RE: Secondary wire splicing and new Wire (fwd)

["Tesla list" <tesla-at-xxxxxxxxxx>]

Original poster: Tesla List Moderator <mod1-at-poodle.pupman-dot-com>



---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, 5 Dec 2000 08:10:15 -0600 
From: Ted Rosenberg <Ted.Rosenberg-at-radioshack-dot-com>
To: 'Tesla list' <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
Subject: RE: Secondary wire splicing and new Wire

Justin and all:

I'd like to add my 2 cents.
I have a 6", 22AWG, 24" secondary. When I inadvertantly positioned the start
of the primary too darn close to the bottom of the wall of the secondary, it
arced and welded open the first 1/2 or so of the winding.
I was able to lift each severed end. I first cleaned about 1/8" of each end.
Then I used a small, fine, flat file to taper each end. In other words, I
feathered a flat on the very tip of the broken wire. I fluxed each and then
held the two flats together (overlapped) with RadioShack clamping forceps.
After that I applied a quick and light coat of solder. Finally, I filed any
minute outcroppings of solder. Once all looked OK, I gave the joint a coat
of clear nail polish.

It worked just fine. No break outs. Good as new.

Moral of the story? Spliciong can be done if you go slow, have good close up
vision and a careful technique.

And as for new wire...I have ordered 3000 feet of AWG 24 from Paramount Wire
in East orange NJ. This is the good stuff, not decorator. Colored Green. Has
their equivalent of Formvar coating...a nylon polyesther. Cost is $30 plus
shipping. I will report my eval upon receipt to all. I figure the coil will
make a nice Christmas Tree if Green when not running <smile>

Safety First

Ted
============================

Original poster: Pyrotrons-at-aol-dot-com 

Hi Simon and All.....

About soldering wires together on a secondary coil: it works great. If you 
don't have enough wire to go all the way, you can easily solder on some more

until you have the required amount on the coil.

Me and Aron's coil is done this way. The wire could only be purchased on 
three spools, so we had to solder on some more wire whenever a spool ran
out.

Just make it a good solder joint. Really good. Has to be bright and shiny, 
with no imperfections. You'll have to scrape the insulation off the ends 
(just the ends) of the wires with a sharp hobby knife to get down to the
bare 
copper. Tin each wire piece, leaving on a little extra solder. Then when 
you're ready, put them together and heat them up until the solder wicks 
together. Then let it air cool, holding everything very steady. Using a flux

paste will make a better joint, but make sure you clean it off well when 
you're finished. 

It is your choice on how the wires are positioned together. Either directly 
on top of each other, or side-by-side. I don't think it matters either way 
(explained below), but it's personal preference as to which one looks
better.

There are two solder joints on our coil, and on both of them, the solder 
itself actually sticks out from the side......and comes to a sharp point. We

figured the coil would break out from these points, so we left it that way
to 
see what would happen. Well there was no breakout, nothing at all. Not even 
corona...so we left it ; ) One joint is 1/3 the way up, the other is roughly

2/3 the way up. Plenty high enough to have voltage on them.

Anyhow, I speak on the standpoint of a fairly large (12" secondary running 
+10kVA) coil system. Exposed solder joints might pose problems with a
smaller 
coil system.

A side note: If anyone is planning on purchasing magnet wire from any other 
place than the MANUFACTURER, be careful. The manufacturer sells it in 
beautifully wound spools, very smooth with no kinks at all. Other places
(ex. 
motor rewind shops) might take it off the original spool, and scramble wind 
the specified amount onto their own spool. This puts a load of bends and 
kinks in the wire.....and makes your secondary look like crap if you don't 
smooth each and every bend out as you go. There are hundreds of bends, 
literally. It's been my experience that Mouser Electronics Corporation 
(www.mouser-dot-com) sells some really pretty wire. Their rates are okay,
keeping 
in mind they are a huge corporation. I got 5000 feet of #24 for $63.00. Of 
course, if you search you can find some killer deals (motor shops!!), but I 
was a beginner at the time and wanted a hassle-free company to deal me a 
spool of hassle-free magnet wire. You get what you pay for.

Take care everyone,

Justin Hays
KC5PNP
Email: pyrotrons-at-aol-dot-com
Webpage: www.hvguy-dot-com