Re: [TCML] Safely Grounding a Tesla Coil

[Brandon Hendershot <brandonhendershot@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Richard,

A lot of what you guys are trying to explain seems way over my head.  
How about some advice for sinking a ground rod? Lol, but I think I  
will try the chicken wire counterpoise before I do any permenant  
damage to the lawn.

Thank you all for your patience with me,
Brandon

On Feb 6, 2010, at 5:27 PM, "Richard Schmuke" <rdj@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> Lets try this Brandon , if you have a antenna, the standard is a  
> dipole ,
> 1/4 wl out the center of the coax and 1/4 wl out the shield side.  
> You can
> set this on the ground and have a rod going up from the center 1/4  
> wl, now
> from the shield side spread out several wires 1/4 wl length to act  
> as the
> other half of the antenna. This is sometimes called a counterpoise.  
> It gets
> more involved but did this help? If not I can sent you some simple  
> drawings
> I use for my radio classes.
>
> Rich , KDØZZ
> Disclaimer: Any errors in spelling or facts are transmission errors.
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: tesla-bounces@xxxxxxxxxx [mailto:tesla-bounces@xxxxxxxxxx] On  
> Behalf
> Of Brandon Hendershot
> Sent: Saturday, February 06, 2010 11:11 AM
> To: Tesla Coil Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [TCML] Safely Grounding a Tesla Coil
>
> Hi Jim,
>
> Could you explain the concept of "counterpoise" for me or provide a
> link to some documentation? I've never heard of anything like it...
>
> Thanks btw,
> Brandon
>
> On Feb 5, 2010, at 9:39 PM, jimlux <jimlux@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> > Brandon Hendershot wrote:
> > > Hi all,
> > > I know that it's said that you need an entirely seperate ground rod
> > > when opperating tesla coils because the high voltage grounding
> > > through the house wiring is extremely dangerous to anything plugged
> > > into any other grounded outlet on the same circuit.
> >
> >
> > Not precisely..
> > You need a separate RF return for the coil, be it a counterpoise,
> > good grounding system, etc.
> > The reason you don't want it interconnected too well with the "house
> > ground" is that it will propagate HV transients into your house
> > wiring system (by capacitive and inductive coupling).. those
> > transients wreak havoc on most consumer electronics.
> >
> > I wouldn't say "extremely dangerous".. I'd reserve that for
> > something like juggling chain saws.
> >
> >
> >
> > But what if you attached the coils
> > > ground wire directly to the ground rod. It would be bypassing the
> > > house wiring, so the high voltage won't be running by any precious
> > > electronics inside the house. It shouldn't be running back up into
> > > the house right?
> >
> > Exactly.. But there is a problem because at some point, you need to
> > bond to the "green wire ground" at least for things that are plugged
> > in or that you might touch (e.g. equipment cases).
> >
> > > I'm trying to be minimalistic so I don't have to try to pound down
> > > a ground rod of my own.
> >
> > Think counterpoise.. a big conductive sheet.. chicken wire works
> > well. A circle that has radius = the height of the top load above it.
> >
> >
> > Hook that to the bottom of your secondary.
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