Re: Sparking off the secondary problem (more info)

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

Original poster: "tmoorezz" <tmoorezz-at-adelphia-dot-net> 

Hey Sean,

     Sounds like you have too much energy going in to secondary than it can
handle. How wide do you have your spark gap set to it probably shouldn't be
more than 0.25" wide. Also it could be a problem with coupling, try raising
you secondary up so that the bottom turns are even with the flat plane of
the primary coil, if you have an inclined primary it is most likely over
coupling. The best thing to do is raise the secondary a few inches about the
plane of the primary coil and the racing sparks should stop, then lower it
down until you get a few again, and then just raise it slightly up again so
they stop.  I could better determine what's going on wwith your coil if you
supply all the specs of your coil. Oh make sure you have taped your primary
coil to tune to the right frequency, if you don't have it properly tuned you
could be force driving the coil or underdriving it. a little trick to tuning
is use a varaic and slowly power u, when the coil is in proper tune it will
start to fire at a low voltage, mine usually fires around 25vac, might be
diff for you. See its like trying to use a microscope and only using the
course adjustment knob to focus, its hard to get in to focus, now if you use
the fine adjustment knob it becomes a crystal clear image, so fine tune your
coil even the tiniest move on the primary coil can make a world of
difference for the performance of your coil. Dose you coil have a carbon arc
on it if so you probably need to replace it, if its fixable then try sanding
all the burnt material off and the apply polyurethane. I usably put allot of
coats of polyurethane on my coil, the last one I put about 20, lol I had
some time to kill before the rest was finished but its looks beautiful, like
a glass shell. I hope this helps and I probably can help more if you give
all the info about your tc system. Peace!

Nolan Moore
----- Original Message -----
From: "Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
To: <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
Sent: Friday, October 24, 2003 11:37 PM
Subject: Sparking off the secondary problem (more info)


 > Original poster: sean <sean-at-nc.rr-dot-com>
 >
 > I covered the burn spot with electrical tape, This prevented this spot
 > from burning, but it sparked from other places on the secondary.  I
 > might have turned it on when the topload was not connected properly for
 > a few seconds.  Is it possible this would ruin my secondary?  I have put
 > a coat of polyurethane on, should I do this a few times to further
 > insulate it? or should I try to cover the entire thing with electrical
 > tape or "stretch wrap" from office max.
 >
 > Any info greatly appreciated, and thanks for all the info before, it's
 > likely I wouldn't have been able to build it at all without the help!
 >
 > On Fri, 2003-10-24 at 21:42, Tesla list wrote:
 >  > Original poster: sean <sean-at-nc.rr-dot-com>
 >  >
 >  > Hi, I finally got my Tesla coil working.  It was going good (about 2
 >  > foot sparks) Until I took the toroid off to try just a aluminum pan.
 >  > This worked, but not well. anyway, I put the dryer duct back, and
 >  > instead of working normally, it shot sparks 2/3 of the way up the
 >  > secondary, and smoke (nothing from the toroid).  I turned it off,
 >  > checked the connection between secondary and toroid, and tried again,
 >  > same problem.  Any ideas?  Is my secondary ruined?  It measures 55 ohms
 >  > from ground to toroid still.  I'm afraid to turn it on.
 >  > Thanks.
 > --
 > sean <sean-at-nc.rr-dot-com>
 >
 >