User-agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10.9; rv:24.0) Gecko/20100101 Thunderbird/24.6.0
On 9/9/14, 7:14 AM, Jeremy Gassmann wrote:
Hello all,
I was asked to demo my coil for our local Cub Scout troop and had a
question about safety and solicit any other feedback on the topic. I will
be running the coil inside a large sanctuary at a church with high ceilings
but also with carpet. The carpet is my concern as I will be running the
coil on a counterpoise directly over the carpet. Is this a potential fire
hazard or is it only a problem if the coil strikes the ground (my coil
can't arc that far)?
A counterpoise is a great way to provide a local "ground" for your TC.
If you structure it right, it can also provide a visual indication of a
"keep out" zone for your demo.
For instance, say the top of your coil is 4 feet off the ground. The
counterpoise could be about 8 feet in diameter.
If you build your counterpoise as something like chicken wire on thin
plywood (lauan door skins, for instance) "tiles" then you have the
double protection of a piece of wood and the chicken wire on top.
Something like 3x3 or 2x2 foot squares would work great, although you'd
need to figure out a good way to interconnect them. Or "fold it" with a
zig zag pattern.
I've built counterpoises out of inexpensive industrial carpet and fake
grass as well. I lay the chicken wire on top, and attach it with nylon
zip ties. Then you can roll the whole thing up.
You might want to test it somewhere first.. Do it in the dark, on
something like concrete driveway, and look for any sparks from
counterppise to ground. I doubt you'll see any, because all the RF
power should be going to the coil and the counterpoise.
My next major concern is ozone build up, but I think I will open the
windows up to help vent it out and be cognizant of any build up of
ozone. Are there any other safety issues (besides the obvious of getting
shocked) that I may be overlooking?
How big is your coil?
Some coils are pretty noisy.
Also, what are some things that you might do besides just turning it on to
get the kids interested and involved? I thought about lighting up
fluorescent bulbs from a distance but that is about all I can think of. And
how do you explain on a very basic level how a tesla coil works to a group
of 6 to 10 year olds?
There's two things to talk about..
"transformer action" which takes a low voltage and makes it a high
voltage (a jacob's ladder with a NST is a great example).
And then resonant coupling.
That's really well illustrated by a couple pendulums hanging from a
broomstick. You start one swinging, and the other one stationary.. then
both will swing, and then only the one that started stationary, and back..
Thank you all in advance for any help you can give!
Jeremy Gassmann
_______________________________________________
Tesla mailing list
Tesla@xxxxxxxxxx
http://www.pupman.com/mailman/listinfo/tesla