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Joshua, The voltage gain in a Tesla Coil is a ratio of either the inductance of L1 to L2, or the capacitance of C1 and C2. https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/media/math/render/svg/0e212023a432b67ae4a3174efd65e30802af3428 As you can see, if you add more capacitance to the secondary circuit, the voltage is reduced. However, spark production is not all about voltage, you do need ample capacitance. That capacitance is achieved through the discharge terminal, which is typically a toroid or sphere. In practice this is a nice setup as the large smooth radii of the shape provides a higher break out voltage and yields (hopefully) the right amount of capacitance for nice spark output. Additionally, without a decent size/shape discharge terminal, unwanted arcs will appear at the top of the secondary. I also have to believe that adding this type of capacitance would be considered parasitic, much like the self capacitance of L2 (which is unwanted inefficiency). So can you add capacitance in series with L2 and the ground? Yes. Will it change Fres? Yes. Could you tune a coil this way? Yes...but this is really impractical. Aside from finding a capacitor to withstand that environment, it would probably be expensive...but also you would need a bunch of them in infinite capacitances to re-tune with any accuracy. A far easier and simpler solution is to tap the primary. You can move the tap 1/4" inch at time to finely tune your coil to the exact frequency for free and it is infinitely adjustable. You might want to look up "tesla coil counter poise ground"...that would be a related idea to what you are asking about... ~Dan Kansas City area On Tue, May 24, 2022 at 6:20 PM Joshua Thomas <joshuafthomas@xxxxxxxxx> wrote: > While playing around in JavaTC, I realized that the overall capacitance of > the secondary coil (and hence Fres) could be modified by placing a series > capacitor between the coil and ground. > > Tuning seems to usually be done on the primary coil by tapping, but this > also seems an option. Has this been tried, and what results/caveats were > there? > > Thanks, > Joshua > > -- > Joshua Thomas > > My new email address is: joshuafthomas@xxxxxxxxx > Please update your information if you have not already done so. > _______________________________________________ > Tesla mailing list -- tcml@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx > To unsubscribe send an email to tcml-leave@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx >