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RE: COOL STUFF YOU CAN DO WITH YOUR COIL!
Original poster: "Garry Freemyer by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-uswest-dot-net>" <garry-at-ndfc-dot-com>
Some folks are determined to do this sort of thing tho. I remember when I
was but the one thing that changed my mind is the idea of possibly getting
RF burns off of it. I used to draw sparks to a pair of keys from a TC that
threw 12 inch sparks, and then I had a video taken of it. I would suggest
you make a rod with a grounded knob on the end to draw off the sparks and
not draw sparks to yourself but If you are determined to do this sort of
thing, stand on something a LOT higher than a milk crate and film it. The
video can serve to quell the fears of a landlady if you live in an
apartment. Better yet, just get a video of someone doing this off the
internet.
I would be selective in who you show it to. You don't want to get someone
interested in the hobby only to be like me, believing all the misinformation
that taking sparks to yourself is 100% safe.
Here are some dangers of what you are doing. The concept of drawing sparks
to yourself is highly complex. I bet a book could be written on the subject
and few if any can think of them all.
1. RF burns. Imagine being cooked like a chicken in the microwave, but the
burns are not occurring at the surface of the skin where the nerves endings
are but deep in your flesh where you cannot feel it.
2. Tissue burns from current. The fact that you cannot feel the electricity
very much is because of it's high frequency. Just like ultra violet light
that you cannot see, can burn your skin, high frequency current may not be
felt by the nerves but can still burn you.
3. Sparks are like conductive wires, and these wires can jump to other wires
that may be under the carpet or under the milk crate, in the cieling and the
walls and these wires can be charged with 60 cycle high amperage lines. One
of these sparks can jump from you, to these wires right through the
insulation like it wasn't even there and make you part of a shortcut to
ground for this current which you will feel.
4. High frequency electricity does not always take the shortest path to
ground. Air currents and other things can make the path of least resistance
be the long way around. Just like finding out the shortest bike ride to an
area has the steepest hills. This could fool you taking the LONG path to a
hot wire.
5. Strikes from the primary to the secondary, could complete a circuit that
feeds tens of amps into your secondary and yourself.
Don't feel embarrassed about not knowing these things. From a young age, we
are taught to take the word of people who are authorites on matters. When
children, we are taught by teachers and little do we know that often what is
taught is incorrect. Companies and authors that seem to be "Authorites" in
the subject of tesla coils continue to make claims of the skin effect, and
the so called safety of tesla coils and only someone who belongs on a
psychic hotline can know the difference. Only when you start communicating
with people here do you hear of those who have been killed instantly by one
mistake with a tesla coil.
It also protects your hobby. The media love to sensationalize danger and it
doesn't take much to move legislators to strart making laws banning
posession of things that the general public fear and do not understand.