Henry Hallam wrote:
Since the current is less towards the top of the coil, the thinner wire "should" be able to handle it.I've never understood this. Why should current be less at the top of the coil? I understand that the voltage there is greater w.r.t ground than it is near the bottom, but Shirley the current is the same throughout the secondary. After all, it's just a long piece of wire. Yours unenlightenedly, Henry
It's a long piece of wire with capacitance between turns and capacitance of each turn to the surroundings. Current distribution depends on how much top load capacitance is on the coil. With no top loading the current will be lower at the top; if there are no streamers the current should be essentially zero at the top. Distributed capacitance is the culprit.
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