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Re: [TCML] Secondary Repair Question
I would agree with Gary that if the coil isn't tuned right, or the k is too high, etc, you're going to have trouble.
Now - I will moderate my thesis with some empirical evidence.
My 6" secondary had 4 coats of AC43 and it didn't stop the racing sparks from my lousy tuning. My 8" secondary is coated with about 12 coats of Dolphs. It took forever to coat and dry, and the temps dropped during one of the coats and I got bubbles. However, it did seem to help with the racing arcs when I was messing around with varying the k and tuning the primary. Could be other things that prevented the racing arcs, but it did seem to help.
My 12" secondary is coated with 4 coats of AC-43, and then 2 coats of Envirotex. I haven't had a single racing arc irrespective of how crummy my tuning is. Now - other things flash and burn, and my safety gap fires like the main gap, sometimes when I'm dialing it in. But never 1 racing spark.
The last thing I'll offer is that last weekend I was working at the Maker Faire in the SF Bay area and I got to talk to the Arc Attack guys (and their friend and TCML guru, Steve Ward). Their coils were quite used looking up close. They said they'd been using the coils on the road for 3 years with no issues. Though one of the coils was starting to suffer arcing (I can't remember if he said it was secondary/primary arcing, or racing arcs). So they wrapped it top to bottom in plastic wrap, which cured the problem.
Cheers,
Joe
On May 30, 2011, at 5:25 AM, Brandon Hendershot wrote:
> Hi All,
>
> First off, please excuse me for bumping such an old topic. I've been pretty pre-occupied with school and have finally gotten the time to focus on coiling. Anyway, I'd like to fix up the secondary coil before I do anything else.
> Would a few properly applied coats of Dolph's AC-43 over the existing flawed coating prevent any more racing arcs? Of course assuming I get it properly tuned and coupled first.
>
> Thanks!
>
> --
> Brandon H.
> teslacoilers.blogspot.com
>
> On May 3, 2011, at 8:43 AM, Carl Noggle <cn@xxxxx> wrote:
>
>> Hey---
>>
>> If you need something for a really bad burn, carefully cut out the burned sections of the affected turn sand dress the ends of the wires so they don't touch and create a shorted turn. Shorted turns are the pits. Then take the two ends of the adjacent good turns and solder them carefully in the gap. Check with an ohmmeter to make sure you used the right wire ends. I made a hole in the form and stuck the twisted ends into the interior of the coil (a relatively field-free region) and soldered them there. Then trim everything up nicely and coat with epoxy. It's ugly, but mine has been working for 12 years or so. I have a good picture--if you would like one let me know how to get it to you. Good luck, but it's not hard if you're careful.
>>
>> ---Carl
>>
>> PS--Avoid LIKE THE PLAGUE jumping arcs to the secondary coil.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>> I've successfully repaired mine by cleaning it with a Scotchbrite pad and
>>> alcohol, then recoating. Yours looks worse than mine did, but you still may get
>>> away with it. If you choose to sand, I'd be very careful to clean all of the
>>> sanding grit, as I've heard some fine sandpapers use a conductive grit. It can't
>>> hurt to try.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> ----- Original Message ----
>>> From: Brandon Hendershot<brandonhendershot@xxxxxxxxx>
>>> To: Tesla Coil Mailing List<tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>
>>> Sent: Sun, May 1, 2011 5:15:36 PM
>>> Subject: [TCML] Secondary Repair Question
>>>
>>> Hi All,
>>>
>>> The last time I ran my coil a bunch of racing sparks caused some substantial
>>> damage to my secondary. I want to try and fix it before I go and rebuild it
>>> or just make another. Could I just patch it up with some Dolph's AC-43? Or
>>> do I NEED (note the emphasis on need) to sand it all off, do something about
>>> the carbon/char, and then re-coat?
>>>
>>> Thanks everyone!
>>>
>>> P.S. I posted some pictures of the damage on my TC blog. The link's in my
>>> signature.
>>
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