Re: 250VAC, 60Hz output tesla coil from a 1.5VDC input

["Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>]

Original poster: "Chip Atkinson by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-uswest-dot-net>" <chip-at-pupman-dot-com>

Hi.  The idea of showing the relationship of voltage and current to power
is very useful.  Many people don't understand it very well.  However, I
don't think a tesla coil will be very useful to show this.  From what I
know Tesla coils are not very efficient, on the order of 60%, compared to
around 98% for a conventional transformer.  The other problem is
transforming the high frequency/high voltage down to a lower frequency
(not always necessary) and a lower voltage (frequently necessary).

Running tesla coils in reverse is pretty difficult and I personally have
never heard of it done before.

I'd suggest making a circuit that changes the DC to AC, transform it to
high voltage, transmit it, transform it again and rectify it.  

I saw a really cool demo in high school.  120V current was connected to
two lengths of briny string.  The string was connected to a light bulb.
When connected the bulb didn't light much at all.  The electricity was
then transformed up to about 12,000V, sent over the strings, and
transformed back to 120V.  The bulb lit brightly.

Chip

On Mon, 7 May 2001, Alan Jepsen wrote:

> I am doing this to demonstrate to a class the relationships between
> voltage and current as it relates to power. The idea is to use several
> triple-A batteries in parellel to attached as a power source for the
> tesla coil then have an electric rod attached to an electric train set
> to demonstrate that a low voltage, high current application is equal
> to a high voltage, low current application! What I do know about Tesla
> coils is that they have the lowest power loss when converting
> voltages! Please help! I have considerable electrical experience but I
> don't know my way around a Tesla coil! Thank You! My Email is
> alanjepsen-at-hotmail-dot-com !
>