I don't know anything
about electrochemistry in batteries, but I question the ability of a string
cells to absorb a fast high energy pulse without impedance, and that this
impedence would cause a voltage spike. Maybe the spike has a different
contour than a cap has and that makes the difference. I don't
know.
Batteries take charge
by chemical action, which can't happed as fast as the PAGD pulse; Jeff is
right. This is why the Correa circuit has a large electrolytic capacitor
across the batteries, to take the peak energy and buffer it so the battery
chemistry can act.
What I do know is that if you run the tube with
only a ballast resistor, the PAGD events are merely a random display of little
sparkles on the surface of the cathode, and that a series connected diode cap
combination across the the tube to capture a forward pulse will collect
nothing. But, if you put a 3 mfd cap across the tube, the sparkles turn
into energetic eruptions on the cathode surface causing the capture
cap to charge up to 800v in successive pulses. (I accidently pushed
a series combination of 350v electrolytic capture caps to 800v and got away
with it)
The faint blue glow is one of the
precursors to the PAGD discharge. When you put a 3 mfd capacitor across the
cell you have made an ordinary strobe flasher and the energy comes from
charging the capacitor.
My tube is a pair of 3/4 inch aluminum plates
separated be a 12 inch dia by 3 in pyrex tube sealed with a 12 inch dia by
3/16 O ring and vac grease. One plate is drilled for a vac connection. I
also have a 9 inch dia version using an acrylic tube. It works just as
well. Works is a relative term. Lots of neat visual effects: no
obvious OU.
The Correa patents are quite
specific about the aluminum alloys used, and quite specific about the need for
a low work function, which will also depend on the condition of the surfaces
with respect to contamination. If you don't "get" this, you are missing
essential matters.
As you pull a vacuum while the tube is energized,
you reach a vacuum threshold where the tube lights off. Maximum activity
is not terribly far below this threshold. If you pull a much harder
vacuum then the reactions get lethargic. The geometry of my tubes allows
me to see a haze line in the lavender glow of the tube. This line may
not be visible in a Correa style tube. Best performance of my
equipment is at a haze line height of 5/8 to 3/4 inch above the cathode
plate. At light off the haze line is at 1/8 to1/4 inch above the
cathode.
Jeff
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Friday, March 04, 2005 5:25
PM
Subject: Re: Correa
Now we're getting somewhere!
Perhaps a huge part of this mystery concerns the critical design of the
output. Too small a capacitor and the pulse action will be
inhibited
because the capacitor will be filled. Too fast or brief a pulse and
the battery may reject most of it as heat rather than accept it as a
charge.
It might be possible to use some sort of audio transformer of high quality
to transform the pulses down. I would think the low
impedance
of a small battery pack would be reflected back into the tube
favorably. Perhaps one of the new low voltage ultracaps would
work
in such a circuit.
