Re: I give up!! I regret building my tesla coil!

["Paul Mathus" <pmathus-at-learningco-dot-com> (by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-uswest-dot-net>)]

     Hey, Garry.
     
     Calm down man, this is supposed to be fun! 
     
     14" from a 9/20 NST sounds okay to me, I wouldn't sneeze at that.
     
     You don't need a machine shop.  Although a cheap $130 drill press is 
     really nice and useful to have.  I built my coil with hand tools 
     almost exclusively.
     
     My suggestion is to find a tesla site on the web with a design that looks 
     buildable within your budget, and then use that design as a starting
point 
     for your own coil.  If you copy somebody elses successful coil, you will 
     probably succeed as well.
     
     paul mathus



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Subject: I give up!! I regret building my tesla coil!
Author:  "Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com> at INTERNET
Date:    8/20/00 8:12 PM


Original poster: "Garry F." <garryfre-at-pacbell-dot-net> 
     
I have built tesla coils when I was in high school, in college and
recently. My 
biggest problem was a continual burning out of the NST over and over because I 
could never understand the hieroglyphics that were presented to me instead of 
plain english as to how to build a choke to prevent feedback.
     
Finally I get some plans from
<http://www.sciencefirst-dot-com>www.sciencefirst-dot-com 
and I build according to their plans and it was supposed to produce 18" sparks 
but produced only one and a half inch sparks. The plate stack cap plans were 
defective, the dimensions of the coil was 1.5" by 40! This is the WOUND area!
     
By fooling with it I eventually got sparks near 8" but the toriod had no break 
out at all. Well, being broke from buying a brand new NST for this and
tools, I 
had to wait some weeks before I had some more money to spend (Waste).
     
So, I spend more money and make another secondary and this turns out to be 3" 
by 24" using #29 magnet wire. Better, but not short enough. Still it produced 
nice 12" sparks easily. I am using a 9kv .2 MA NST and produced 14" streamers 
off the toroid..
     
Ever being interested in improving the output, I tried various spark gap 
designs. One suggestion was use two rounded brass doorknobs in an air cooled 
system. The results were abysmal! Lousy 1" streamers off the toroid that were 
so sporatic, I could eat a sandwich between streamer appearances.
     
I built a spark gap that was made of aluminum flashing rooled up at the
ends to 
provide a make shift cooling fin design. This worked pretty well.
     
Then I stated my design here and they said I almost had a Push-Pull circuit
and 
I could have a true push-pull circuit if I added a grounded electrode in my 
spark gap letting both branches spark into this. I tried this. The results
were 
again dismal. I tried retuning. It was HALF the output I had from the previous 
design.
     
Then I tried that J. Quick spark gap design and the output from that was even 
worse!!
     
So, I try to revert back to my rolled flashing air cooled design and no matter 
how much I fiddled, I did not get quite the output I had before I tried the 
push-pull thing.
     
Then I heard that the electrodes should be absolutely flat and so I built one 
Thursday night and it was producing better sparks. Not like what I had
before I 
tore it apart for the push-pull design, but close.
     
The next morning, the spark gap would not fire reliably, so I took it apart
and 
adjusted the gap smaller and I got lousy output of 2" streamers off the toroid.
     
So, I buy some 1/4" refrigeration tubing and try another primary. It's amazing 
how difficult it is to wind this stuff. What a nightmare of kinking and 
tangling the likes of which I've never seen before!
I finally get it built in a desparate hope that it will solve the lousy 
stinking results I am getting and I put it on and it absolutely stinks!!! The 
sparks are not steady, the sparks are half the thickness I expected!
     
Then there are the caps. Mine are not soaked in oil. Maybe I should do this
but 
I don't want to have to haul around two five gallon buckets of oil and a cap 
inside. That's like having a hearing aid the size of an ice-cream truck!
     
Well, after trying the tubing, I and looking in disgust at $35 worth of tubing 
and other stuff that was a waste of money, I realize I could have bought their 
18" spark model NEW and all built from Information Unlimited for LESS! Sure it 
would have cost $499 but I've spent more than that already!
     
I don't have a machine shop! I hadn't been busted financially for years but 
now, I can barely afford a soda! I do programming full time for a company that 
does financial reports and processes transactions.
     
I didn't buy the one from information unlimited because I wanted the
feeling of 
accomplishment but after three months of spend spend, all I managed to buy 
myself was weekend after weekend working in a sweaty back room, sick from not 
eating all day till 11PM because I got to get whatever failed modification 
finished and then when it doesn't give the expected results and I can't figure 
it out and I've tried everything I can think of I give up and revert only to 
find LESS results when I revert and wishing I hadn't tried the modification in 
the first place.
     
So, here I sit, I possibly have spent $700 bucks and what do I got but a truck 
load of defeat!!
     
Sorry for the rant, but I feel the need to warn those out there who are 
considering trying this fine hobby out, you better be prepared to spend 
thousands on tools and have a machine shop to make something that looks good 
and operates well and loads of money and a whole lot of luck and once you get 
one that seem to work to your satisfaction DON'T mess with it. Build another 
coil and keep the one you got. You might like me have to budget your buying
for 
half a year but at least you won't mess up what you have.
     
I've been working on this it seem forever, and what do I got to show for it? 
Some gain in knowledge and NO TESLA COIL AT ALL!! Every time I tried to modify 
it, I was sorry, 
     
I wish I had bought one pre-made from somewhere. Sure I couldn't say "I built 
it" but at least I'd have something to show instead of something that makes me 
sick at heart just to look at it!!
     
Thanks for letting me blow off steam. I hope I got the sense to give up and
not 
continue trying this but I have the feeling that I will just keep on trying to 
the injury of my wallet and my self respect!