Re: New to tesla coils

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

Original poster: sean <sean-at-nc.rr-dot-com> 

Sorry for the confusion, I meant to use 1/4 inch pipe on the primary, I
wanted to know the gauge of the connecting wire.

For the geek group capacitor, I built it, but it's impossible to keep
the wire hanging down on the side at least 3 inches from any of the
other connecting wires!  I have insulation on it so there is no bare
wire closer than 3 inches, is this ok?

I will have to find where to get magnet wire.  Can this be found at home
depot?

Finally (and most importantly), I found a store in my area that sells
transformers.  They said they have a complete line of UL2161, I found
this number on franceformer's site.  They also said they were new and
had some ground protection thing.  Will these transformers work?
Thanks!

On Mon, 2003-09-29 at 02:46, Tesla list wrote:
 > Original poster: Mark Broker <mbroker-at-thegeekgroup-dot-org>
 >
 > On Sun, 28 Sep 2003 14:56:47 -0600, Tesla list <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com> wrote:
 >
 > >Original poster: sean <sean-at-nc.rr-dot-com> For the secondary, someone
 > >mentioned 26 gauge wire, I also heard it
 > >should be 200 C magnet wire.  Do I have to find magnet wire, or can I
 > >just get some 26 gauge wire?
 >
 > That was me.  Sorry for the confusion, but I did mean 26 gage magnet
 > wire.  200deg C wire has a heavier/thicker insulation and is probably 
the best.
 >
 >
 > >Also, for the primary circuit, is 10 gauge wire right?
 > >
 > >Finally, I have seen 2 main designs for the primary circuit.  One has
 > >the spark gap in parallel with the transformer, and the capacitors in
 > >series.  The other is just the opposite.  Which design is recommended?
 >
 >
 > 10 gage is fine for a small coil.  If the primary starts to get warm, then
 > upgrade to 1/4" tubing.  IMO making an adjustable connection to 1/4" tubing
 > is much easier than 10 gage wire - a 1/4" inch fuse holder works amazingly
 > well ;)
 >
 > Always wire the spark gap in parallel with the transformer since this
 > decreases the chances of overvolting the transformer.  I think Terry has a
 > paper on that at http://hot-streamer-dot-com
 >
 > Cheers!
 >
 > Mark Broker
 > Chief Engineer, The Geek Group
 >
-- 
sean <sean-at-nc.rr-dot-com>