Curt, These guys are being too nice,
that is the worst pile of dangerous, cobbled up junk I have ever seen! The
Tesla coil circuit is extremely simple, with yours I see wires, connectors,
clips and I don't know what all, all over the place. Let's look at your
"bucket cap." If that thing is any good, it alone could kill you, as it has
no visible way to dissipate a charge . These guys know of which they
speak, so pay attention and learn, instead of expounding on how
safety minded you are. Put that whole mess in the dumpster, start from
scratch, and build a Tesla Coil. You have a couple thousand experts, world
wide, on this list to help you!
Doug
On Sun, Feb 21, 2021 at 8:08 PM Curt Wilson <3wisenconst@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> I really appreciate the input. And the safety reminder. I don't mean to
> make it sound glorified by any means more a reminisce of battle wounds
> survived. I've been running around roofs and climbing trees with nothing
> attached to my safety belt but a running chainsaw but since have become a
> union carpenter in Boston then gone rogue again but I took advantage of the
> available certs, got Osha 10 and 30, fall protection, Ariel lift...and so
> on so I know how to think ahead and be mindful of not only myself but my
> surroundings and others aswell I pick and choose the chances I take and
> occasionally get reminded that complacency with anything electrical is
> unacceptable. Just like I check my footings twice climbing in and out of
> the back of my truck these days nevermind up on a roof. Never forget the
> main thing that stuck out to me from my Osha 30 class was the last day we
> finished the course material and test with like 3 hours to spare and the
> instructor started showing us you tube accident videos like the big blue
> crane crash but the main one I remember was four Japanese or Chinese
> painters at an industrial plant rolling what looked to be a 20 or 30 foot
> high work platform one on each leg of it and didn't see the high voltage
> lines they were about to roll it into on surveillance camera you saw arcs
> and sparks from above the staging rolled a bit further as one painter
> luckily fell off the other three went limp and dragged there feet as there
> hands stayed Locked tight in place the smoke started appearing from
> different parts of there bodies and one caught on fire the one that fell
> off managed to get uo after a couole of minutes and trys to get away only
> to come back and try to help the other guys and got electrocuted again and
> managed to live again the other three passed. Anyone wanting a reality
> check ill see if I can find the link and post it. You wouldn't need to warn
> further after watching that! I even installed surveillance cameras outside
> my hobby shop so I can monitor the area where my earth grounds are driven
> into the ground. (I have kids and take no chances of them getting hurt)
> and my shops an 8.5 x 20 car trailer that's locked up tight when not in
> use and I shut down all breakers and short all caps as an extra just
> incase.
> But back to the coil .it is definitely out of tune. I've be having a hard
> enough time getting anything to stay running long enough to be able to tune
> it. I did use recycled transformer magnet wire that also has multiple
> pieces soldered together to get the recommended turns according to what I
> could understand of the javatc Calc I was trying to use I know that alone
> could cause it not to tune properly but I've unwound multiple transformers
> and wound three different size coils one on 4.5inch outside diam. Pvc wound
> 19" high and the other one I bounce back and forth too is 2 in outside
> diam. PVC wound 23" high. And I have 2 primaries as well one is 1/8 "
> x9/16" solid copper ribbon layer in 7 coils with 1" spacing on them and the
> other is copper 1/4" tubing thay is similar. Im not sure if I used the
> autotune in Java correctly or if I understood it correctly. But everytime
> I started getting it all worked out I'd fry what ever transformer I was
> using and have to start all the calculations over again with the new
> transformers. Right now I'm waiting on 504' of 24 Guage magnet wire to
> come to wrap a piece of 3.5" pvc up to 40 inches with new wire nice and
> clean
>
> On Sun, Feb 21, 2021, 7:12 PM Chris Reeland <chrisreeland@xxxxxxxxx>
> wrote:
>
> > Hello Curt,
> >
> > First, I want to say, (which you might know is coming) from what you have
> > said so far, is "Sir, you are going to run out of lives eventually and
> > leave your little angel". You must respect voltages at ALL levels. Again
> > ALL levels. This is not about "tickles and bites". Please think and
> learn.
> > Even 120VAC in right conditions will take you OUT.
> >
> > Please also never touch output of spark gap TC's. Even with objects you
> > think are good insulators, no matter how long.
> >
> > That said, I am not much of a spark gap TC fella, especially rotary gap
> > type. Looks like you have an asynchronous type, which from what I
> > understand, needs to have a certain "sweet spot" speed to be optimum.
> >
> > As Jim said, yes will not be able to turn up variac much with x-ray
> > transformer.
> >
> > Yes, your x-ray transformer is rectified and filtered DC.
> >
> > Did you follow any kind of plans or formulas for your primary and
> > secondary? Or did you just coble from available stuff around and just put
> > together with no regard to what is required? What is the capacitance of
> > your bucket cap? What is the capacitor actually in there? Need all kinds
> of
> > details here. This is just a few of many asked here right now.
> >
> > I would say everything is greatly out of tune in several areas.
> >
> > Okay, maybe some others will chime in here more knowledgeable on RSGTC's
> > than me. As I am mostly a vacuum tube coil guy so far.
> >
> > Chris Reeland
> > Ladd Illinois USA
> >
> >
> > Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Tab® S
> >
> > On Sun, Feb 21, 2021, 4:52 PM Curt Wilson <3wisenconst@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> >
> > > I beleive it is an 80kv xray transformer. I'm not positive if it has
> > > rectifiers or not I beleive it probably does. I will add a link to
> photos
> > > of the inside of the transformer. It did not come with the case or the
> > high
> > > voltage cables which come to find are quite expensive So i had to find
> a
> > > case that would work, which didn't and started leaking oil all over my
> > > hobby shop. So I pulled it out and lined it with rubber roofing and
> > > refilled it and temporary am using bare solid 6 Guage copper wire stuck
> > in
> > > the recieving plug to make my connection too.i know it's no where near
> > any
> > > kind of safety standard yet but it's in maternity things up a and
> > > upgrading as money allows in the mean time I've been tinkering for
> over a
> > > month and can light a florescent 48" tube up from 3' away just from my
> > > primary and the only spark I've gotten from my previous design was
> about
> > an
> > > inch coaxed from the toroidal by me with a pair of insulated
> electricians
> > > pliers that was a one and done mistake. The 5000volt insulation rating
> on
> > > the pliers was no match even for my not quite there yet tesla. I'm a
> > > builder and welder by trade and so have been wacked with 120 all the
> time
> > > 250 from the live side of my switch on my tombstone 200 amp stic welder
> > and
> > > 480 3 phase messing around in the control panel of my 4 head woodmizer
> > > resaw. 120 and 240 tickle 480 instantly melted the screwdriver handle
> to
> > my
> > > hand and shot the rest of the screwdriver about 8 feet behind me and
> > stuck
> > > it Into the cinderblock wall behind be which gave me a new appreciation
> > for
> > > the term "tag and lock out" and I even had a bare hv feed from to mots
> in
> > > series jump from the wood I was fractaling and land right on my arm and
> > > none of them compared to the bite of that coil through the pliers! I'm
> > well
> > > aware of the dangers of hv and I also have more lives than the pets
> from
> > > the movie pet cemetery and acknowledge my guardian angel with a tattoo
> of
> > > her on my arm! But I apologize im rambling. In some of the pictures I
> > show
> > > some of my available electronics items I have at my disposal. I have
> > huge
> > > plastic totes of old transformers and chokes resistors all kinds of
> fuses
> > > amd diodes, capacitors, wire wound resistors and gateways and heat
> sinks
> > > that friends have donated to my fascination and curiosity of
> electricity
> > > and would be more than happy to share with anyone who may need any of
> the
> > > items I have. All I ask is that you pay your own shipping. I have more
> > than
> > > I can even imagine using.
> > > Here's the link to my photos, lemme know if there's any issues opening
> > > them. Amd thank you all again for the help with this build .
> > > https://photos.app.goo.gl/h4Mr2zVLm2yzxaKy9
> > >
> > > On Sun, Feb 21, 2021, 3:29 PM Lux, Jim <jim@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> > >
> > > > On 2/20/21 3:50 PM, Curt Wilson wrote:
> > > > > My names Curt and I've been trying to get a tesla coil up and
> running
> > > > for a
> > > > > while now. I've used multiple power supplys such as four mots wired
> > in
> > > > > series parralell with a center tap ground but they did not last
> > > probably
> > > > > due to being used for fractal wood burning prior. I have tried
> NST's
> > > but
> > > > > they had the gcfi on them and only worked for the first few
> minutes.
> > So
> > > > now
> > > > > I've moved onto a cathode/anode 80 kva x-ray transformer that feeds
> > > > through
> > > > > a bucket capacitor and into a bench grinder with a 6inch plastic
> fan
> > > > wheel
> > > > > that I wove solid copper wire through four of the fins and have a
> oil
> > > > > burner point on with side for the pick ups. My primary coil is
> 9/16"
> > x
> > > > 1/8"
> > > > > solid copper ribbon with 1"spacing between coils and my current
> > > secondary
> > > > > is 4.5" pvc with two recycled 34 guage magnet wire soldered
> together
> > > and
> > > > my
> > > > > top load is two old chevy hubcaps hot glued together. I'm running a
> > > 30amp
> > > > > variac 125v ac to regulated 125v ac and I can't get past about 30v
> > with
> > > > out
> > > > > the fuse blowing. Just when the rotary gap starts to fire the fuse
> > > blows.
> > > > > I've tried a mot with secondary shorted between the transformer and
> > the
> > > > > variac but it didn't seem to make a difference and I've tried a250
> > watt
> > > > > 15ohm resistor first where the mot was then tried it between the
> > > > > transformer and the primary. Both places it just heated up and
> would
> > > not
> > > > > allow any spark at the gap. Any help with the wiring on the
> > transformer
> > > > or
> > > > > variac or suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in
> > advance.
> > > > > https://photos.app.goo.gl/nPS9fMg36375yAXi8
> > > > > _______________________________________________
> > > > > Tesla mailing list
> > > > > Tesla@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > > > > https://www.pupman.com/mailman/listinfo/tesla
> > > > >
> > > >
> > > > What is your X-ray transformer output voltage? Most Xray
> transformers
> > > > have *very* high output voltage compared to what's practical for most
> > > > home built TCs.
> > > >
> > > > Xray - 75-120kV isn't unusual. Neon Sign Transformer (NST) or Pole
> > > > Transformer are 12-15 kV.
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > So you should be looking at feeding your Xray with around 10-20VAC.
> > > >
> > > > A real issue is that Xray transformers don't have any current
> limiting,
> > > > so you'll need a ballast to limit the current (just like pole-pig
> > > designs).
> > > >
> > > > Does your Xray transformer have rectifiers?
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > _______________________________________________
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> > > > Tesla@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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> > > >
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> > > Tesla@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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