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| The Marx generator is composed by five record discs, wrapped on the both sides with aluminum foil, with safety margins and separated through three party cups for each stage. The capacity of one disc is around 900- 1100 pF (from my experience with this type of caps in tesla coil service). At the top of the generator is fixed a thin PVC tube which sustains the chains of the charging resistors, on each side of the generator ( 2 x 10 Mohms on each side of the stage). Because important flashovers appeared on the resistors of the first stage, they were potted in plasticine (plastilin), a very good insulator, in my oppinion. Because the flashovers appear now on the next stage, the next move will be the insulating step of all the charging resistors. The spark gaps are mounted in the front of the generator. They are a crude affair: two simple thin copper wires, aligned in parallel. Heavy corona losses. The spark gaps will be redesigned for the second light. The discharge electrodes: the inferior electrode is fixed at the top of the generator; the inferior one is connected to an aluminium foil from the generator base. The PVC tube with a little green coil on it, on the right side, is a tool, I made, for controling at distance the spark gaps setting. |