Re: Toroid to primary arcing

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

Original poster: "by way of Terry Fritz <teslalist-at-qwest-dot-net>" <dhmccauley-at-spacecatlighting-dot-com>


Anyone who bashes any other person's work is an as*$#!!.   I've seen lots of
coils where (including mine) where there are occasional strikes to the
primary.  The danger not lies in the fact the
primary circuit is higher current, but more in the fact that its 60Hz power
which unlike its relatively benign high frequency second output is darn
right lethal.  Although the secondary output can
also be harmful (or lethal) for any size tesla coil.  There is also chance
that a secondary strike to the primary can also create a surge on the
primary circuit which can damage components on
the primary side as well.

To alleviate this problem, some people will build a strike rail (elevated
circular rail) slightly above the primary coil to take the secondary hits.
This strike rail is grounded to the secondary RF ground.
AND VERY IMPORTANT, this strike rail is not a complete ring.  If it is a
complete ring, this appears as a "short" in magnetic coupling circuit and is
bad.  Also, the break in the ring must
be at least a few inches long otherwise, you can get a high voltage build up
and have arcing between the breaks in the ring.

The Captain




 > Hello everyone,
 >
 > I have been making coils for 4 years now, and often
 > sell Tesla coils on Ebay under the name,
 > "Energywizzard". There is another seller on there who
 > is bashing my coil, because some arcs from the toroid
 > touch the primary. I have safety gaps, and they only
 > fire a small amount of weak discharge when this
 > happens. It was to my understanding that this was a
 > perfectly acceptable function of a Tesla coil. Am I
 > wrong? I know that there is the possibility that the
 > high amperage of the primary can connect to the
 > output, but is this the only danger? That's what I was
 > thinking... Anyway, I have some excellent pictures
 > under the listing, "TESLA COIL- 45 inch arcs LIGHTNING
 > GENERATOR," if anyone was interested in seeing my
 > 12/60 coil.
 >
 > Steve Klec
 >
 >
 > msnip...
 >
 >
 >
 >
 >