I would like to see more discussion on the topic of grounding the NST case.
I see arguments for and against, but I don't have enough knowledge myself
to determine which is considered 'correct' and in what context.
Thanks
Matt
On Mon, Jun 18, 2018, 8:41 PM Gary Lau <glau1024@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> I disagree with the advice:
> > 3. GROUND THE CASE OF THE NST
>
> The case of the NST is tied to RF ground and is full of high voltage RF
> transients that you do not want feeding into your mains.. Unless the coil
> is relatively low power and there is no alternate ground or counterpoise
> available, you should not be connecting RF ground to mains ground. I can't
> think of any fault condition or inadvertent touch where having the NST case
> tied to mains ground offers any safety advantage.
>
> Regards, Gary Lau
> MA, USA
>
> On Sun, Jun 17, 2018 at 6:44 PM, Chris Boden <cboden@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> wrote:
>
> > Greetings Mr.Janota :)
> >
> > NST's are current limited and operate typically at a maximum of 15kV
> (with
> > 12kV and lower being quite common as well).
> > The typical max current output will be 60mA.
> >
> > What this means is it Most Likely, Probably.....Unusually....wont' kill
> > you
> > if you brush against the output, are a rigorously healthy adult, dry, and
> > nontrivially lucky.
> >
> > This is as opposed to things like Pole Pigs at 10kVA or more (we have
> > 100kVA pigs in the lab) with no current limiting which are reasonably
> > considered to be fatal (it's not instant, and it hurts the whole time).
> > There are also pulse capacitors (typical in our lab is 20kV to 50kV with
> > 10kJ energies) those don't just kill you, they blow parts off. We have
> > 400lb caps here that are in the "clean you off the ceiling with a sponge"
> > levels of deadly.
> >
> > That's a long way from your NST, but the idea across the spectrum is the
> > same. These toys are not for the emotional, impulsive, or stupid. They
> will
> > hurt you the moment you don't respect them, and kill you if you're
> > reckless.
> >
> > That's the point.
> >
> > There are millions of people who would like to own a powerful Tesla Coil.
> > But very, very few get that far. The fundamental price to own a coil is
> > simple, be smart enough to build one. It's not hard, but you have to do
> it
> > yourself. Along that path you will have to learn hundreds of new things,
> > foremost is safety and a healthy respect for HV. Consider how few people
> > you know who have ever run a marathon. The rough number is often quoted
> as
> > 1% of 1% of the people in America have ever run a marathon. The number of
> > people in the history of the world who have ever successfully built a
> > working Tesla Coil wouldn't fill a single run of the Chicago marathon.
> This
> > is a very small community.
> >
> > To the average person Electricity is composed mainly of magic. It's
> > dangerous and terrifying. In reality, it's just science. The mechanisms
> of
> > electrical power have been pretty well worked out by people far smarter
> > than me. We can build chips at the nano-scale with billions of wires
> only a
> > few atoms wide carrying energies less than a mouse's fart, and we can
> > wrangle million-volt power lines across the desert. But to the average
> > person they understand as little about how the power gets in their
> computer
> > as they do about what actually happens when they flush the toilet.
> >
> > You should have a respectful, healthy fear of HV, but not a crippling
> one.
> > It's not magic, and it won't jump across the room and bite you. Some
> simple
> > things to remember will help you a lot.
> >
> > 1. Keep the plug in your pocket when you're working on the NST. If the
> plug
> > isn't in your pocket, then don't touch it.
> > 2. 15kV with a beginner wants a safe radius of 2 inches to anything, and
> 3
> > feet to anything that's alive. Keep the HV conductors 2 inches from the
> > case and you're not going to have any problems.
> > 3. GROUND THE CASE OF THE NST. The bottom-center hole on a US outlet (the
> > mouth of the face) is Ground. This should connect to the uninsulated lug
> on
> > the side of the NST. The NST will have two big insulated lugs (the HV
> > terminals) two smaller insulated lugs right next to each other (the LV
> > terminals), and one uninsulated lug that just looks like a bolt sticking
> > out the side....that one is the ground.
> >
> > And lastly, while most of the people here would never admit it (and
> > certainly never publicly), the vast majority of us have been bit at some
> > point because we did something stupid and got a hard lesson in pain. I've
> > been bit a few times and thankfully, by sheer dumb luck I survived them,
> >
> > so far.
> >
> > Good luck :)
> >
> >
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