Re: Third try at first light

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Original poster: "Jason Johnson" <hvjjohnson13-at-hotmail-dot-com> 


----- Original Message -----
From: Tesla list <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
To: <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
Sent: Thursday, December 07, 2000 6:19 PM
Subject: Third try at first light


> Original poster: "Matt Skidmore" <fox-at-woozle-dot-org>
>
> After 2 previous failures i have finally gotten a tesla coil to light on
> the third try.
>
> 1st try) was stupid and wrapped the secondary with steel insulated wire
> 2nd try) was stupid and used too thick gauge magnet wire
> 3rd try) used the right wire and got 3 inch sparks

Not bad for a first coil. My first coil did about 3-4 inches with an
ignition coil power supply.

>
> The coil is using a 15/30 NST i aquired from a neon shop for $25.
> currently i have no protection for it and really need to get some because
> $25 is still alot of money to us poor college students. ive seen some
> coilers using wire wrapped around some pvc or toilet paper tubes. is
> this sufficient for a small coil?

If your talking about RF chokes I don't know. I wouldn't think that it would
be enough, but I also thought that the general consensus was steering clear
of RF chokes.

>
> the rest of the coil is a pickle jar salt cap in parallel with the
> transformer and a slothes hanger spark gap. the primary is electrical
> house wire tapped at 7.5 turns and the secondary is wound 4 inches with 30
> AWG on a toilet paper tube.

I would try to get something bigger. You can pick up some 3 or 4 inch PVC
for pretty cheap at the local hardware store (or free at construction sites
if they don't see you :-). The magnet wire can be had for a few dollars a
pound if you look around at motor rewind shops. If you want me to I could
even wind you a small secondary with some of the extra stuff I've got laying
around. Contact me off list.

 topload is a small ball wrapped in foil. we
> also have a small "cone" or ice cicle apparatus we like to put on the top.
> with some tuning i am able to get 4-6 inche sparks. affectionatly dubbed
> "the crap coil" i hopefully will have some pictures within a month heh.
>
> also, i dont have any way to ground the secondary so it likes to shoot
> sparks to the first turn of the primary. i figured since it liked to do
> that i would just attach the ground to the primary which works well, but
> makes me worry about the NST.

Try clipping it to a sink w/ copper cold water pipe. I did this with my
ignition coil system and it worked fine.

Looking over the diagram that Fritz (sp?)
> made for nst protection, i estimated $50 for making that circuit. the one
> thing that confused me on it however is the MOTs. What does the acronym
> stand form? i looked around the net for a definition and at the tesla TLD
> which didnt have it listed there. i was going to try shopping around some
> local electronic stores and wanted to know what to ask for.

I beleive your talking about MOVs not MOTs. MOVs are metal oxide varistors
and clip high voltage high current spikes. MOTs on the other hand are
microwave oven transformers. These are about the best thing (MOTs not MOVs)
I've found yet for budget coiling, provided you can use a little ingenuity
to overcome their bad side.

>
> one last question :)
> the coil is sitting in the "common area" of my college dorm. the ionized
> air it makes doesnt pose any health hazards or anything right? just smells
> funny. and will the air set off fire detectors?

The major gases it produces are Ozone and oxides of nitrogen. These are not
good for you but if you have some ventilation and set up a small fan or
something you should be fine. If you start getting light headed or have
difficulties breathing then you need to stop and air out. As far as I know
they will not set fire alarms off.


Jason Johnson

>
> thanks. this list has been a great resource for me, even just to read what
> people are saying!
>
> -fox
>
>
>
>