ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions. ***************************************************************************** Shane, We had an 18-month electricity show in our theatre and took many precautions when it came to protecting other equipment. Our Telsa Coil is 1,000,00 volts and about 10 feet tall. We had a 15' x 15' faraday cage hanging above it by about 3' and a grounding fork stand always within 8' of the Tela Coil side. The discharge never went to anything else, unless we used our own grounding wand. All of these went to an isolated grounding source. The nearest projector was about 25' away and we always turned it off. The two biggest operational precautions for us were the faraday cage/grounding fork and the isolated grounding source. Good luck and be safe. --Jeff-- Jeff Rosenblatt Director, Science City Union Station Kansas City, Inc. 30 W. Pershing Rd. Suite 850 Kansas City, MO 64108 Office: 816-460-2218 [log in to unmask] -----Original Message----- From: Informal Science Education Network [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Shane Pickett Sent: Wednesday, August 25, 2010 9:14 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Static demonstrations and protection of electrical devices ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions. ************************************************************************ ***** I'm looking for any advice from anyone with experience in protecting electronic devices from Van de Grafs and Tesla Coils. We have a relatively small demonstration area, and we use a 5' tall, 750Kv Van de Graaff in there. And, we're not sure just how much damage we're risking to the projector, computer, and quite a few AV devices in there, that are 10'-20' away. We've had some problems with the projector bulb-it's a fairly new machine, and we've blown two bulbs prematurely. Our only speculation as to this problem is static related. And now we're considering adding a tesla coil to our demonstration. I'm worried about frying more than just projector bulbs, and those bulbs are pretty pricey as it is... How much protection has proven to be enough for other installations? We don't really have the space to put Faraday cages around everything, but we're not sure if power conditioners and surge suppressors are enough, either. Any and all help is welcome. Thank you, Shane Pickett Science Central -----Original Message----- From: Informal Science Education Network [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Mike Slayton Sent: Tuesday, August 24, 2010 4:28 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: Large Van de Graaff ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions. ************************************************************************ ***** Remember-- Check with mfg to see if these, when working, will affect other electronic devices in the area, including not only interactives, but medical devices such as pace-makers. On Aug 24, 2010, at 3:21 PM, Sherry Marshall wrote: > ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology > Centers Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and > related institutions. > ********************************************************************** > ******* > > Hello All - > Does anyone know of a source for the large Van de Graaff generators? > You know, the ones that are like 6 foot tall? Not like the "Bridge of > Fire" ones. Looking for reasonable priced, without making our own. > Ideas? > -Sherry > > Sherry Marshall > Director, Oklahoma Museum Network > http://www.oklahomamuseumnetwork.org > > > ********************************************************************** > * > For information about the Association of Science-Technology Centers > and the Informal Science Education Network please visit www.astc.org. > > Check out the latest case studies and reviews on ExhibitFiles at > www.exhibitfiles.org. > > The ISEN-ASTC-L email list is powered by LISTSERVR software from L- > Soft. To learn more, visit http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html. > > To remove your e-mail address from the ISEN-ASTC-L list, send the > message SIGNOFF ISEN-ASTC-L in the BODY of a message to > [log in to unmask] Mike Slayton Proto Productions, Inc. 840 Fiene Drive Addison, IL 60101 P: 630-628-6626 F: 630-628-2232 E: [log in to unmask] W: www.protoproductions.com This e-mail message contains confidential, privileged information intended solely for the addressee. Please do not read, copy or disseminate it unless you are the addressee. If you have received it in error, please call us at 630-628-6626 and ask to speak with the message sender. Also, we would appreciate your forwarding the message back to us and deleting it from your system. Thank you *********************************************************************** For information about the Association of Science-Technology Centers and the Informal Science Education Network please visit www.astc.org. Check out the latest case studies and reviews on ExhibitFiles at www.exhibitfiles.org. The ISEN-ASTC-L email list is powered by LISTSERVR software from L-Soft. To learn more, visit http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html. To remove your e-mail address from the ISEN-ASTC-L list, send the message SIGNOFF ISEN-ASTC-L in the BODY of a message to [log in to unmask] *********************************************************************** For information about the Association of Science-Technology Centers and the Informal Science Education Network please visit www.astc.org. Check out the latest case studies and reviews on ExhibitFiles at www.exhibitfiles.org. The ISEN-ASTC-L email list is powered by LISTSERVR software from L-Soft. To learn more, visit http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html. To remove your e-mail address from the ISEN-ASTC-L list, send the message SIGNOFF ISEN-ASTC-L in the BODY of a message to [log in to unmask] *********************************************************************** For information about the Association of Science-Technology Centers and the Informal Science Education Network please visit www.astc.org. Check out the latest case studies and reviews on ExhibitFiles at www.exhibitfiles.org. The ISEN-ASTC-L email list is powered by LISTSERVR software from L-Soft. To learn more, visit http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html. To remove your e-mail address from the ISEN-ASTC-L list, send the message SIGNOFF ISEN-ASTC-L in the BODY of a message to [log in to unmask]