Message: 3
Date: Sat, 17 May 2014 01:27:07 +0000
From: Jeff Behary <jeff_behary@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "tesla@xxxxxxxxxx" <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [TCML] 10 foot tall Tesla Coil
Message-ID: <BLU181-W240F5C81F5AAC8708AA1959A300@xxxxxxx>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
I've been distant a year or more, chaos in life as I'm sure everyone has lately.
But some may recall a large coil I started on my birthday last year. Its made for a major
future Tesla museum (not Wardenclyffe) that I must refrain speaking about too much for the moment.
It's personally dedicated to Bill Wysock, Harry Goldman, Kenneth Strickfaden, and the long list of other
friends and pioneers in the field. Not meant to be the biggest or best coil on earth but something
different...and yet the same. Powered by a 10KVA pole pig, 120/240 - 14.4kV single phase.
.1 mfd 100kV cap bank. 2" flat ribbon and EPDM rubber primary coil. 10.75" x 75" secondary coil
threaded 14 turns per inch and inlaid with 16 AWG wire. 48" diameter x 12" cross section toroid.
The spark gap is a 12-series 1/2" tungsten oil-cooled gap, made to handle high currents. I specifically
wanted something different here, as I know Bill and Harry would be amused to see such a drastic departure...
(but its not so far off from early high power transmitter designs...just a little engine like :) ! )
First light didn't happen when it should've (last weekend). Meant to run from 240V 50A...but I only have access to a 240V 30A line
out in the country where I can safely test it...and my ballasts were consuming all of the current instead of limiting it...by poor pig
was only putting out about 15mA, LOL, and I was still blowing the 30A fuse, talk about a kick in the butt after a long day of work...
by the time I started tinkering with the power supply and figured out the problem it was late at night. Had spent 12 hours in the sun
drilling 2" thick GPO, fun but not fun if you know what I mean... and it took us 2 hours to figure out how to get a 4 foot
toroid 11 feet in the air for lowering it...don't laugh...its easier said than done! They're like picking up a greased aluminum pig.
The good news my pole pig afterward threw white hot arcs instead of 1/2" blue sparks :/ !!! and still even at seriously no power to
speak of I was getting 4' sparks. Hoping for at least 9-10 ft on 30A and 15-16 on 50A. Of course more would be better but this
gap being stationary and higher powered (and low BPS) should make some nice slow hot arcs. Rain all week here, but weekend forecast
is clear...so wish us luck tomorrow :) !
I am really happy with the PVC tie rod made from 3" PVC pipe. The secondary coil keys in to holes on the base top and is screwed down from
below using 1/2" bolts. At the top of the coil of course there is no metal. But the secondary coil weighs 75 pounds, is tall, and the 100 pound
oversized toroid doesn't help matters. I didn't want any chances of it all falling over in the wind...
The coil is horrifically heavy... in fact a 1/2 ton. When finished it must be OSHA compliant, no seriously, stop laughing. I can't
give away too much, but it really will be. What I can assure everyone, is that the final installation site will be a place you all want
to go. Regardless of the big coil... it will be Tesla paradise ;) ...
http://www.electrotherapymuseum.com/2014/BigCoil/index.html
Its not to typical specs, I didn't want such a large topload but the man paying the bill did and I didn't argue as there were two for sale.
Terry I can't blame you for wanting to get rid of them. I had to rent a Hope Depot truck just to transport them to the test site, only to
have my parents run their car battery flat. It took 3 hours and $100 to move them 20 miles...!!!
Endless thanks to everyone who has "friended" me on Facebook, its so nice to see faces with names and how similar we all are at the end
of the day...
Jeff