Re: [TCML] Grounding NSTs (Special Case?)

["Carl Noggle" <cn@xxxxx>]

Hey---

Our TC uses three 9/60s in parallel.  We have always had the cases grounded 
to the third prong for personnel safety, and have never had any problem with 
it in 20 years.

The strike rail is connected to the secondary ground which is always 
connected separately to the closest earth ground.  There's at least a one 
inch distance between the secondary circuit and anything else.

Having the NSTs out of reach is a very good idea, since there is where the 
real lethal stuff is.

My house has old-fashioned two-conductor wiring, and it all works fine with 
that too.

Don't forget to increase the megavoltage whenever possible.

Cheers---Carl





-----Original Message----- 
From: Brandon Hendershot
Sent: Tuesday, April 30, 2013 11:06 AM
To: Tesla Coil Mailing List
Subject: [TCML] Grounding NSTs (Special Case?)

Hi All,

I know this topic has been beaten like a dead horse, but I can't seem to
come to agreeance with the final verdicts in the archives.

I know that the NSTs should NOT be grounded to safety/third prong ground
since that would inject tons of lovely RF into mains and since the operator
shouldn't come into contact with them for any reason during operation,
grounding them there wouldn't be any more beneficial than at RF ground.

My only qualms with tying into RF ground is that any strikes to a target or
strike rail would connect the HV streamers to the core of the NSTs. Nothing
about that sounds particularly pleasing in my mind.

So, I'm wondering if the NSTs need to be grounded at all. My NSTs are
situated out of reach of both the operator and any secondary streamers.
(While I feel this may also be an asinine assumption,) I don't see any need
for a ground in this situation.

Hope someone can clear this up for me

Thanks much,
Brandon H.


P.S, I'm thinking about following another list members advice and using
coaxial cable to connect the NSTs to the spark gap and connecting the
shielding of the coax to RF ground to protect the NST's secondaries from
any secondary strikes. My concern with this is similar to what I just
mentioned; any strikes to RF ground would be connected to the coax
shielding. I don't know that I trust the insulation in the coax (which has
gaps/cracks from what I can see) to stand off the voltage of the TCs
output, let alone the 7.5kV from the NSTs.
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