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Re: hv connections

>Original Poster: Fucian-at-aol-dot-com
>
>what is the proper material for connecting a coil.like nst connections and 
>so
>on.i want to completely knock out any possibility for danger.
>

The only way to remove ALL danger with your cable connections is to not plug 
the coil in.

What I use for my system (which changes constantly) is the following....

For NST interconnects (to paralell NST's) I use Neon Sign wire, it's VERY 
thick insulation and rated for 15,000Volts. I still don't trust it though. 
Only once have I held one while hot, that was at a neon shop and everyone 
was looking at me like I was a wus when I would VERY gently hold the wire. 
These guys do it everyday and have lost their fear and respect for the power 
involved.
I only use it for NST interconnects because it's small, only 14AWG.

I also ordered 5' of this special High Voltage Test Lead wire from Belden. 
It's supposed to be rated for 40,000V, but you couldn't pay me enough to 
tough it at those voltages. It works good though, but it's only 22AWG. so 
it's rather small. It has a plastic red jacket and thick, pliable 
(silicone?) insulation. Though it's not soft and pliable like Neon wire.

For the tank circuit we started with 10AWG and are slowly replaceing it with 
4AWG "Monstor Cable" used for car audio work.

We use Panduit or Stake-On wire connectors, always terminate your 
connections in a crimp connector. Never use plain old bare wire wrapped 
around a bolt. It's icky, rather unreliable, and in my opinion, unsafe. 
Crimp the wire, then give it a firm tug, if it fails the Tug-Test, cut it, 
and redo it. You'll get it right.

Unless it specifically says so on the wire, almost ALL wire is rated for 600 
Volts. The reason for this magical number is that's the definition of High 
Voltage. At about 600 Volts electricity will arc through air, below that you 
can have 2 wires with only thousandths of an inch apart and as long as they 
don't touch it will not arc. Though keep in mind this is only true as long 
as they don't touch.
Welders only work on VERY low voltages, like 12 or 48, but they have ungodly 
amperages, once they touch an arc can be sustained indefinately.

Some guys, especially the pros out there don't even use wire, they use 
copper ribbon, when we evolve to a pig system we will use it as well. And 
the REALLY big coils use pipe, look up a coil called Electrum and you will 
see the primary connects are made from large copper pipe.

It is also a good idea to wrap your wires in Heat Shrink tubeing to protect 
them from abrasion and offer a little more insulation. It's not mandatory, 
and a bit expensive, but it can't hurt.

The Ground is special, my coil won't even run without a ground. You should 
have 2 seperate ground systems. Your lov voltage ground and your RF ground.

Low Voltage:
   This is everything from the control panel side of your system. (when you 
build your coil you will notice that there are 2 wires that are the bridge. 
That's all. There are 2 VERY seperate sides of your coil. the lov voltage 
side with teh control panel and things you can touch. And the High Voltage 
side with the NST's, Tank, Caps, and secondary. GROUND EVERYTHING. Your 
control panel should be in a METAL case. This can connect to your regular 
house ground through the 3rd prong or a copper pipe in your house. Wire size 
here isn't terribly important, just a good tight connection. anthing from 10 
to 18AWG is fine.

RF (High Voltage) Ground.

   The best thing for this is copper ribbon or BIG ASS wire, like 4AWG. It 
has to connect to a real ground. Get a couple copper ground rods (about $5 
each) at a home improvement strore and drive them in the ground next to your 
house. If you're lucky, keep an eye out for your local utility trucks and 
when you see one out and about in your neighborhood ask them nicely and they 
will not only give you a couple, they will drive them in as well. We did, 
they gave us a pair, installed them, and didn't charge a dime. :) If you can 
get them installed it saves a LOT of work.

Any LARGE diameter wire or cable will work, just make it as big as you can 
get and make the connections tight.

Hope this helps :)

Chris Boden
The Geek Group
www.geekgroup-dot-org
Always looking for new members :)

  This is the referance for your actual coil. The NST's, Safety's


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