Lawaranceville E-Newsletter

Giorgio · Post by **Giorgio** » Fri Jul 22, 2011 7:24 am

Ivy Matt wrote:Today's little bit of news:

On July 21, 2011 LPPX wrote:getting bunny suited for mylar main insulator assembly

Man, what have you done......
Since reading your post I have in front of me the picture of Eric Lerner dressed in a playboy bunny suit working on the FF1 switches.

I'll need professional help to get it removed from my brain....

rcain · Post by **rcain** » Fri Jul 22, 2011 4:39 pm

...godamnit - you have given me the same image - how do i get rid of it...

all eyes on the FoFu board for the coming weeks then. sounds like they are in a busy time. best wishes for their success.

(I'm still itching to see that direct conversion unit take shape).

Skipjack · Post by **Skipjack** » Fri Jul 22, 2011 5:43 pm

Yeah, if I ever happend to meet Lerner in person, how would I explain the stupid grin on my face to him now, when I shake his hands?

Giorgio · Post by **Giorgio** » Fri Jul 22, 2011 6:23 pm

http://www.fugly.com/pictures/22686/fat ... -suit.html

Ivy Matt · Post by **Ivy Matt** » Fri Jul 22, 2011 10:05 pm

Well, I don't know if this will help or hurt, but here it is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qq8OBlLebos

Warning: it's 11¼ minutes long, and not terribly stimulating. It's also from the initial construction of FF-1, not the recent upgrade.

Ivy Matt · Post by **Ivy Matt** » Fri Aug 05, 2011 8:51 pm

From Twitter:

On August 5, 2011 LPPX wrote:First shot will be cleaning only, deuterium pressure will be intentionally too low to pinch

On August 5, 2011 LPPX wrote:We fired

And, from the forum:

AaronB wrote:First cleaning shot successful. Data acquisition done. Preparing for next shot. Nice to be operational again!

Indeed.

I'm not sure if they've fired all switches at 45 kV yet, though. If not, it should be soon. Then, hopefully, it won't be too long before they can move beyond deuterium.

zapkitty · Post by **zapkitty** » Fri Aug 05, 2011 10:45 pm

Ivy Matt wrote: I'm not sure if they've fired all switches at 45 kV yet, though. If not, it should be soon. Then, hopefully, it won't be too long before they can move beyond deuterium.

They're starting out at 35kv while they chase bugs and tweak the system but then they will up it to 45.

Soon, soon...

Ivy Matt · Post by **Ivy Matt** » Mon Aug 08, 2011 6:44 pm

On August 5, 2011 LPPX wrote:Switch tuning progressing well

On August 7, 2011 LPPX wrote:12/12, all together now!

On August 8, 2011 LPPX wrote:enough switch tuning, now it's time to PINCH! (that's what makes the fusion happen)

So presumably they're back to pinching again, probably working their way from 35 kV up to 45 kV, hopefully with none of the previous switch/spark plug/insulator problems.

Skipjack · Post by **Skipjack** » Mon Aug 08, 2011 8:09 pm

So presumably they're back to pinching again, probably working their way from 35 kV up to 45 kV, hopefully with none of the previous switch/spark plug/insulator problems.

Fingers crossed!

Ivy Matt · Post by **Ivy Matt** » Thu Aug 11, 2011 6:08 am

More ups and downs:

On August 9, 2011 LPPX wrote:improvements to cathode base to optimize pinching with knife edge underway, piece should be back from machine shop soon

On August 10, 2011 LPPX wrote:checking axial magnetic field coil for any irregularities due to wiggly wires--lookin' good!

On August 10, 2011 LPPX wrote:bolts break -> why? -> measure bolts -> bolts too long -> extract broken bolts -> grind down 16 fresh bolts -> bolts don't break ;-D

On August 10, 2011 LPPX wrote:electrodes - including slotted knife-edge cathode base - back on the machine, that means time to play the slots for fusion!

Ivy Matt · Post by **Ivy Matt** » Fri Aug 12, 2011 6:09 am

On August 11, 2011 LPPX wrote:vac looks good, FoFu-1 is pumping down!

On August 11, 2011 LPPX wrote:FoFu-1 preparing to fire

On August 11, 2011 LPPX wrote:we're fusing

First fusion since the upgrade? No mention of the charging potential, though.

Giorgio · Post by **Giorgio** » Fri Aug 12, 2011 7:23 am

Ivy Matt wrote:
On August 11, 2011 LPPX wrote:we're fusing

No more post since that one? I hope it didn't mean that it was the Lab that was actually fusing...

Henning · Post by **Henning** » Fri Aug 12, 2011 12:43 pm

Giorgio wrote:
Ivy Matt wrote:
On August 11, 2011 LPPX wrote:we're fusing

No more post since that one? I hope it didn't mean that it was the Lab that was actually fusing...

Ivy Matt is just reporting the Twitter updates. The newsletter should be out the next few days. I suppose when Aaron's got a little more time and doesn't need to help out in the lab anymore.

Ivy Matt · Post by **Ivy Matt** » Fri Aug 12, 2011 9:22 pm

I'm guessing they're just busy. This message would seem to indicate the lab is still intact:

On August 12, 2011 focusfusion wrote:And thanks to Bob Fitzgerald for dropping by the lab and giving us a ride in the Tesla! Great acceleration!

I'll stop with the Twitter updates now, unless something really exciting happens between now and the release of the newsletter.

Ivy Matt · Post by **Ivy Matt** » Mon Aug 15, 2011 12:48 pm

The newsletter is out:

Switch success times twelve signals new era for reliability

Experiments underway! Fusion device upgrade complete

LPP's Focus Fusion featured in Renewable Energy World

In short:

*The FF-1 upgrade is complete.
*FF-1 has been fired numerous times since the upgrade at 35 kV with no misfires and no prefires.
*The new switches have passed a static test at 40 kV with no prefires.
*FF-1 will be tested at 45 kV capacitor bank potential in the latter part of this month.

A test at 45 kV using deuterium fill gas should produce a 2 MA peak current. Testing at 45 kV should also help LPP to determine the optimum gas pressure using deuterium. Once these steps are complete, it's onward to heavier fill gases: deuterium+nitrogen mixes at first, then finally hydrogen+boron.