Re: Need Secondary wire source

["Chris Brick" <cbrick-at-rebelbase-dot-com> (by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-uswest-dot-net>)]

>It sounds like you have a tuning or coupling problem that needs to be
>addressed, not a wire insulation problem. I would try elevating the
>secondary first to de-couple. Raise the secondary at least 4 or 5 inches
>or more first and work down from there. If you work slowly and carefully
>with the power levels you should be able to solve your problem without
>having to wind a new secondary every time you test fire the coil. Good
>luck!

Thank you everyone for your wisdom.  I think this is indeed the case.  I 
will be raising the secondary as soon as I get the burns repaired or the 
thing rewound.  I am going to stick with this wire I have.  It seems to be 
pretty good stuff and my oversight of the coupling issue has now made me 
realize how delicate these coils really are.  I am going to look into that 
motor spray that Marc mentioned as well.

I am still looking for a technical explanation of what is going on 
electrically around the area of the burns.  With the voltage pushing up the 
secondary with each bang and the magnetic field generated by the primary, 
what would cause the burn (or racing sparks, etc.. others have 
experienced)?  I am starting to understand a lot more about the circuits 
involved in Tesla coils which has caused me to get back into the books 
about electronics and start working on some digital logic projects.  I am 
also working with a couple of mad scientist friends on some solid state 
driven coils.  Should be fun.

Hopefully this beast will be running well by the 23rd...

Thanks again,

Chris