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Re: wire



Just make sure you get the solid core kind, which has a copper core. 
Readily available at shops catering to the racer market. About $1/foot.  A
cheaper way to make your own is to use vinyl (e.g. Tygon) tubing over
conventional wire.

Another inexpensive HV wire source is coax with the braid stripped off.
RG-59 Cable TV coax works fine. RG-213 (RG-8) would be even better. 
Opinions vary on whether leaving the shield/ground on is good or bad. I
personally leave it on for most HV use, but then, I didn't wire my TC
primary with it either.

Also, you can get "Neon Sign Wire", which has a polyethylene insulation and
a PE jacket, fairly cheap by the foot (around $0.15/ft, at least in bulk).

The key would be to just support the wire away from other conductors and
treat it as if it were bare wire with no insulation... that's the cheapest
approach, and probably the most reliable, as well.  2 inches should be
sufficient clearance.
----------
> From: Tesla List <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
> To: tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
> Subject: Re: wire
> Date: Friday, December 24, 1999 10:00 PM
> 
> Original Poster: "Bill the arcstarter" <arcstarter-at-hotmail-dot-com> 
> 
> "Fred Vermeer" <fredvermeer-at-hotmail-dot-com> wrote:
> >I would be safe to say spark plug wire, found at your local auto parts 
> >dealer.  It is very well insulated, and can handle a lot of juice.  It
is 
> >what I am planning to use on my 15kv 30ma coil.
> 
> Nope.  Most modern spark plug wire is designed to be high resistance, on
the 
> order of 1 Kohm per foot to reduce EMI in your ignition system.
> 
> If you use this stuff in a tesla coil you will be very dissapointed.
> 
> Plus the fact that the core is some form of carbon w/ fabric - it is 
> difficult to solder to it too! :)
> 
> -Bill
> 
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