Dr. Beshires1: It depends on your setup. I can do it with 7.5kV, using this same circuit, if I stretch the arc gap, then give the cap a little time to charge while the diode's spark is operating.
Otherwise, I've gotten a spark around 1" with 45kV and no cap. So 2" would probably take close to 100kV, with a non rectified rf type spark.
But a capacitive discharge spark is completely different. Without an initial inductive electron trail, HV from a cap will only jump a very short distance, creating its own ion path. So a cap would have to have around 800,000 Volts to jump 2" on it's own.
Otherwise, I've gotten a spark around 1" with 45kV and no cap. So 2" would probably take close to 100kV, with a non rectified rf type spark.
But a capacitive discharge spark is completely different. Without an initial inductive electron trail, HV from a cap will only jump a very short distance, creating its own ion path. So a cap would have to have around 800,000 Volts to jump 2" on it's own.
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