Re: First light great.

["Tesla list" <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Original poster: "david baehr" <dfb25@xxxxxxxxxxx>


Does the inside really need to be conductive ??? My toroid is settin' on an 
upside down plastic salad bowl.............I just spiral ( ? ) the wire up 
to the toroid..................it works, but heck,I dont know!!!




>From: "Tesla list" <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>
>To: tesla@xxxxxxxxxx
>Subject: Re: First light great.
>Date: Fri, 27 May 2005 11:29:20 -0600
>
>Original poster: "Bart B." <bartb@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>
>Hi Daniel,
>
>Tesla list wrote:
>>Original poster: "Daniel Koll" <dk_spl_audio@xxxxxxxxxxx>
>>
>>Ok, thanks.  I will try making a toroid first but have some
>>questions.  When I make the disc out of wood, should I cover the
>>whole thing in AL tape?
>
>
>Yes. This is just a simple way to place a center disc into the
>toroid. Obviously, anything metallic will also work, but I usually
>have wire spool ends around so I use them for the purpose. Simply
>find something like a round wire spool end or whatever that is
>already round and near to the inner diameter of the toroid
>selection. If for example, you choose a 3"x12" toroid, the inner
>diameter would be a 6" disc. Before you cover with Al-Tape, drill a
>hole through the disc. The hole would be for a small diameter bolt
>(rounded head) used for attaching the top secondary wire to. Cover
>in Al-Tape completely (top, bottom, and sides). Use a glass jar or
>similar to rub the Al-Tape as smooth as you can get it. Then, place
>the bolt through the pre-drilled hole and fasten with a nut. The nut
>side should be inserted from the bottom of the disc up to the top so
>that the side which is facing the secondary has minimal protrusions.
>
>>Even the bottom?  Anything else I should know?  I will start with
>>the 3"X12" that you recommended unless someone on the list doesn't
>>think that is a good starting point.
>
>
>After building the inner disc, simply form the flex tube to the same
>shape so that the disc rides center of the inner diameter. You
>should use Al-Tape again around the entire toroid to make it as
>smooth as possible. I just tear off strips and place them one at a
>time until it's to my liking. This will secure the disc to the tube
>and create a nice small toroid. Use the glass jar on the tube as
>well to rub out any protrusions from the tape.
>
>I set up a little coil a few weeks ago and had an old Al-tape toroid
>I used. I decided to go into the garage and take some photos.
>Sometimes pictures are better to explain these things. I'll pop them
>up to my website.
>http://www.classictesla.com/temp/Img_0615.jpg
>http://www.classictesla.com/temp/Img_0618.jpg
>http://www.classictesla.com/temp/Img_0619.jpg
>
>Be careful with the Al-tape. It can be sharp.
>>If I would have known about the coupling I would have changed my
>>design.
>>This is my first coil and I had never heard of this ever being a
>>problem.  I ran the coil for probably 2 1/2 minutes total with this
>>issue.  The secondary seems to be fine and in as good condition as
>>when I started, I hope the streamers didn't make pin holes through
>>the enamel and polyurethane.  If the new toroid does fail then I
>>guess I will remove some of the secondary windings.  My secondary
>>is wound for 16" so if I take off a 1/4-1/2" I don't think the
>>output will be reduced too much.
>
>
>No, the output would not be affected. There are many things which
>could have happen. Coupling and tuning are two most common problems
>coilers run into. Both can cause racing sparks and can often be
>difficult to distinguish which (or both) may be the problem. There
>are other possibilities as well. If a visual inspection of the coil
>looks ok (both inside the form and out), the coil is likely ok. They
>can take some abuse to a degree.
>>Finally, many people said that maybe it was just out of tune.
>>Isn't the coil tuned when you achieve the largest spark output?
>>All I did was trial and error until I saw what I think was the
>>biggest sparks.
>This is a perfectly suitable method to tune the coil as long as
>nothing is damaged in the process. With high powered coils, this can
>be chancy. Your coil is not high powered, so I think it's fine.
>However, a far more precise method is to calc the system first.
>Unless the user made an error in the calculations, usually only
>minor adjustment is necessary for best output.
>
>It would probably be a good idea to give further specs on other
>parts of the coil. Such as:  cap size and type, spark gap, primary
>turns, primary inner and outer dimensions. These are the common
>specs for running a pretty good analysis on your coil. With that
>info, the coupling and tuning can be calc'd very precisely. JAVATC
>will tell-the-tale if you give it accurate data. If your
>uncomfortable with the program, just give your specs here and I'll
>run it for you.
>
>http://www.classictesla.com/java/javatc.html
>
>Take care,
>Bart B.
>
>>Thanks
>>
>>>From: "Tesla list" <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>
>>>To: tesla@xxxxxxxxxx
>>>Subject: Re: First light great.
........