RE: Urgent point of inquiry re: wiring conventions.

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

Original poster: "Terry Fritz" <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>

Hi John,

My thoughts :-)

At 11:29 AM 10/14/2001 -0700, you wrote:
>
>Matt, All -
>
>The color coding for Tesla coil wiring has been mentioned before but I do
>not believe that the following questions have been clarified.
>
>1. What are the different functions of the green ground wire and the white
>neutral wire when used with Tesla coils?

The green safety ground wire (green with a yellow strip these days) should
not normally carry any current unless there is a serious safety fault.  The
cases and other operator exposed metal should be connected to this ground.

Even though the white neutral wire is grounded or at low voltage, it is
considered just as dangerous as any other wire.  If it breaks on the mains
side, it will go full voltage hot!  You don't want to go messing with it on
operating equipment.  In fact, since it has all three phases going to it
(eventually) (wye configuration), it can actually be more dangerous than a
single phase.  In that situation, each phase is also speratley fused (on
the hot side) so you can get 3X the current!  However, I should note the
very few coils use three phase power.

>
>2. Which color should be used for the primary ground wire and the secondary
>ground wire?

That's a good question!  Safety grounds are not supposed to carry current
at all.  These ground do.  Maybe a white neutral wire since that is sort of
their AC line equivalent.

>
>3. Where should the green wire and the white wire be connected together?

For the AC, they should NEVER be connected inside the equipment.  They are
connected back at the power panel or where the local codes and the
electrician say they should.

>
>4. What are the safety concerns in using two separate wires that are
>grounded?

I would not think there is any concern as long as one keeps "safety
grounds" and AC and RF "neutral" wires separate.

Of course, there is no real standard in Tesla coils since we use the wire
we find laying around.  However, just as in real CE certified equipment and
such, you should be very careful of how the safety grounds are used. Insure
that they do not normally carry any current but are standing by ready to
drain AC, RF, or high voltage faults away from the operator if something
goes really wrong.

Cheers,

	Terry

>
>John Couture
>
>----------------
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Tesla list [mailto:tesla-at-pupman-dot-com]
>Sent: Saturday, October 13, 2001 3:43 PM
>To: tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
>Subject: Urgent point of inquiry re: wiring conventions.
>
>
>Original poster: "by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>"
><Mddeming-at-aol-dot-com>
>
>Hi All,
>        I a not sure if this has been addressed before, but I have not seen
>it
>as far as I can remember.
>        Do Tesla coils follow House wiring color code (White=neutral,
>Black/red=hot, green = ground) or do they follow the
>Auto/Radio/Stereo/TV
>color code (Black=ground, red/white=hot, green= not as hot )?  Are there any
>hard and fast rules? Do they vary with country? Does a portable(moveable)
>coil
>have different rules than a hard-wired one?
>        How about the internals of mobile/portable control panels? If the
>color
>code switches at some point, where in the chain from Wall socket to Tesla
>secondary does/should the changeover take place?
>I am ready to wire up my new 3.6 KVA console which is built into a
>roll-around
>cabinet (~ 24x18X60).
>Thanx,
>Matt D.
>
>
>