Re: Big Primaries, Small Caps

["Barton B. Anderson" <tesla123-at-pacbell-dot-net> (by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-uswest-dot-net>)]

Hi Hassick, 

Tesla list wrote: 
>
> Original poster: "Al Hassick" <uncadoc-at-juno-dot-com> 
>
> You know, I am curious about something, since you are on this subject 
> about big primaries.  I have my 3/8" copper refrig. tube primary tuned at 
> the 7th loop from the center, and it has a total of 14 turns in all.  It 
> seems the more doorknob caps I add to the tank circuit, that the less 
> primary coil I need to tune my 8" secondary for maximum spark.  But what 
> I am trying to get at is this,  do I really need the unused outer turns 
> of the primary as I increase the efficiency of my coil.  Do the unused 
> outer turns contribute anything to the circuit?  A small thick primary 
> would take less space.  But before I cut it off, say at about nine turns 
> I would like to know if anyone has removed unused turns from their 
> primaries with any ill effects?

I keep extra turns on my primary mainly because it is not a show coil or
anything like that. It allows me to run different setups with the same coil and
to do whatever testing I might be doing at the time. 

If you want a compact coil and have no plans to make any changes, there's no
problem getting rid of the dead wieght. Whatever tap point your tuned at, the
remainder can be discarded, but I would recommend leaving at least a turn on
(like you said, you add caps now and then so obvisouly your trying to get your
coil to the best performance you can). It's up to you. 

Bart