Re: Oil insulated secondaries (fwd)

["Tesla list" <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sat, 8 Sep 2007 16:22:58 -0700 (PDT)
From: J. Aaron Holmes <jaholmes@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: Tesla list <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: Oil insulated secondaries (fwd)

Hey there, Dave!  I'd be interested in any tips here,
too, however I suspect the number of amateur coilers
who have built oil-insulated secondaries can be
counted on one hand, maybe less ;-)  The only
functioning amateur oil-insulated coil I've ever seen
pictures of is Terry Blake's:
http://www.tb3.com/tesla/teslathon2003/tb_tc/tb_tc.htm

It was his coil that inspired me to start building my
own oil-insulated coil.

I've also heard of a few oil-insulated research coils,
and seen drawings illustrating their construction.

For about the last year, I've been slowly gathering
the pieces for a medium-sized oil-filled secondary. 
For lack of any real guidance on oil-insulated
construction, I've decided to strike out in what seems
like a new direction:  I'm building the secondary
inside an oil-tight ceramic insulator that used to
house a 115kV capacitor:
http://silicon-arcana.com/cap/cap.jpg
(on left)

It's about 4' tall and will accomodate a 6" x 30" coil
form quite nicely.

The insulator has aluminum end caps with rubber seals.
 If the end caps were steel, I'd worry about losses,
but aluminum should be fine.  The bottom of the coil
form will be stood off from the bottom cap, too.

The secondary winding itself will also be something
unusual; a friend with a lathe has cut threads into a
piece of clear acrylic tubing, such that the secondary
windings will actually lie in a groove, held very
slightly apart so that the oil almost completely
surrounds them.  I will not be coating the winding at
all; the threaded form will keep the windings in
place.  Within the ceramic insulator, the coil form
will be suspended from both ends by 2" OD copper
tubing.  I'll also be installing a pressure release
valve on the top cap.  The top cap will then be
completely hidden inside a 6"x24" spun toroid which
I've cut most of the center out of.  A larger 8"x30"
toroid will comprise the main topload above this.

All this, it is hoped, will look extremely cool when
finished, not to mention being almost indestructible. 
The biggest missing piece right now is the time to
actually finish it!  But as I have so little time in
general, I'm being patient about collecting all the
best stuff.  I can't bank on any second chances! 
We'll see what happens.  I'm hoping to actually have
something working by mid 2008.

Cheers,
Aaron, N7OE


--- Tesla list <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> 
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> Date: Sat, 08 Sep 2007 02:08:24 +0000
> From: Sparktron01@xxxxxxxxxxx
> To: Tesla List <Tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: Oil insulated secondaries
> 
> Folks
> 
> Are there some links to construction techniques to
> build a oil insulated Tesla Coil or
> Magnifier secondary (or extra coil)?  Please advise.
>  Thanks
> 
> Regards
> Dave Sharpe, TCBOR/HEAS
> Chesterfield, VA. USA
> 
> 
> 
>