No problem Ed

I only know Paschen's Law because it is in an obscure book at work on
insulating oil by Frank Clark.

Otherwise, (I guess now with net it is easy to find, here it is
http://home.earthlink.net/~jimlux/hv/paschen.htm


but otherwise many EEs have not heard of it.

Your experience would count for a lot.


all the best
Paul

Ed Huntress wrote:

"Paul Victor Birke" wrote in message
...

Dear Ed
I at least think you should look at Pachen's Law which talks about
gas breakdown as function of pressure and E (is there something
else-another variable I forget?).


I'm afraid it's 'way down on a very long list, Paul. I know EDM, and at one
time I probably was writing more about it than anyone else in North America.
I've worked for two EDM companies (Sodick and Mitsubishi) and I've
researched EDM power supply designs, including their history.

My interest is practical, not scientific. In this case, it seems to have
left me in a less confused state. g

Be assured, EDMs, particularly modern ones, run at open-circuit voltages
well below those suggested by some here. The one I'm most familiar with had
a maximum open-circuit voltage of 350V. That was 20 years ago. But there
have been EDMs that run well with a maximum open-circuit voltage of 90V.

Most interesting, tending to make Paschen's Law somehow not practical
here or over-ridden !!

Happy New Year