Mike H wrote:
That's good to hear then, as after seeing the links to that ribbon stuff for sale, I'm looking to purchase that as well for my rebuild of my coil. I just keep putting it off, but hope to do something before hallowen. You mentioned something about fiberglass between the spiral surfaces. Is that so you can pack it tight, rather than use something like other items in this thread (spacing it with a support). I have thought about the packing tight, but had concerns over how to tune when too tight.
Hi Mike,Kimble, who I bought the ribbon was excellent to deal with. The ribbon arrived in a USPS Priority Mail (like 2 or 3 days). Kimble packaged the ribbon very well and it came without any damage. Very nice! I wrote him a thank you note the day I received it. Great person to deal with.
I planed on 1/4" spacing. The tighter you can wind the ribbon, the more L per length you can get. Given the number of turns I'll need, turn to turn voltage should fine at that distance. However, if I was in a situation where I was only using 5 turns or so, I would have increased spacing to accommodate, but I have a need for 13 turns which is why I'm building a 14 turn primary. That is where I am coming from. I need almost the whole 50 feet of ribbon. Some people have used rubber, or window seal type foam between their ribbons to wind the coil. This does work, but it's not so easy to apply (at least the foam type). I tried this on a few turns but decided I didn't like it. I removed the foam and decided to just go with a simple standoff method. A hacksaw blade thickness cut into acrylic I tried just for a check on the width with the ribbon. The ribbon had to be forced in as the fit was tight, but it went did go in ok. So after that, I decided to simply build standoffs (I'll likely use GTO-3 at 3/8" thick). Still need to order it however. I'll just use a band saw and jig to cut the slots to depth. I plan on 1/2" slots (top and bottom) to cover the full 1" ribbon width. I'll tap the bottom standoff and drill through the top standoff at the ends and use a nylon screw to attach both standoffs. I'll then tap the bottom standoff to accept a 1/4-20 screw. I'm thinking of using a simple turnbuckle method to adjust the primary up and down for easy coupling adjustment. Again, nylon screws with a small metal turn buckle between screws.
Anyway, that's what I'm planning on at this point. But coils are like a river. You never know what kind of rapids might be around the next corner.
Take care, Bart _______________________________________________ Tesla mailing list Tesla@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx http://www.pupman.com/mailman/listinfo/tesla