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Re: Down to earth



Original poster: "Barton B. Anderson" <bartb@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>

Hi Matt,

Your right, there are different configurations. What is preferred depends on the coiler and the situation. For starters, some houses (built in the 60's such as my own) do not have a mains line ground. The 120V receptacles have only 2 prongs. The ground prong is non-existent. I traced my neutral back to the breaker box and beyond. Neutral is actually connected to the ground rod stake next to my fire place about 3 feet from my breaker box. Because I've needed to plug in my modern electronics (TV, fridge, etc..) into these outdated outlets, I replaced the 2 prong receptacles with standard 3 prong outlets. In the process, I tied the ground receptacle to the neutral in order to ensure that the grounding is tied to ground (since my neutral is tied to ground).

Ok, so now, Tesla Coils. What to do, what to do. Well, what type of coil would I be running?

1) Pig powered coil. 240VAC with "ground" at neutral on my house. OK, realize that Tesla Coil strikes cause transient voltages that over volt most everything that might come in contact with it. In this case, I felt it was "best" to run RF ground to my secondary bottom winding, primary inner winding, and no where else. Mains ground, the pig case, gets mains ground, as well as the power cabinet which includes the PLC, PS, Filter, Variacs, Contactors, etc. This case minimizes the transients felt at my TV, Microwave, PC, etc...

2) NST powered coil. 120VAC with "ground" at neutral. Hmmm, well, in my case, to minimize transients to all my house components, it made sense to tie everything near the coil to RF ground. This includes my NST and Terry Filter. Thus, the only "mains ground" is at the variac where I adjust voltage. Yes, my NST case is RF grounded, not mains grounded. There are only 2 wires running out to the NST for Neutral and Line voltage. This is the best configuration to minimize transients back to the house for my particular situation.

Thus, I am a firm believer that "you" need to analyze your particular house electrical situation, and then design your Tesla Coil electrical accordingly to minimize transients back into your house wiring.

I have one of the worst cases to deal with. So, I look at it from a safety stand point. And thus, the components that I'm physically adjusting, I ensure mains ground is attached to those components I come in contact with. But, for the rest of my components which I don't have contact with, I revert the transients to the RF ground I have set up for coiling.

For others who have a dedicated mains ground, there are more opportunities to ensure safety and transient elimination to the house components. My point here is that it is important to first determine your particular situation and then if unsure, ask what is best in that situation.

Take care,
Bart


Tesla list wrote:

Original poster: Matt Gillott <mcg@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>

Hi all
Question about earthing.
Ive seen a lot of different designes on the net for earthing configurations mainly the three as follows though: 1. RF ground to the bottom of the secondary only. Mains/line earth to all the other earthing points in the circuit (transformer casings etc). 2. RF ground to all the earths, both bottom of the secondary and any other earthing points. Mains/line earth connected to nothing
3. RF ground connected to mains/line earth and all earths on the circuit.

From reading I hear that the 3rd configuration is rather dangerous, whats the genreral oppinion about using mains/line earths and whats the prefered configuration?