Re: tesla coil

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

Original poster: "robert heidlebaugh by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <rheidlebaugh-at-desertgate-dot-com>

I did not see an answer to your question " what is a choke?" A choke is a
small coil, usualy of low Q, to disconect or isolate one part of a circuit
from another. In a TC a choke is used to isolate the power  (NST) from the
spark gap and capacitor when the SG fires. As the capacitor charges the SG
is an open circuit so the NST pours all its power into the capacitor. When
the capacitor gets charged the SG shorts everything out pouring all the
current stored in the capacitor into your primary coil. When this happens
the TST is also shorted out. To protect the TST a choke is instaled betweem
the NST and spark gap to protect the NST. Some people use a 50 Watt 1K ohn
wire wound resistor as a choke. Other people wind high voltage wire on a
core like an old TV deflection coil form. My students wind a 15T coil 1" dia
of house wire and stretch it out to 6" long. That is about the least you can
use. I use a combination in a noise filter.
   Rubert  H

 > From: "Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
 > Date: Wed, 06 Nov 2002 21:17:09 -0700
 > To: tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
 > Subject: tesla coil
 > Resent-From: tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
 > Resent-Date: Wed, 6 Nov 2002 21:18:50 -0700
 >
 > Original poster: "mike by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>"
 > <vaughanb-at-m33access-dot-com>
 >
 > I am building my first tesla coil and am pretty limited in my understanding
 > of electronics. I bought plans off the web that were posted on e-bay and
 > have some questions I think you can answer.
 > Between the transformer and the spark gap is a component called a choke
 > constructed of a ferrite torid core -what does it do ?
 >
 > The plans call for a pvc pipe with aluminum sheets rolled between plactic
 > sheets with a value of .005 uF  40,000 volts pr cap. Is there any other
 > caps  I can substitute for this labor intensive project ?.If so are they
 > durable ? I would need a good description to purchase them.
 > I heard that ac caps do not hold a charge once the electricity is turned
 > off. Any comments ?.
 > I have to make two. Are they wired in series or parallel.?
 >
 > What relevant information do you need from my tesla coil blueprints so I
 > can construct a  torid ?
 > Thanks  Mike Biggs
 >
 >