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Re: Tesla coil specs.
Hi Charles,
If there is a balancing act happening, it doesn't seem to occur down to 22
gauge. I have noticed no better performance by going to thicker wire.
Better
performance seems to always have come from the coils with the highest
inductance. However, there are practical limitations with this. While
close-winding #30 wire will give you a whopping inductance, the coil would
not
be tall enough to withstand the voltages. Richard Hull may have something
to
say about that though.
I wound a coil of the same resonant frequency as the coil mentioned in my
last
post (see below) with #10 wire for the express purpose of testing for wire
size. This represents a tremendous increase in copper and surface area.
Performance was NO BETTER! Maybe even a tad worse.
Just my experience.
Zap,
Mark
==========================================================================
>
>>This coil was really nothing special in itself. It was made probably
>>10 years ago when I knew less about TC's. The form was 7 ft tall x 21
>>inches in diameter. It was wound with 22awg color TV anode wire (the
>>red wire that goes from a TV flyback to the side of the picture tube).
>>It resonated at 90KHz with a 24 inch toroid.
>
>>...Like I said, very vanilla.<
>
>
>Mark,
>
>Still, a 7'x 21" 90KHz coil is pretty substantial! Do you nowadays
>find yourself more inclined to shoot for lower resonant frequencies
>using thinner wire with more inductance (like the above coil), or
>higher current capacity with thicker wire and less inductance? It
>seems like something of a balancing act since you want the best of
>both worlds within reasonable size limitations. I'd be curious to
>hear your thoughts on this since there seem to be a number of opinions.
>I wonder how discharge characteristics are altered by this.
>
>Anyone else please feel free to chime in.
>
>
>
>Charles Brush
>