Re: troubleshooting tesla coil (fwd)

["Tesla list" <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sat, 16 Jun 2007 11:15:46 -0400
From: Marko Ruban <Marko@xxxxxxxx>
To: Tesla list <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: troubleshooting tesla coil (fwd)

Thanks, Scott

I'm currently looking at eBay, to buy NST, they seem to have quite a
selection there.


Tesla list wrote:

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Fri, 15 Jun 2007 16:11:43 -0400
From: Scott Bogard <teslas-intern@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: tesla@xxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: troubleshooting tesla coil (fwd)

Marko,
     I forgot to mention, as some others have said, You cannot use the 30kHz 
NST for a conventional coil, but you can rectify it (I believe you said that 
you did) and make a DC coil.  If you do this, however, from what I 
understand of DC coils (I've never actually built one), you should have the 
capacitor and the spark gap switched in the schematic below (provided by 
chip) and somwhere in there you need a "charging reactor", I think a 
charging reactor is simply an inductor, or resister someplace in the circuit 
(Don't know where, I've never built one).  This could solve your spark gap 
problems.  Hope this helps.
Scott Bogard.
P.S.  If I was you (I'm not) but if I was, I'd scrounge up a dirty old OBIT 
and build a conventional coil.  If you live where these aren't common, look 
for a dirty old NST or start researching DC coils.


  

From: "Tesla list" <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: tesla@xxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: troubleshooting tesla coil (fwd)
Date: Fri, 15 Jun 2007 06:33:46 -0600 (MDT)


---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Fri, 15 Jun 2007 06:33:40 -0600 (MDT)
From: Chip Atkinson <chip@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: Tesla list <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: troubleshooting tesla coil (fwd)

Doh!  Yeah, I missed that.

The circuit should be:

 ------> <---
 |          |
 ---@--||----

 Where the > < is the gap, the @ is the primary, and the -||- is the
 capacitor.  The inputs from the NST go on either side of the > < and
 the cap charges through the primary.

 Chip

On Fri, 15 Jun 2007, Tesla list wrote:

    

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Fri, 15 Jun 2007 10:36:05 +0100
From: Paul Benham <paulb@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: Tesla list <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: troubleshooting tesla coil (fwd)

Hi Marko,

The capacitor needs to be in series with the primary, and these are in
parallel with the gap.  I think that is what you meant.

Cheers,

Paul.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Tesla list" <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Friday, June 15, 2007 3:55 AM
Subject: Re: troubleshooting tesla coil (fwd)


      

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, 14 Jun 2007 20:55:22 -0600 (MDT)
From: Chip Atkinson <chip@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: Tesla list <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: troubleshooting tesla coil (fwd)

Here's a thought.  It could be that a multimeter doesn't measure a 
        

short
    

because the multimeter's voltage is so low that it wouldn't be able to
jump any gap at all.  At 5500 volts, you can jump some gap so it could 
        

be
    

shorted out.

One way to debug that is to disconnect one of the leads from the NST 
        

to
    

the gap.  Put it on a wooden or non-conductive stick so you will be 
        

plenty
    

insulated from the current.  Then bring this disconnected lead up to 
        

the
    

point where it connects and see what kind of spark you get.  If it's 
        

kind
    

of a flaming spark you have a short.  If it's a really loud crackly 
        

snappy
    

spark then your cap is fine.

Try that and let us know what you see.

Chip

On Thu, 14 Jun 2007, Tesla list wrote:

        

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, 14 Jun 2007 19:32:17 -0400
From: Marko Ruban <Marko@xxxxxxxx>
To: tesla@xxxxxxxxxx
Subject: troubleshooting tesla coil

Hello all

I was looking for some help on tesla coil construction, and joined 
          

this
    

list as a result.  Looks like I came to the right place :)

I'm building my first tesla coil, and could use some help "debugging"
it.  All of the coil parts have been assembled, according to various
recipes out on the web, but when put together, the spark gap doesn't
fire.

I've got the circuit down to a bare minimum:  5.5KV, 30Khz NST 
          

provides
    

the power, spark gap connected across the transformer output leads, 
          

and
    

a capacitor in parallel with spark gap.  Without the capacitor, spark
gap fires just fine, with it, I just hear humming sound (I think 
          

coming
    

from the vibrating capacitor plates), but no spark.

Capacitor was home built, consists of 8 copper sheets separated by
          

10mil
        

Mylar insulator, roughly 8"x6" area.  Measured C is 7nF.  When DC 
          

power
    

is supplied (through a rectifier circuit), makes the gap fire at
intervals, indicating that cap is storing charge.  I thought this 
          

could
    

be my problem component, so I built a different type of capacitor 
          

(beer
    

bottle salt water, 800pF), but that didn't change a thing.  Neither
capacitor is shorted out, according to my multimeter.

Is there any definitive way to test the capacitor for faults?  Am I
missing something else?  What could be going wrong?

Thanks, for any thoughts you can provide on the subject.

Marko




          




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