no no no no no no NO!!!! please don't put them in series. if you do that,
you will very likely destroy one or two of them due to breakdown between the
primary and secondary - look at it this way, all the primarys are in
parallel (you plugged them in, right?), with the secondaries in series,
there is around 27KV between the secondary of one transformer and the
primary of the one farthest away (electrically). The primary to secondary
insulation is designed for a 4.5KV standoff, with some safety factor, you
are at 27 - not good, breakdown very probable. AND, if you are unlucky, you
will find that the secondaries are center tapped with the center tap
connected to the case.

Why risk good transformers. with 9KV and a jacob's ladder you start at
about 1/4 inch at the bottom, you should be able to get an easy inch or
three at the top - the plasma conducts much better than air.

Find one of the tesla coiling groups before you destroy these things,
please.

bill n


"Don Foreman" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 20 Oct 2005 03:46:27 GMT, Ignoramus27736
wrote:

Made a 1/4" spark gap... I see sparks... Very exciting...

http://igor.chudov.com/projects/High.../Franceformer/

i
That's a neon xfmr. Three of those in series should make a dandy
Jacob's ladder! The buzzzzzzzZZZAP noise it makes adds to the fun.
With 3 or 4 of them in series, a Jacobs ladder should be able to
sustain an arc over an inch long before it goes out at the top and
starts again (ZAP) at the bottom.

The nameplate ratings can be confusing. They deliver rated voltage
under open circuit conditions, rated current at short or near-short
conditions. Once a spark/arc is initiated, voltage drops to about 1KV
in a short gap. 1KV is a near short condition for a 30KV xfmr.

A job I once had was designing electronic oil ignition xfmrs, 30KV at
30 mA. They ran at about 30KHz. In normal use the rectified AC
wasn't filtered -- but if a filter cap was added, the arc/spark was
eery quiet -- just sort of a soft hiss. A Jacob's ladder with that
was like the audio was missing.