RE: Recommendations for Tesla Coil Specs for my 15/60 NST

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Original poster: "Lau, Gary by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-uswest-dot-net>" <Gary.Lau-at-compaq-dot-com>

Hi Troy:

My coil also uses an unmodified 15/60 NST.  I would comment on a couple of
things:

My NST pulls in excess of 20 Amps from the wall.  Depending upon your cap
and gap setting, your Variac will need to be fused for much more than 2A.

I'm not sure coax cable is the best choice for a primary.  I've not
personally tried it so I can't be sure, but I believe I've heard that the AC
resistance of a braided conductor is much higher than that of a solid
conductor.  This matters in the primary.

I use a 20nF cap with my 15/60 with excellent results, I suspect your 24nF
unit would do well also.

Regards, Gary Lau
Waltham, MA USA

>Original poster: "Troy D. Taylor by way of Terry Fritz
>>>>>>>...>>>>><twftesla-at-uswest-dot-net>" <troy-at-ezcoding-dot-com>
>
>I have been watching the discussions about oversizing.
>
>What dimensions would be recommended for a 15/60 NST? I was thinking:
>
>Power - 15 kV / 60 mA Franceformer NST.
>0-140VAC Variac Controller with a fused load at 2A.
>Primary - co-axial cable of about 13 turns with a 7" inner diameter.
>Secondary - #26 magnet wire (green colored :) on 4" by 26" pvc pipe with
>about 1200 turns.
>Capacitor - 24nF MMC
>Top Terminal - aluminum dryer duct for the 1st pass.
>Spark Gap - Terry's adjustable static spark gap with safety
>(http://hot-streamer-dot-com/TeslaCoils/Misc/terrygap.jpg).
>
>Most of these number are gleened from Terry's site
>(http://hot-streamer-dot-com/TeslaCoils/).  Thanks Terry! :)
>
>Is this a pretty good estimate?  Am I forgetting anything?
>
>Thanks All!
>
>Troy