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RE: Finally joined
Well, to answer John Freau's query, I'll dump out some info on my current
coil. It's powered by a 15kV 60ma (I *think*..) neon, a cap bank of 22
500pf 30kV DC ceramite doorknob caps in parallel for .011 uf at 30kV. The
spark gap consists of 7 copper pipe couplings spaced 1/16" apart
each...mostly. Coincidentally, I also built my gap at 2am, and it shows.
The primary is .25" copper tubing spaced 25." apart, all tacked into place
on un-sealed 2' square plywood using 25' coax tack/holder jobs. Can't
remember what they're actually called at the moment, but there are plenty of
nice pointy nail ends poking through the bottom of the plywood. Good stuff.
I'll replace all of that as soon as I win the lottery. The inner turn is
5.5" in diameter with a total of 13 turns, tapped between turns 10 and 11,
usually. The secondary is wound on 4" PVC that has been baked and sealed
with polyurethane with 3 coats on the inside, 8 coats on the outside, all
allowed to dry for at least 8 hours before the next coat. It is wound with
26-gauge magnet wire one inch from the bottom, 17" of ~980 turns and two
inches left on the top with two spaced turns . It's capped with plexiglas
and currently has a 4"x16" toroid placed on top of a 3"x8" toroid. both
made with flexible aluminum ducting. The top toroid has the ducting wrapped
around two electric stove burner drip trays. When epoxied bottom to bottom,
the edges are about 2.5" inches apart and make for a great channel to set
the ducting into. As it sits now, I can only get a maximum of about 24-26"
out of it into the air. One 3' arc to ground, but that's never been
repeated. most are 18"-20" streamers.
With some improvements to the gap, primary layout, higher voltage
capacitors, maybe even a new secondary, and toroid(s), what should I be
expecting to the output? I've seen people claiming 40" streamers from 15kV
60ma input, but I'm nowhere close to that. Oh...one more thing. The
secondary isn't grounded, as I live 3 floors up in an apartment complex.
The grounding tab of the secondary rests comfortably on the copper tubing
going to the first turn on my primary under the plywood board. Wasn't
planning on this, but so far it's working out. I'd like to change that in
the future as well, but it was a pleasant surprise to find that corona was
coming from the top of the secondary with no toroid in place when I first
tested out the tank circuit with the new caps. Turns out that the secondary
was feeding off of the primary, but I didn't see it at the time. The NST
hasn't died yet, so right now, I just keep my distance and get used to all
of the experiences of a tesla coil. Whew...enough out of me.
-Joe
-----Original Message-----
From: Tesla list [mailto:tesla-at-pupman-dot-com]
Sent: Wednesday, September 13, 2000 12:28 PM
To: tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
Subject: RE: Finally joined
Original poster: "Ted Rosenberg" <Ted.Rosenberg-at-radioshack-dot-com>
Joe: Welcome.
I started my first coil last January and finally got first light Sept 3.
During this last 9 mo or so, I talked about not much else (Oh, there's an
election this year?) or how hot it was last night in my garage (usually
105-110).
I have discovered that researching, designing, and building that first coil
is an effort that demands 150% concentration almost 24/7.
I designed my spark gap at 2AM. Couldn't sleep.
But the whole thing worked right from the first moment I cranked up the
Variac.
And as for viewing...you are right. I'm finding that civilians can't get
enough viewing time.
You'll have fun and learn a bunch too.
Safety First
Ted Rosenberg (Ft Worth TX)
Geek Group Member #1030
www.thegeekgroup-dot-org
Because the Geek shall inherit the Earth!
--------------------------
Subject: Finally joined
Original poster: jduva-at-baytechnologies-dot-net
Hello all! I finally joined up with the listserv and I just wanted to say
hi and introduce myself. My name is Joe and I'm currently in Maryland,
working on improving my first coil. I hope to get to know everybody, as
I've worn out everybody I know so far with the tesla coil stuff. At least
they all like to watch it. ;) Take care.
-Joe