RE: Can I touch my Tesla ?

["John Morawa" <morawaj-at-interaccess-dot-com> (by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-uswest-dot-net>)]

Hello,

I was going to send out a similar question as my new coil approaches
completion.  When
i started coiling (in my early teens, 30's now) i was first running with a
15kv/30ma NST.
Then i bought a 15kv/60ma nst.  The smaller NST would give me occassional
18" arcs and
the larger NST would reach maybe 26".  I would CONSTANTLY let the arc spark
to a metal
rod I would hold in my hand.  I did this with both machines.  I did notice
an interesting
feeling around my body (electrostatic type feeling) when I would pull back
to get the
largest spark off the coil to the metal object I was holding.  Even more
interesting around
my feet while standing in the basement with thin shoes on (I later started
to stand on a 2"x4").
The metal prevented the hot tipped arc from causing a burning sensation on
my fingers.  I
am in no way encouraging anyone to go out and start taking tesla coil arcs
to themselves!!!
I just started to get the bug again and am working on a new coil.  I found a
wealth of info on
this list and have been made more aware of the "lethal" nature of these
machines.  Fact is I
used to run the coil indoors in the winter (no ventilation) more 10 - 20
minutes and i would
smell that chlorine like ozone in the air within minutes.  I loved that
smell!  Well, I recently
learned about the extreme hazards of o3 (ozone).  I will say this about my
coils when i was younger.
The secondary was tall and slender, 3" x 42" tall.  The primary I had was a
fairly large diameter.
There was no way a spark could reach from the topload to the primary and I
never once saw an
arc from the secondary to the primary.  Nowadays coils are design a little
differently and the
secondaries are rather short and stocky compared to what I was using.  I
think any fair sized
coil these days will arc from the primary to secondary at some point
especially with the power
being pumped into them.  Oh well I blabbed enough. Don't forget "I am in no
way encouraging
anyone to go out and start taking tesla coil arcs to themselves!!!"!

Stay safe,
John


-----Original Message-----
From: Tesla list [mailto:tesla-at-pupman-dot-com]
Sent: Sunday, July 23, 2000 2:52 PM
To: tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
Subject: Can I touch my Tesla ?


Original poster: "TruckDrivingMan" <Tom.Ansorg-at-t-online.de>

I'm just wondering if I can touch my Tesla coil without being
electrocuted.The
frequency is ~205 kHz,the output voltage (according to some computer
programs)
is 200-300 kV.Power supply is a 7,5 kV NST with 1,7 kW.The cap has 15
nF.Spark
length is 40 cm.I heard something about a so-called skin effect.