Re: DIY HV transformer

["Tesla list" <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Original poster: Just Justin <rocketfuel@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>

Hi Christoph,

Craig Dunn just posted a page for his new coil a few days ago:

http://www.craigsarea.com/sgtc.html


One of the parts I found particularly interesting was his rig for the
ballast inductor that implements an adjustable air gap.  Check it out!


As I mentioned when I first arrived here, my plan to build a first coil
is to first absorb as much as I can and only then start building.  Well,
of course the more I learn the more I see there is to learn ;)  The idea
of making some of these parts entirely by hand is intriguing to me, as I
have always been a hands-on DIY guy.  So, your post on DIY (do it yourself)
transformers landed on fertile ground.  I'm curious about how the rest
of your core looks.  I only just found out about the displacement currents
that make a solid core a "bad idea", do you use some sort of stack of plates
in yours?


This also leads me to ponder the question aloud of intellectual property,
or maybe "copying etiquette" as a better term.  I've seen a lot of great
designs on the internet for the various components and my first instinct
would be to copy these designs as best as I could!  But, some little part
of me wonders if that isn't akin to stealing..or something.  Of course, if
the design is a detailed schematic with digikey part numbers like Terry's
Filter<tm> I assume it's ok to cop that entirely. ;)

What do you folks think about this?  Should I just check the archives?


Lastly, I want express my gratitude for this mailing list and its participants.
I find the discussions interesting and the amount of knowledge being shared
and expanded upon to be top notch.  Thanks to everyone who's taught me a
little more.  You see, I went to college to study EE, but got sidetracked
by software and the programming lifestyle but never lost the bug to know
what the heck is going on with this crazy electricity stuff.  Now, after
getting this TC bug and having to learn so much EE stuff, I'm starting to
think maybe I should go back to school and study RF...I guess it comes down
to feeling like there's something inherently cooler about analog than 
digital ;)

So long and thanks for all the fish!

Justin





On Tue, Jul 12, 2005 at 12:00:10PM -0600, Tesla list wrote:
> Original poster: "Christoph Bohr" <cb@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>
> Hello everyone.
>
> As you may have noticed during the last few days, I had some trouble
> with my 6-mot-stack, which finally lead to a failure mode that makes
> diagnosis very difficult, so I wanted to try something else: Wind my own
> transformer:
> first pictures of the winding process can be seen here:
> http://www.luebke-lands.de/tesla19.html
> along with some basic specs.
>
> The transformer is intended to be run unter oil, but another problem arises:
>
> The core material I am winding this transformer on, is the core of my former
> ballast coil, which means I no longer have one.
> Now, can I incooperate some shunts or airgap to limit the current so that I
> don't
> have to build another ballast coil?
> The core is basicaly rectangular, with each of the coils on one leg left and
> right...
> Maybe someone has an idea here. Maybe even with shunts, that can be moved
> by means of some mechanism while the transformer is still under oil....
>
> I'm thankfull for any suggestions.
>
> best regards
>
> Christoph
>