You have beat me to the punch and forged new ground as well as reported the problems you experienced. Nice informative posting.
It sounds like the filaments were doing their job OK, but the pressure is still just a bit high for smooth operation.
I sort of realized that I would need a diff or turbo pump for the ionizer grid system and that reduced pressure operation would be the norm from now on. I am assembling (vey slowly), all of the components. I will use an air cooled Leybold 3" diff pump with penatvac fluid.
I suspect that the new operating point might be in the .1 micron or 10e-4 torr region with the filament and ionizer grid.
The exact new operating proceedure will be much different from the old high pressure fusor III operation. I hope to bring some of this under computer control, but with time and funds stretched to the limit now, the effort will not be an easy one.
Trying to design a full system from scratch with expansion capabilities built in and yet not get over complicated is a tough job.
Again, superb report of a real effort with a real fusion system.
Scott Little's fusor is not on line and will not likely get back on line in the near future as this was a side trip for him. So, it looks like its just us in the neutron club for now. I hope someone else joins us soon.
Richard Hull
Created on Wednesday, January 17, 2001 11:44 AM EDT by Richard Hull