Electricity just got confusing

The flash lamp power supply in the xerox machine like in the movie 9 to 5 has 4 capacitors that are measured in farads. Not microfarads. Fed by 50 amp 240v. A service rep did a dumbass and got a hand across it and it fires at 3 times a second. He retired with disability because he destroyed the nerves in his hand. the capacitirs are 6 inches in diameter and 18 inches tall with 1/2" lugs for connection. Fires an arc through 4 one foot long xenon flash tubes.
Danger Will Robinson!
 
Rivets said:
I understand what everyone is saying, it’s just confusing that in all my years of fixing engines I’ve never seen it before. Thank you all for educating this old fart.
Click to expand...
I am an old fart and I know this is an old thread. I chased electrons my whole life and I was never able to see one but I know they exist because they will knock the crap out of you when they bunch up in great numbers! Now about the spark tester and the small chainsaw magneto. Think about this. In the old radios and small appliances there was a neon pilot that would glow everytime you threw the power switch on...just to let you know the line was hot by ionizing the gas in the bulb. There is a very large resistor in the line to limit the current when the AC line voltage passes the 60-70 volt level. It will flash at the line frequency rate of 60 cycles per second and will physically explode without a resistor to limit the current to just a few milliamps. About the small engine magneto and the spark tester which has internal resistance for checking presence of sparks from automotive engines. The 12 vdc high capacity spark coil driven with enough power to supply thousands of higher sparks, voltages and currents, will have a higher series resistance to protect the tester. The tester always gets a spark in excess of the ionization level to make it glow, but it doesn't get enough current when the source current is lower than the design spec. You can always grasp the spark out with a firm hand if you don't trust the tester! Just kidding.
 
Rivets said:
I understand what everyone is saying, it’s just confusing that in all my years of fixing engines I’ve never seen it before. Thank you all for educating this old fart.
Click to expand...
Try it on an electric fence sometime. Light. Light. Light.......
 
:)

I touched a B battery to my tongue once as a kid. It probably explains my twitch and my kid bother's crossed eyes. (kidding about twitch and eyes). He asked me what it tasted like, I said ice cream so he insisted he wanted to try it too, but didn't think happily about the moment afterwards. I am 74, he just turned 70 the other day. Been shocked enough in life to avoid it. Been within 10 feet of three lightning strikes. Electricity loves me, I give it a wide berth.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top