Re: Connecting pipes together for primary?

["Tesla list" <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Original poster: "Paul B. Brodie" <pbbrodie@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>

Hey Blimpie,
Where are you located to have such a hard time coming up with copper 
tubing??!! Are you in the States? Lowe's, Home Depot, and local plumbing 
supply houses all have the .25" soft copper tubing available in 50' rolls 
for much less than $40. Lowe's also has 10' and 20' rolls that you can use 
to get those "extra few turns" that seem to always be needed.

I am anything but an experienced pro so I am a little reluctant to give 
advice, but I do know from reading volumes of archives, this list, and 
countless Tesla web sites, that you can certainly join .25" soft copper 
tubing by inserting either a piece of wire or as you suggest a smaller 
piece of tubing and then soldering the joint and cleaning it up until it is 
very smooth. Good luck.
Paul Brodie
Think Positive

----- Original Message -----
From: "Tesla list" <<mailto:tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: <<mailto:tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, April 12, 2005 7:20 PM
Subject: Connecting pipes together for primary?

> Original poster: Tyler <<mailto:blimpie120@xxxxxxxxx>blimpie120@xxxxxxxxx>
>
> Ok, so I am building a new tesla coil. So far I have
> 15kv and 90mA worth of NST's, a saltwater cap to be
> rebuilt, and my secondary will be 6.5" diameter by
> about 29" with 23awg wire (around 1200 or so turns).
> As for my primary, it is pretty tough to get 1/4" OD
> copper pipe here in great lengths. To my calculations,
> I will need around 70 feet or so of the pipe. I can
> get 10' lengths for around 2 bucks, and a 50 foot roll
> is like 40 bucks. Could I, essentially, use 10'
> lengths, with a piece of 1/8" od pipe inside the ends
> of the 1/4" pipe (to make good electrical and physical
> connection), and solder them together? It seems to me,
> that as long as I sand away the solder to be smooth
> with the pipe, it shouldn't be a problem for primary
> arcing. The only other thing i see is the resistance
> going up a bit, and changing the res freq a little
> bit.
>
> Anyone have any input on this, or any links to where I
> can see it done?
>
> Thanks in advance,
> Blimpie
>
>