch neon) gave
smaller and smaller readings as I turned up the scale
to obtain a better reading of what the actual voltage
of the bullb was. On the highest scale setting I
obtained 200 volts across the bulb, but when I turned
the scale selection up to the lowest level, the meter
was reading only 50 volts, clearly an erroneous
reading. Having a scope that could go to the 200 volt
level, I was able to scope out the triangular waveform
inherent in neon discharges, but the output frequency
showed it to be nearer to 18 khz, not 20.  A useful
tool of these inexpensive items is to use them as
resonant frequency detectors.  I put my tesla
secondary in series with the bulb, and scoped out the
secondary. At first what appeared to be on the scoping
was waveforms rapidly moving across the screen on the
x axis.  But taking a digital picture of the scoping,
(only breifly touching the button that takes the
picture) I could see a signal with an cycle time
period of 3 us, which perfectly conforms to the
secondaries predicted resonant frequency of 330,000
hz.  Apparently the relative high frequency of the
solid state source will cause a coil in series with
the neon disharge to start vibrating with higher
harmonics indicative of the tested coils natural
resonant frequency.  In other experiments I also ran
the solid state device with the stepped up voltage
from an alternator at 480 hz.  Even though the primary
input frequency has been changed to an 8 fold higher
frequency, the output frequency of the solid state NST
remained at 18 khz. However driving the NST with this
higher frequency, and scoping out coils in series with
the neon, gave much clearer scopings of resonant
frequency, and in this case one can clearly see higher
harmonics riding on the 18 khz waveform.  I have no
idea how these devices work, but as noted they do not
multiply frequency as the normal transformer would.  I
am getting ready to do some more experiments with
these devices, in conjuction with alternator inputs.
The question I wish to explore now is the phasing
issue. Since I can obtain a triangular AC scoping
across a neon, if I drive three of them from three 120
phases available from the phasing options available on
the alternator, will my phasings on the neons
themselves show these phase angle differences?  Other
experimental options include trying to get a 18 khz
source frequency resonance to function. The q factor
at this higher frequency is predictably large for any
coil. We know that when we add capacity to the
circuit, this should reduce the frequency shown as the
higher harmonic that rides on the 18 khz signal. At a
certain point of added capacity we ought to be able to
reduce all the harmonics out of the picture, and to be
able to also obtain a clean high frequency signal
across the inductor. At this point we might suspect
that  source frequency series resonance should come
into the picture, along with its attendant resonant
rise of voltage  q times past the value of the voltage
being inputed.  I suspect that the conventional
resonant formulas (Thompsons)are inadequate to predict
what the correct capacity for such a source frequency
would be.  Unfortunately with meter problems, I doubt
that putting an AC amperage meter on a high frequency
line such as this would do any good, and I'm not
prepared to try something like that, I've ruined
enough meters in my day, and that gets too expensive.
Perhaps however an analogue (needle) amperage meter
would do the trick. If that were to work we could
simply chart out the rise of amperage with various
capacities tied into the inductor- neon pathway.
Instead I have a different strategy. I will use L and
C in series, on both sides of the neon discharge, with
the neon placed at the midpoint of each sides L and C
value. One set of LC values will be placed 180 out of
phase with respect to their voltage sources, or one
set will appear "backwards" with respect to the other
one.  What we obtain then is a possible inductive
pathway, with a neon bridge between that pathway, and
a possible capacitive pathway, again with the neon
bridging that pathway, where both pathways then form a
figure 8, with an S and a backwards S as the two
reactive pathways. Now we can scope out the forms
found on each inductor with a dual channel scoping.
First we can try a C value predicted by Thompsons
resonance formula. This should show that each coils
signal IS NOT 180 out of phase, because Thompsons
formula becomes invalid at these higher frequencies,
and what we will need to use is a C value much lower
that what that formula gives as an answer. By trials
using succesively smaller C values, we should see
those waveforms getting closer and closer to 180
phasings, but at the same time the voltages should
increase. However the "bandwidth" of a 18 khz source
frequency resonant circuit should be extremely narrow.
If at some point in making those capacity corrections,
we actually hit the correct combination, and the
predicted resonant rise of voltage were to occur, we
might end up incapacitating the scope, by going beyond
the voltage range of the scopes settings.  Caution
would be the order of the day in doing these kind of
experiments.  The reason I would wish to persue these
kind of things is the space issue.  At this high of an
input frequency the capacities for resonance being so
small, this means that we might be able to spatially
juxtapose the C value so that it can exist "inside"
the core of the inductors volume. In this regard test
tubes filled with water, with foil plates taped to the
glass might be used for the C value. Then we can wind
the test tubes with wire to secure the L value. Other
alternator 480 hz experiments have shown that when a
source frequency resonance is found, the action of
orthogonally spatially interacting the L and C fields
itself changes the parameters for the resonance. Every
changing electric field also produces a corresponding
changing magnetic field, and this action itself, with
the changing electric field being inside a changing
magnetic field, the inter-relationship makes for the
fact that the spatial juxtapositioning of fields
actually changes the impedance of the L value, thus
also changing the requirements for finding the actual
L and C values that are needed in series to resonate.
Poly phased inputs would also be required in this
investigation, where the C value from one phase is
juxtaposed in the space of the adjacent phases L
magnetic field.  If we were merely to do this with
just a single phase, the fields would essentially be
missing each other, since for series resonance, when
the electric field is full, the magnetic field is
empty, and vice versa.  This stuff is obviously
getting "out there" and beyond the allowed topics for
the tesla list, so I will cease and desist.  I dont
know why your solid state NST quit working, but I just
wanted to post my experience with them anyways...

Sincerely HDN
PS; http://groups.yahoo-dot-com/group/teslafy/ has a file
on this stuff at Solid State NST Research
http://groups.yahoo-dot-com/group/teslafy/files/SST