Original poster: Steve Conner <steve@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Wire with red insulation on
it is low quality.
I beg to differ, I think you can get poor quality enamelled wire in any
colour you like ;) The wire I get from Maplin or RS is, I think, the stuff
that Malcolm would consider low quality. It comes in a light gold or red
colour. You can also get it in green and blue if you look around.
When I was building the OLTC II I went to Hi-Wire and asked for high
quality wire. They gave me the high temperature rated stuff (200 deg.C
iirc) which was a dark reddish brown colour.
It doesn't seem to make much difference though. I have never seen
inter-turn insulation breakdown in any of my Tesla coils, whether made with
cheap wire or premium stuff, and I have driven them plenty hard enough.
Even when a Tesla coil is maxed out, the voltage between turns must still
be less than 1kV.
As for MOTs, I have sitting on my desk a MOT with "Class 200" on the label.
I assume that means 200 deg.C and hence it is made with the "premium" high
temperature wire. The wire on my MOT certainly looks the same colour as the
good stuff I bought.