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Don't Try This



Subject: 
        Don't Try This
  Date: 
        Sun, 06 Apr 1997 12:54:02 -0700
  From: 
        Gary Weaver <gweaver-at-earthlink-dot-net>
    To: 
        tesla-at-pupman-dot-com


Today while going threw some old papers I found a Xerox copy of a Tesla
Coil 
that uses a voltage multiplyer instead of a neon transformer.  It uses
10 
diodes and 10 capacitors.  The diodes are 1N4007 and the caps are .001
uf 
1000 volts.  The circuit suggests using an old TV transformer about 800 
volts for the voltage multiplyer circuit. The voltage multiplyer
discharges 
threw the spark gap across the LC circuit and the secondary coil output
is 
suppost to be 8" to 10". 

I decided to build it and try it.  If it works I will build the TC into
a 
nice little unit and put it on my desk at work. I looked threw my parts
and 
couldn't find any .001 uf 1000 volt capacitors to used in the voltage 
multipler circuit so I used 4700 MFD 200 volt capacitors.  I figured it
won't 
work with these caps but it will be fun to experement with anyway. I put
a 
volt meter on the 1st of the 10 capacitors and a 200 ohm 20 watt current 
limiting resistor in the 120 volt AC line.  I plugged it into the wall
and it 
took several minutes to come up to full charge.  Now I know this won't
work 
for a Tesla Coil.

I unplugged the wire.  I decided not to leave the capacitor bank setting
on 
the work bench with a full charge.  I decided to discharge the
capacitors 
threw the 200 ohm 2 watt current limiting resistor connected on the
output. I 
checked the resistor with the multi meter and it checked about 200 ohms.
When 
I connected the resistor to the output it discharged all the capacitors
in a 
micro second.  BOOM...........WOW, what a discharge.  

The 200 ohms 2 watt resistor looks like a piece of charcoal. The
resistor is 
still there but it is fryed.  All the diodes are gone except for the
wires 
that use to be part of the diodes.  The end of the capacitors all have
burned 
spots from the diodes that exploded.

Gary Weaver