RE: [TCML] Rotory STATIC Gap

["Lau, Gary" <Gary.Lau@xxxxxx>]

Hi Scot,

If you're seeing the spark gap jump anything remotely like 2.2 inches, your coil components (cap and NST?) are not long for this world.  That length indicates that the cap is charging to a MUCH too high voltage.  Any rotary gap, sync or not, needs to have a properly spaced static gap in parallel with it, so that it fires before the voltage gets out of hand and things start going poof.

I'm having trouble visualizing your setup, so it would help a huge amount if you could post some photos.

Also, please be consistent in the use of the word "static".  Your RSG has rotating electrodes, and it has stationary electrodes.  When you say that it has static electrodes, or operating in static mode, I'm not sure what you're referring to.

Regards, Gary Lau
MA, USA

> -----Original Message-----
> From: tesla-bounces@xxxxxxxxxx [mailto:tesla-bounces@xxxxxxxxxx] On
> Behalf Of bunnykiller
> Sent: Thursday, October 23, 2008 2:09 PM
> To: Tesla Coil Mailing List
> Subject: [TCML] Rotory STATIC Gap
>
> Hey All....
>
> I was looking at my spark gap ( SRSG) and noticed that the timing must
> have been off or the primary circuit voltage had jumped up quite a bit
> and started arcing before the electrodes were in position.  The gap is
> designed with 4 flying electrodes and 2 static, since I couldnt place
> the statics on each sides of the disc, I had to put them on one side of
> the disc ( away from the motor). To achieve conduction, I had to place a
> copper ring around the periphery of the disc to conduct from one
> electrode to the next. (This was done to keep the stationary electrodes
> from arcing to the motor.)
>
> This configuration allowed the primary circuit to charge to voltages (
> well as far as the distance from the stationary gap distance was from
> the copper ring ( 2.2" total gap width)) which would then jump the 2.2"
> length to conduct.  As the electrodes would proceed into the stationary
> region, it would ( im supposing now) lower the gap voltage for
> conduction and eventually quench.
>
> So in effect, the gap was firing in "static" mode and then finished off
> in rotory mode.  Guess I need to get rid of the copper ring to have a
> true SRSG.... ;)
>
> At lower input voltages to the piggie, the gap works fine ( as its
> supposed to) but once past 75-80% on the variac, the "static" mode appears.
>
> Need to design a better SRSG that can fend off 40KV+ and not attack my
> motor....
>
> Scot D

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