Re: Ryan's Coil = DOA :(

["Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>]

Original poster: "by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-uswest-dot-net>" <Tesla729-at-cs-dot-com>

In a message dated 1/7/01 5:46:15 PM Pacific Standard Time, tesla-at-pupman-dot-com 
writes:

<<  "Ryan Ries by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-uswest-dot-net>" <spud-at-wf-dot-net>
 
    10,000 watts of power, but I can't harness any of it.  I did the math, I
 redid the math.  Tapping the primary coil at turn 5 gave almost the exact
 same frequency as the secondary coil w/ toroid.  I turned it on, and
 nothing happened but the brilliant spark of the spark gap.  I turned it
 off, and walked up to the coil for a closer look, when I started smelling
 burnt PVC.  My 1" thick, 9" diameter secondary has burned a nice 32"
 channel all the way down the length of the winding on the inside of the
 form.  It was in tune, I had the proper capacitance, why wouldn't it
 generate any streamers?  Anything at all? >>

Hi Ryan,
So sorry to hear about you toasting your coil. It sounds like that tap-
ping at turn 5 was a move in the right direction, though. That's more
than likely the reason you suddenly noticed a 32" carbon track down
the inside of your PVC secondary form. You were now generating more
voltage than the secondary form could withstand. I know your frustration
and have experienced it  firsthand, in the past. I would suggest trying
building a smaller NST driven system for your first coil. For most of us,
it takes the hand of experience to be able to corral the raw power of a 
pole pig and get those coveted 10 ft + sparks spewing from the output 
terminal!  Most of us go thru the learning curve of smaller coil systems
before we tackle the "piggie".

David Rieben