Construction of first tesla coil (fwd)

["Tesla list" <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Original poster: Gerry Reynolds <greynolds@xxxxxxxxxx>



---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 20 Dec 2006 12:03:35 -0500 (EST)
From: M G <gt4awd@xxxxxxxxx>
To: tesla@xxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Construction of first tesla coil

Hi, I'm new to coiling in that I have not built one yet, but I have been learning about
tesla coils for over two months. I have been collecting the supplies I will need to
build my first coil. I have a 9kv 30ma NST purchased in NOS condition, Terry filter
components, a 2x10amp cornell dubillier RFI filter, 12 cornell dubillier .15MFD 2000VDC
capacitors with resistors, a 798' spool of 24AWG enamled magnet wire, also a 1500' spool
of 26AWG enamled magnet wire. The transformer has been tested and works good for jacobs
ladders. It can create a 3" arc before the arc breaks. It is grounded with a 12AWG
insulated solid copper wire that leads outside and is burried about 2' underground.
Around 3' of the wire that is burried I stipped and made into a small coil. Should this
grounding be good enough?
What would be the best dimensions for my secondary coil using only a 9kv 30ma NST, and
what is the max spark length the coil should make? Using the program "TeslaMap", I get a
height to width ratio of 4/1 using the entire spool of 26AWG magnet wire, which would
make a secondary of 5" diameter, 20" winding height, and 1140 turns of wire. Being a
beginner though i'm sure I will make mistakes winding the coil, and should first get
some practice. I would like to use the 24AWG magnet wire to make a smaller secondary.
What is the smallest sized secondary I could with the 24AWG?
I bought a new poly cutting board 11"x14" non-porrus/absorbent that I hope will work for
the MMC board. I still need to learn more about exactly how to setup the MMC bank. It
will be my first time working with high voltage and capacitors. So far the proper
construction and use of a few jacobs ladders, is my only experience using high voltage.
So any help and advice is really appriciated.
Thanks, GT4AWD.

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