fly back diodes

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

Original poster: "jimmy hynes by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <chunkyboy86-at-yahoo-dot-com>


i recently finished my first tesla coil, it has a 2x12" secondary and will only
make 3 inch arcs. i finally figured out what is wrong with it. i am using a
rectified solid state neon transformer. i think the reverse recovery time is
whats killing me here. i also have a pile of dead flybacks. instead of digging
for the hv diodes, could i just hook up the flyback secondarys to the
transformer. if the secondary is shorted then the inductance should be really
low and i think the resistance wouldnt be too bad at 20ma. i think i would just
have to worry about putting too much current through them. how long could i
keep the runs without melting the diodes? is there any other problem with this?


 Tesla list wrote: 
>
> Original poster: "by way of Terry Fritz " 
>
> Dan,
>
> The SRSG has to be phased for best spark output. This phase
> position will vary for different coils depending on their degree
> of LTR-ness, etc. Probably the best way to find the proper
> phase position is to vary the phase by trial and error a little
> at a time until the best results are obtained. If you have a
> long insulated rod, you can rotate the motor while the coil
> is running to adjust the phase in real time. Another way
> is by using an remote electronic phase shifter circuit, or
> other remote system. There may be two phase positions
> which will work, but one will work better than the other and
> will draw less current. My phase shifter circuit gives only
> one half the full phase range, so additional pre-adjustment of
> the motor position in its cradle may be nee! ded. Someone
> suggested removing the line cord plug from the wall, and
> flipping it 180 degrees to shift the phase partially to give
> the phase shifter the needed extra range. The electrode
> gaps should be quite narrow, perhaps 0.010" or less. If
> you've done all this, then something else must be wrong,
> although everything sounds fine the way you've described it.
> The tuning should not be super-critical, and you should
> get a spark output even by moving the primary tap in one-turn
> increments. I assume you're seeing sparking across the
> rotary electrode gaps. You may want to lay a long rod
> across the toroid so it protrudes about 5" over the edge to
> make it much easier for the spark to break out. This makes
> the initial tuning and set-up much easier.
>
> John
>
>
> >
> > 5. Anything else that i might be missing??? The SRSG is running fine and
> > sounds like its properly running. It is synchronized with the 60Hz and
> > tune! d correctly.
> >
>



JImmy