[TCML] First Tesla Coil Problems and Questions

[tai o <taimaster2005@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hello all,

I am new to coiling and I got to run my newly finished tesla coil this week but with problems ofcourse! First off, here's the specs: 8 turn primary, 4in secondary wound 20in with 24awg wire, 4in dia aluminum duct with pie pans for the toroid (about 15pf), 21nf 26kv mmc cap using 1.6kv 0.15uf CD 942C series caps (2 strings of 16), 12kv 60ma nst, terry filter with safety gap (without mov's), single spark gap (with fan) using 2 .5in brass spheres screwed onto bolts, and I'm using a 5' by 8' fence as a counterpoise for ground. For my very first run, it produced about 1.5ft sparks but I noticed sparks somewhere in the mmc area. I ran the coil a few more times that night (about 5secs at a time) but I still saw sparks from the mmc (but nothing visible after inspection). So, at first I had the sg fan blowing air into the gap tube (blowing air down, away from the mmc) but for the next day, I turned the fan over to suck air in. This would blow the ozone gas right
 onto the mmc (see pic). So, for the second run the next day, the mmc had an arc from cap to cap and this time it was visible with a black line. Would it be safe to assume that the ozone being blown onto the mmc "helped" it arc over? The strings on the mmc are about .6in apart. Is this too close? I'm thinking that I could cut some plexi strips and use hot glue to put it in between the strings to prevent arc over. I also noticed that the capacitance changed from 19 to 21nf after first using them. Even after the arc over, the caps seemed to have survived according to my multimeter. Do you think my mmc is too close in proximity to the primary (see pic)? Is the magnetic field from the primary also helping it arc over? Should I move the mmc further away from the primary? I can add another "table" section to have more room to do this. Does using the counterpoise instead of a "real" rf ground help produce mmc arc over? I noticed that when the safety gap fired,
 it is a very loud pop. It seemed to fire quite a bit. Before the second run, I readjusted the single spark gap and the safety gap by testing it only with the nst hooked up to them but the safety gap still fires quite a bit. This time I expected the spark output to be longer but it seemed to be shorter. Should I ditch the single spark gap and go with the Richard Quick type of gap? During the first run, I saw 1.5 to 2ft of sparks but I should get at least 3 with the 12kv 60ma nst (and also according to Java TC). Would performance be better with a "real" rf ground (8ft rod).  Does anybody see anything else wrong with my setup? I can also send the Java TC calculations if that helps. Let me know if you need anymore information to diagnose my problem.

Here's the link to the photobucket album of pictures: http://s29.photobucket.com/albums/c261/taimaster2001/Tesla%20Coil/

Thanks for your help,

Tai O.



      
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