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Re: [TCML] Grounding a Tesla Coil (Yes, Again)



Brandon Hendershot wrote:
Hi Everybody,

I live in Arizona and the ground is extremely dry here, being that it's a desert and all. So trying to sink a 8 foot pool into the ground just seems irrational. I was wondering if there would be any significant performance drawbacks from using several (like 5) shorter 2-3 foot copper pipes spread out over a 3 foot radius. Has anybody ever tried setting up a grounding system like this one before?


In fact, that's what a gentleman named Herb Ufer did a half century ago.. he was trying to develop a way to do good earth grounds for ammo bunkers and the like. His final best solution was what's known as the Concrete Encased Grounding Electrode, or Ufer Ground for short, and it is what the electrical code requires these days for just about everywhere.

But in your case, for a TC, many short rods over an area is probably better than one deep one, especially if your coil is operating in the middle of all those rods.

And, for that matter, a 10x10 foot piece of metal mesh laying on the surfae is as good as, if not better, than a bunch of rods. Rods have significant inductance, and not all that low a resistance. The mesh acts like one plate of a big capacitor, with low inductance, that couples directly to the earth. And even better, if your coil is operating above the mesh, the RF currents never even need to go into the earth.
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