Re: [TCML] How critical are overlaps, kinks, or crosses on a secondary coil?

[David Rieben <drieben@xxxxxxx>]

Hi Ethan,
 
As David T. has pointed out, kinks can pose a problem and possibly lead to spark breakout at
the kink (which is definitely NOT where you want to have sparks!) I was always careful in winding my 
secondaries to avoid kinks and overlaps, as probably most coilers are. If the wire overlapped while I was 
winding (and it always will, at times), I would unwrap and correct the overlap. As far as kinks, I tried to
make sure that the wire was neat and clean and was careful during feeding it to the form to try at all
cost to avoid kinks, for both asthetic and functional purposes. Also, your secondary is fairly small
so hand winding shouldn't be that problematic. For large secondaries, it's worth the extra effort to
build yourself a winding jig.
 
David Rieben

From: David Thomson <tcbuilder@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: Tesla Coil Mailing List <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx> 
Sent: Sunday, June 9, 2013 6:59 AM
Subject: Re: [TCML] How critical are overlaps, kinks, or crosses on a secondary coil?


The kinks by themselves will not cause shorts.  The shorts are caused by
bad tuning and over powering the dielectric between the windings.  However,
if the kink is located near a first harmonic node and the coil is out of
tune then the short will likely occur where there is a defect in the
winding.

When you wind your coil, first put a coat of polyurethane on the coil form
and let it get tacky.  Then wind the coil.  Do not put the outer layer(s)
of polyurethane on until about 24 hours later to give the wire time to
permanently stick to the coil form.  If you put the polyurethane on too
soon, it will cause the wires to unravel and slip by each other.

Kinks are the worst defects in a coil.  A kink, depending on how sharp it
is, will cause a premature leaking of the electrons and hence the electric
field regardless of where it occurs.  You want the wire to be as smooth as
possible and the connections to be fully insulated.

A Tesla coil as used on this list is an electron fountain.  If there is a
leak in the plumbing, it will decrease the pressure at the head (top load).
The goal is to have perfect resonance and a finely crafted instrument such
that the electrons are taking full advantage of their own geometry as well
as the geometry of the instrument and the environment.

Practice on your present project and then build a better one later to see
the difference in operation.  That is part of the fun of Tesla coiling.

Dave


On Sat, Jun 8, 2013 at 8:29 PM, Ethan Lee <ethanlee@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> Hello all,
>
> I've finished winding and varnishing my first secondary coil for a DRSSTC,
> oneTesla design, and there seems to be a few overlaps here and there. After
> scouring the Web to see the results of such windings, there are some people
> who say it only affects looks (which is fine for me) and others who say
> that it will cause shorts (not fine for me). I can link to a picture if you
> need one, but it's a small secondary coil, 2.5" in outer diameter and 10"
> high. Most of the overlaps are in the bottom third and are pretty spread
> out, and there's one small kink at about half.
>
> How badly will this affect the operation of the coil, and can I prevent
> damage with more coats of varnish?
>
> Thanks,
> Ethan
> _______________________________________________
> Tesla mailing list
> Tesla@xxxxxxxxxx
> http://www.pupman.com/mailman/listinfo/tesla
>
_______________________________________________
Tesla mailing list
Tesla@xxxxxxxxxx
http://www.pupman.com/mailman/listinfo/tesla
_______________________________________________
Tesla mailing list
Tesla@xxxxxxxxxx
http://www.pupman.com/mailman/listinfo/tesla