Re: tesla coil is an air core. why?

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

Original poster: "Ed Phillips by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <evp-at-pacbell-dot-net>

Tesla list wrote:
> 
> Original poster: "Jake Draper by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>"
<cybermecium-at-cox-dot-net>
> 
> Wouldn't the coil former (pvc) serve as a diamagnetic core even though its
> hollow. I mean the wire is still wrapped around something, so technically it
> is a core. It would only be truly air-cored if it was a free standing coil
> of wire wrapped around, literally, air. Just my $.02
> -Jake D.
> G-2 #1192
> cybermecium-at-cox-dot-net
> 
> -------Original Message-------
> 
> From: Tesla list
> Date: Thursday, August 08, 2002 07:14:41 AM
> To: tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
> Subject: tesla coil is an air core. why?
> 
> Original poster: "Laurence Davis by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>"
> <meknar-at-hotmail-dot-com>
> 
> this is a repost, first one didn't appear after 4hrs (apologize for
> duplicates)
> 
> why does the tesla coil use an air cored design?
> 

	The most important reason I can think of is voltage breakdown, at least
for TC's of the form which are usually built.  Any magnetic steel is a
conductor, so putting it in the coil would just add a conduction path. 
Ferrites are not conductors [their advantage in magnetic circuits is
their high resistivity and hence low eddy current losses], but they have
a high enough dielectric constant that they would probably cause
breakdown.  An additional factor for either material is core saturation
which must be calculated any time you use a magnetic material in a
transformer.

Ed