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On 2/20/21 3:50 PM, Curt Wilson wrote:
My names Curt and I've been trying to get a tesla coil up and running for a while now. I've used multiple power supplys such as four mots wired in series parralell with a center tap ground but they did not last probably due to being used for fractal wood burning prior. I have tried NST's but they had the gcfi on them and only worked for the first few minutes. So now I've moved onto a cathode/anode 80 kva x-ray transformer that feeds through a bucket capacitor and into a bench grinder with a 6inch plastic fan wheel that I wove solid copper wire through four of the fins and have a oil burner point on with side for the pick ups. My primary coil is 9/16" x 1/8" solid copper ribbon with 1"spacing between coils and my current secondary is 4.5" pvc with two recycled 34 guage magnet wire soldered together and my top load is two old chevy hubcaps hot glued together. I'm running a 30amp variac 125v ac to regulated 125v ac and I can't get past about 30v with out the fuse blowing. Just when the rotary gap starts to fire the fuse blows. I've tried a mot with secondary shorted between the transformer and the variac but it didn't seem to make a difference and I've tried a250 watt 15ohm resistor first where the mot was then tried it between the transformer and the primary. Both places it just heated up and would not allow any spark at the gap. Any help with the wiring on the transformer or variac or suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance. https://photos.app.goo.gl/nPS9fMg36375yAXi8 _______________________________________________ Tesla mailing list Tesla@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx https://www.pupman.com/mailman/listinfo/tesla
What is your X-ray transformer output voltage? Most Xray transformers have *very* high output voltage compared to what's practical for most home built TCs.
Xray - 75-120kV isn't unusual. Neon Sign Transformer (NST) or Pole Transformer are 12-15 kV.
So you should be looking at feeding your Xray with around 10-20VAC.A real issue is that Xray transformers don't have any current limiting, so you'll need a ballast to limit the current (just like pole-pig designs).
Does your Xray transformer have rectifiers? _______________________________________________ Tesla mailing list Tesla@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx https://www.pupman.com/mailman/listinfo/tesla