Hi Harrison,
The most likely issue is that the primary and secondary circuits are not
tuned to the same frequency. One can't just hook up a capacitor, a primary
coil, a secondary coil, and a topload, and expect that the frequencies will
match. The exact number of turns, the exact dimensions, the size of the
topload - this all matters. Have you used a program to calculate things?
Do you have any means to test the capacitance of your salt water caps?
They ARE filled with salt water, right?
Your NST looks like a good choice - it's not a solid state job.
Please understand that setting the spark gap too wide is a sure way to kill
the NST. This is not intuitive. The wider you set the gap, the higher the
voltage will climb, and it will in fact climb MUCH higher than the
open-circuit faceplate rating of the NST. Performance of the coil
(assuming you've got the tuning squared away) will always increase as you
widen the gap, up to the point that you destroy the NST. The gap width
must be set by applying the NST output to the gap, without the capacitors
and primary in the circuit, and adjusted so that the gap just begins to
fire, maybe but a bit wider if you're feeling lucky.
Also, I don't think it's an issue yet but after the tuning is resolved,
performance will improve by forcing as much airflow through the gap as
possible, and by having the gap geometry such that it's not arcing at the
same point constantly i.e. between two parallel pipes. You don't want the
arcing surface to become hot.
The electrical connections to your cap bottles looked iffy. But it is
challenging to make good connections to aluminum foil. Where did you find
the instructions for building them?
The fluorescent lamp won't light unless the pri & sec circuits are
reasonably close to being at the same resonant frequency.
Regards, Gary Lau
MA, USA
On Sun, May 15, 2016 at 5:47 PM, Harrison Benson <phb5@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Hello,I am working on a senior project along with my father who is an
> electrical engineer by building a tesla coil. We are following instructions
> from the instructables website. We have everything hooked up and wired, and
> yet it is not working. I would appreciate any help or tips that you can
> give me. I have a link to a youtube video of what I have so far here: Tesla
> Coil Not Working. My hypothesis is that the capacitors may be doing
> something wrong, but I am not sure. Thank you for your help.
> _______________________________________________
> Tesla mailing list
> Tesla@xxxxxxxxxx
> http://www.pupman.com/mailman/listinfo/tesla
>
_______________________________________________
Tesla mailing list
Tesla@xxxxxxxxxx
http://www.pupman.com/mailman/listinfo/tesla