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Re: My First Tesla Coil
Hello, Ryan
On Tue, 16 Nov 1999 21:42:02 -0700 Tesla List <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com> writes:
> Original Poster: "Spud" <spud-at-wf-dot-net>
>
> Some of you may have already seen me posting here before.
> I'm 17 and in
> high school, and this is my first high-voltage project, let alone
> my first
> Tesla Coil. I've been progressing on it very slowly due to my lack
> of
> money, but I think I am about to finish it. Everything I've done is
> based
> on knowledge and figures I found on websites. I have everything but
> the
> capacitors, but I'm going to go ahead and tell anyway. Here are the
> specifications for my coil. Please, all you Teslaphiles, read these
> and
> tell me what flaws you see with it. Right now I am not as
> interested in
> getting perfect performance from the coil as I am just trying to get
> the
> thing to work at all.
> Thanks,
> Ryan
> -------------------------------------------------------
> HV Transformer: 12Kv -at- 30 mA NST
> Main Spark Gap: 8 Gaps (Spaced with two business cards, I don't
> know
> exactly how thick that is. :) Also, how wide should my safety
> gap be? )
Set the saftey gap so it will -just- not fire from the supplied voltage
of the NST, with no other components connected. If it fires incessantly
in TC opertaion, either increase it very slightly, or decrease the number
of gaps(of the 8) you use, or both.
> Capacitance: MMC: 30 Caps of 600 VAC (1200 VDC) that make
> about .0066
> mfd. (I guess I should make 3 strings of 10 caps
>
> each.)
This is a little confusing, do you mean that paralleled in three strings,
you get .0066µF? Please tell us what the individual capacitance of each
cap is. AT any rate, with only 30 caps, you should call this an EMMC.
> Primary Coil: 15 Turns of 1/4" copper tubing. (Each turn is
> 1/2"
> apart, the primary is about 1" away from the secondary.)
Probably too small for the secondary.
> Secondary Coil: 22" Winding of #26 AWG magnet wire on 4" (4.5" OD)
> PVC.
This is longer than usual, and will give you a rather low resonant
frequency. You may need a larger primary than the 15 turns. I needed
about 14 turns (same spacing as yours) for a system of mine using a
.0014µF cap, with a 16"X4.5" sec using #26 wire.
> Torus: 17.5" x 4" Alluminum Dryer Duct and Pie Pans.
> :)
The toroid sounds fine. It will further lower the Fr of the sec., but
with a larger primary this should not be a problem.
Grayson Dietrich (17 too)
http://www.electrophile.8m-dot-com
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