[Prev][Next][Index][Thread]
Re: Wireless ON/OFF for Tesla Coils- anyone done it?
From: Gary Pedro[SMTP:GaryKF6FPU-at-Sphinx-Egypt.Com]
Sent: Friday, November 14, 1997 11:10 PM
To: 'Tesla List'
Subject: RE: Wireless ON/OFF for Tesla Coils- anyone done it?
Julian,
I have tried a wireless switch with no sucuss what so ever it worked to turn on the coil but the rf from the coil got into the circuit and fryed it instinalty I used a pic16c54 micro controler and a standerd infra red sensor and transmiter running on it's own wall transformer and internaly regulated power supply using a lm7805 regulator and several filter caps and chokes the box was completely sealed with no gaps or seams except at the bottom I had a removebal cover that had full contact with the box on all sides and edges. just one hole twenty thousands big for the sensor and the sensor was optoisolated with 3.5 kv isolators. I thought it was bullet prof but no go it got zaped as soon as I turned on the coil with it a streamer hit the primay and fed back through my neon (and did jump the safety primary gap on the neon) into the switching relay through the coil of the relay jumped the 30Kv optoisolators to the control box and ground. A lot of work up in smoke. Rember tesla co!
ils are RF and RF likes to do weird things.
P.S. if I had it to do over again I would not have tied the circuit ground to the outside of the box. And I would have used a nicad battery pack in the box with the circuit to power it so there for I would have no wires directly connected to the controler just one optoisolator for the relay output mabe a 50Kv spread out to as far as posbile and let the box float so a spark wouldn't go for it as a ground. It may be posible and my origanl idea might have worked if my coil didn't get so many primay sparks. But that's why built it in the first place so I didn't have to touch the off switch when I was getting a primay arc.
Hope this helps.