The more i think about it Richard the more I wonder whether a large mercury switch may do the job as it would have no contacts to burn, after all I am using a relatively low voltage, just a whoppingly huge current. I did some more research on SCR's and apparently they have a slow switch on time and in my case a 2.1 volt drop across it. I think those factors combined to splat the SCR when the voltage drop across the load is low relative to the switch (a dead short in this case). Can I switch say 340 volts with a triggered tube?
Created on Tuesday, February 20, 2001 3:01 AM EDT by Mark G Harriss