RE: tesla coil does not work...

["Tesla list" <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Original poster: "Qndre Qndre" <qndre_encrypt@xxxxxxxxxxx>

Mmh, sounds like your capacitor shorts out your transformer. Can you 
hear a 50/60 Hz sound (depending on your mains frequency) coming from 
your high voltage transformer beins as loud as when you short it's 
secondary? Then your cap is not working (internal short-circuit-like 
condition) or your wiring is wrong.

Regards, Q.

----Original Message Follows----
From: "Tesla list" <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: tesla@xxxxxxxxxx
Subject: tesla coil does not work...
Date: Tue, 10 Jan 2006 18:45:59 -0700

Original poster: "Langer Giv'r" <transworldsnowboarding19@xxxxxxxxxxx>

hello, Ive been working on my tesla coil for 6 months now, and i just 
plugged it in today.  I was expecting to see nothing until i properly 
tuned it but i didnt see anything at all no matter what i did.  I 
tapped the primary everywhere, i switched the cap and spark gap from 
paralell to series and what not and tried everything but nothing 
worked...  I was really dissapointed because i spent about $350 on 
it.  The most confusing part is when i just run my spark gap on my 
xfrmr, i can draw it quite long, but when i wire up the entire tesla 
coil, the spark gap goes about 0.5 millimeters...  how is this 
possible?  what am i doing wrong?  please help!  Here are my specs:

xfrmr - 10KV OBIT 23mA
spark gap - multi static spark gap
Cap - 2 strings of 12  CDE  942C 0.068 2KVDC caps   total of 11.3nF 
(LTR) at 24KV
Primary - 10mm copper tubing, 11 turns for primary
Secondary - 1350 turns 26AWG magnetic wire with 10 coats of 
polyethylene sealant
safety spark gap to ground, properly set.
3 inch diameter toroid.

When i turn it on, the spark gap fires on a very short distance, and 
i smell something burning, but I dont think its my transformer 
because it still works...  I am seeing absolutely NOTHING on my 
secondary, so i think my capacitors might have something wrong with 
them.  Help would be increadible, thanks!

_