Re: Coming close to finishing

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

Original poster: "by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <Esondrmn-at-aol-dot-com>

In a message dated 12/24/02 8:19:38 AM Pacific Standard Time, 
tesla-at-pupman-dot-com writes:


>I'm coming closer each day to the final assembly of my first coil. It's
>powered by a 15kv/60ma nst and has a 25"(23" wound) secondary. I have some
>questions on minor things. First, I've read that copper tubing is better to
>use for the primary than solid copper wire, is this true and if so, does
>the size of the copper tubing matter? Also, what sort of wire needs to be
>used for all the connections(i.e. tank circuit connections and so on).
>Third, what is the ideal spacing between the first wind of the primary and
>the base of the secondary? Can I use a pvc pipe flange to connect the
>secondary to a piece of wood? Last, I began building a geek group saltwater
>bottle cap and I ran out of my 6awg copper wire. Could I use some spare
>copper tubing I have laying around as a substitute for connecting the bottles?
>
>Thanks for all the help, I couldn't find very much info on these things on
>the net.
>
>Alan


Alan,

You don't say what the diameter of the secondary is.  If it is say 3" or 4" 
in diameter, I have had good luck with #10 solid copper (bare) wire.  1/4" 
copper tubing would also work well.  I would suggest to wind it flat, as 
opposed to inclined.  I would allow 1.25" to 1.50" clearance between the 
primary and secondary.  The pvc pipe flange would work well to mount the 
secondary.  You should design the mounting so the bottom (first) turn of 
the secondary is just even with or just below the top surface of the 
primary.  Then design some spacers that you can install between the bottom 
of the secondary and the base mounting surface, in .50" increments, as you 
will need this to adjust the coupling between primary and secondary.  For 
first powering up of the coil, adjust the secondary mounting so the bottom 
winding is about .50" above the plane of the primary.  For connecting 
components in the tank circuit I use the same conductor as the ! primary is 
wound with - for any size coil.  Yes, the copper tubing would work fine for 
the bottle caps.

Merry Christmas to all, Ed Sonderman