RE: New to tesla coils

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

Original poster: "Dwight Harm" <dwighth-at-traxsoft-dot-com> 

- you need magnet wire, meaning it has enamel (lacquer?) insulation, not
plastic.  With 'normal' insulated wire, the insulation takes up too much
space when winding.  The 200C wire is higher-quality magnet wire and will
stand up better in higher-power TCs, but not necessary for your 12/60 NST.

- 10AWG is fine; search pupman-dot-com archives for "hookup wire" to see a
discussion of this...suggestions ranged from 4AWG to 14AWG; auto-stereo
stores were recommended as source for (free) short lengths of heavy wire.

- spark gap in parallel with xfmr is recommended as being less strain on the
xfmr.  See Terry Fritz's paper at
http://www.hot-streamer-dot-com/TeslaCoils/MyPapers/primarycircuits/pricir.html

 > -----Original Message-----
 > From: Tesla list [mailto:tesla-at-pupman-dot-com]
 > Sent: Sunday, September 28, 2003 1:57 PM
 > Original poster: sean <sean-at-nc.rr-dot-com>
 >
 > For the secondary, someone mentioned 26 gauge wire, I also heard it
 > should be 200 C magnet wire.  Do I have to find magnet wire, or can I
 > just get some 26 gauge wire?
 >
 > Also, for the primary circuit, is 10 gauge wire right?
 >
 > Finally, I have seen 2 main designs for the primary circuit.  One has
 > the spark gap in parallel with the transformer, and the capacitors in
 > series.  The other is just the opposite.  Which design is recommended?