tips for beginner

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

Original poster: "Dr. Resonance" <resonance-at-jvlnet-dot-com> 


Start your secondary winding approx 1 inch above the primary horizontal
plane.

Inner first turn of pri should be 1.5 inches away from sec. coilform.

A flat spiral will couple good even with 4.5 dia. sec coil.  An inverted 15
degree cone can be used but it's harder to setup and usually not necessary.
We use 30 AWG wire with 2125 turns on sec but 1400 turns with #28 AWG also
works.

We run a 4.5 inch x 23.5 inch long sec with a 12 kV 60 mA NST and get 28-32
inch spark output.

We use a 2 gap spark gap with 1/2 inch dia. screw-in tungsten electrodes
threaded into 1/2 dia. brass rod which is supported in 1 x 1 inch square
brass stock (for heat dissapation).  I tried a blower but it didn't make any
difference, so the 2 gap seems to quench well at this power level.  At 120
mA a good 100 CFM 5 x 5 inch square muffin type fan (surplus) works great.
At 30 mA a single gap works best.

Too many spark gaps eat up all your energy in the form of heat and light and
detract from overall performance.

Dr. Resonance

Resonance Research Corporation
E11870 Shadylane Rd.
Baraboo   WI   53913
 >
 >
 > >OK.  I know of the magic ratio for the secondary being alpprox. 4.5 -
 > >1.  Are there ratio's for the PRIMARY?? Height to diameter or whatever.
I
 > >am thinking of a cone-shaped primary.  I will be using 1/4" copper pipe,
 > >with a 1/4" gap, giving 1/2" on center between windings. Is there a
 > >specific ratio I should use for height/angle, or primary/secondary size?
 > >
 > >I am currently looking at a 4" secondary, but I know it's out of ratio
for
 > >the height.  I built it before I knew about that.  :(  I want to build an
 > >8" secondary, following the 4.5 - 1 ratio to use with my new polepig.  I
 > >want this coil to be built close enough to the "standard" so I can
 > >troubleshoot easier.
 > >
 > >Any help you tesla masters can give a newbie would be greatly
appreciated.
 > >
 > >Thank you.
 > >
 > >Chris K.
 > >Clio, MI, USA