1st Tesla Coil

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

Original poster: "quezacotl GF by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <quezacotl_14000000000000-at-yahoo-dot-com>


Hi Everybody,

         This is my first post to the mailing list and one of my buddies and I
finished our first coil about a month ago. It took quite a while and with a bit
of help (thanks Greg) we got it completed. The problem is that we can't draw
anything from the coil without a grounding wire, and with it, we get all of the
corona we want but actual sparks are thin, weak, 6-7" sparks. I'm asking the
great and infinite wisdom of the tesla coil mailing list whether or not this is
the best our coil can put out, or if there's something we can do. Here are the
specs for the coil:

Transformer: 12kV/30mA NST rated for 120 Volts. I am using the NST protection
filter seen at
<http://hot-streamer-dot-com/greg/filter.htm>http://hot-streamer-dot-com/greg/filter
.htm

Capacitor: 7 - 16oz saltwater bottles. We've tried 8 bottles but it didn't make
much of a diffrence. ( I know MMTs are better, but I'm too poor to afford
them.) 

Spark gap: 7 - 3/4" copper pipes spaced about 1/16" apart. Gap can be widened
or shortened if necessary.

Primary coil: 15 turns of 1/4" copper refridgeration tubing spaced 1/4" apart.

Secondary coil: approx 1080 turns of #26 gauge magnet wire. Coil is wrapped for
18.75" around a 3" diameter ABS pipe. Bottom of coil is connected to ground via
a piece of rebar drove into the ground.

Toroid: 4" cross section aluminum flex duct. Outer diameter is 15.25".

If you have any questions, advice, comments, or just want to make fun of me for
the fact that I can't build a Tesla Coil properly ( everybody else does ) then
just email me at
<mailto:quezacotl_14000000000000-at-yahoo-dot-com>quezacotl_14000000000000-at-yahoo-dot-com

Thanks, Chris