Re: Pre-flight check......

["Tesla list" <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Original poster: "David Rieben" <drieben@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>

Hi Glen,

Very nice looking coil that you have there, especially for a
first attempt.;^) There are only a couple of little things that I
noticed that could be a problem for you. One thing I've dis-
covered with Tesla coils is that wood does not make a very
good insulator. Mounting conductive components that will be
energized with the high voltage currents of the NST output
directly to a wooden base is not a good idea, especially if
you reside in a humid climate. Although perfectly dry wood
is a good insulator, wood also tends to soak up atmospheric
moisture like a sponge. And once wood starts to conduct
just a bit in the presence of high voltage, then it will begin
carbon tracking and the insulation factor of it is pretty much
totally lost at this point. You can mount energized components
(like your safety gap) on a polyethylene plastic cutting board.

I also noticed that you mounted your large power resistors
directly to the PVC pipe support pillars with what looks like
rubber bands. These power resistors can get rather hot during
coil operation and could get hot enough to melt and/or scorch
burn plastic or rubber material. You will need to mount these
with more heat resistant surface components.

Otherwise, your coil looks great and should be a great spark
maker once properly tuned in ;^))

David Rieben

----- Original Message -----
From: "Tesla list" <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, October 03, 2006 4:52 AM
Subject: Pre-flight check......


> Original poster: "Glen McGowan" <glen.mcgowan@xxxxxxxxx>
>
> I just completed final assembly of my first 4" coil  (well, first
> coil period for that matter). I wanted to let some of you take a
> quick glance and tell me if there are any obvious violations of the
> "TC code of ethics".
>
>
<http://cyplex.morpheus.net/TeslaCoil/Complete/>http://cyplex.morpheus.net/T
eslaCoil/Complete/
>
>
> Actual secondary winding length is 22 inches on a 25'ish inch form.
> NST is a 15/60.  Topload is 4x19 sitting at 25 inches.  15 turns on
> the primary (which includes the tap as one turn).  Resonant freq is
> around 212khz. I used 300amp battery cable as my hookup wire between
> components. Spark gap is set to fire at NST voltage to prevent
> resonance in the NST. Waiting on caps....will upgrade the MMC when
> they arrive.
>
> I do have one question. Could I get by on a counterpoise instead of
> drilling through the garage floor to drive a ground rod? maybe 4'x4'
> piece of fencing?
>
>
> Thanks to everyone who got me to this point.
>
>
>