Date: 05-01-94 13:51 From: Dave Halliday To: Richard Quick Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil 1/2 ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ RQ| DH> I have been completely swamped at work these last few | DH> months so I have just been going home....then going to | DH> sleep. RQ|Ditto WHen I am not scrambling to do something for a client, I am scrambling to get new clients! The moneys good but it would be nice to get away to Mexico and do some scuba diving for a few weeks too... RQ| DH> Anyway, I am actually only about ten hours away from | DH> "first light" RQ|It will take twenty hours if you figure ten... At least that |is the way it seems to work for me. But your right, one good |marathon session should have you testing the switch! Get a |good nights sleep the night before, and plan on staying up way |late! So true! It will probably be closer to thirty... It is that way with electronics cabinets too - plan a project and estimate the size of cabinet - double it and it will still be a tight fit! I am happy with the box I found for the controller - its about 18x24 by 10" deep - lots of room for additions! RQ| DH> I have the basics of the control circuitry together, I | DH> want to refine it some more but since it is in an EPROM, | DH> I can do that at any time. RQ|I would really be interested in hearing more about this |computerized power controller. It is an interesting project - stuff like this I can do at the store when it isn't busy so I get a lot more done there. I based it on the Intel 8051 which is not exactly state-of-the-art but hey... I have a lot of tools for it and am familiar with it - it works. Right now, it is just set up to take the input from the ARM pushbutton on the controller box, count off ten seconds during which the ON button on the control paddle must be pushed. This then enables the Powerstat and makes sure that the rotor is returned to the zero position. The voltage up/down buttons on the control paddle are then enabled. There is also an OFF button on the paddle and the controller box and when this is pushed, it goes to off and the ARM button must be pushed to start it again. The board that I am using for my CPU has on-board eight channel 10-bit A/D conversion and two RS-232 serial ports so I will be using these to tie it to a PC for data logging. This is something I will be developing later - I want to start generating some ozone first! RQ| DH> Basically, the only things remaining are: RQ| DH> Building the primary and the base... RQ|and... and... and... and... Tell me about it! RQ| DH> I still need to build the transformer protection | DH> circuitry. There is a good amateur radio place in town | DH> but all of their experience with RF shielding has been in | DH> the MHz region so I will probably just call Amidon or | DH> Palomar and have them recommend a ferrite material for | DH> the toroids. RQ|I just sent you some detailed info on the xfrmr RF protection |circuits yesterday, with references to the TCBA NEWS Q&A |column on the subject. If you need some more help with this |just let me know. I got that post the other day - perfect timing! Thanks! RQ| DH> I also need to build the capacitive hat - RQ|You are smart to build your own toroid discharger. You save |some big bucks with the construction techniques I have sent |along, and as you look at the video of the 40" toroid on my |big coil you will see it really turns out looking sharp, as |well as perfectly functional. Construction time for my 40" |toroid was about 4 hrs. Yeah - I never even thought about getting it done commercially. I have had custom stuff built and I know what it costs... RQ| DH> I will keep you posted - also, I have been taking still | DH> and video photos during the construction so I have a nice | DH> documentation of the whole process. RQ|Absolutely cool! Good documentation on this stuff is, as you |know, rare. I got that feeling while reading any and all books on the subject. It's really strange too that a lot of the photography in these books and magazines is so poor... I am not a "great" photographer but I know how to handle shutter speed and aperture and lighting and such - some of the images I have seen were so poorly focused and lit that they could be anything... You would think that some who was intelligent enough to become involved in Tesla coils would know which end of a camera to hold... RQ| DH> BTW - what is happening with you? Hadn't seen any posts | DH> from you for some time either... RQ|Well it's the same as you outlined to me at the start of your |post. But I have been involved in some correspondence with |some guys in New Zealand that were getting my outgoing posts |in this conference, but were not able to reply. They have been |writing me airmail. Jim Oliver just received two of my videos |via international airmail. OK,I saw the messages going out but didn't see anything coming in. The satellite dish is working out wonderfully! No more calls to SLUG to get a reliable feed - now, any problems with the feed are due to a chunk of sheet metal ten feet over my head as I sit here typing! Ain't technology grand! ! Origin: Grey Matter * Seattle, WA * (206) 528-1941 (1:343/210. (1:343/210) ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Date: 05-02-94 02:44 From: Blair Groves To: Richard Quick Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Hi Richard, I've been reading about a monster Tesla coil you've made, but got into this echo a bit too late to hear the important stuff... can you fill me in on it? (like, how big is this beast, and what can you do with such a thing?)... Also, I'm interested in making a Jacob's Ladder. Do you have any plans or ideas on that? Thanks! ... Blair Groves ! Origin: CRS Online, Toronto, Ontario (1:229/15) ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Date: 04-24-94 08:04 From: Emile Diodene To: Gregory Yoykon Subj: Something fun ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ GY>You know you didn't do that. Don't go making up stories, now.. Sure we did Mr. YoYo. It was a great experience. Our teacher was a little bent on Tesla's ideas... The machine shop even re-machined my trailer hitch. That was the ball we used. It was quite a sight! ! Origin: Southern Star - 504-885-5928 - (1:396/1) ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Date: 05-01-94 11:24 From: Dave Mcknight To: Richard Quick Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ RQ>How long have you been tuning in, and what are your main >interests/problems with Tesla Coils? My video tape is skewed >perhaps to the majority interest... POWER (which I freely >admit being a sucker for), but it only covers a tiny fraction >of the coiling work/experimentation that I have conducted. I've been tuning in to the Electronics conference since before the Tesla thread started. I like to see power, but I am more fascinated by the effects of high frequency energy - watching a spark jump an inch long gap to your finger, without any damage or pain. RQ> DM> I've already built a desktop unit of my own, RQ>How about taking some time and giving us the basic specs of >your desktop system: Power supply, capacitor type and size, >secondary coil dimensions and the like. After seeing your video tape, I'm embarassed to even describe my old unit. I got into Tesla coils in a minor way years ago. At that time, Plasma effects were my primary interest. Of course this was before you could buy Plasma Globes at Radio Shack, K-Mart, etc. My unit started out as an automotive ignition coil with a vibrator to excite it (equivalent to Model T type ignition) and has developed a little from there dependent on good tips, and new parts in junk box. In it's current incarnation, a Chrysler electronic ignition module fires the old auto ignition coil. Primary of the Tesla coil is 12 turns of 12 ga. solid on a 6" dia. wooden frame created from dowels. The capacitor is a junior version of the mineral oil unit you described awhile back. 4" tall by about 3" in diameter, capacitance unknown. Secondary coil is 24 ga. wrapped on a 10" long piece of 3" dia. thin walled PVC, which was first painted with a couple of layers of varathane, wound, then painted again. Roughly 300 turns. This little coil won't throw bolts to the rafters like that MONSTER of yours, but it will nicely light up a 4" light bulb with some nice plasma effects, or throw a little purple spark about 3/4" to your finger. Next step for me is to scout out a couple of used neon sign transformers (I read your tips on these), and then build a new unit from the ground up. I definitely need to pickup the instruments necessary to actually tune the coils. One other thing I want to study more is Tertiary coils. I haven't had time to watch your video all of the way through, so you may touch on that topic there. But when I was reading a book on Tesla, it described how Tesla would add a third coil to drastically increase the output of his devices. ! Origin: The Computer Room-Pickerington, Oh (614)861-8377 (1:226/110) ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Date: 05-03-94 21:05 From: Richard Quick To: Blair Groves Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ BG> Hi Richard, I've been reading about a monster Tesla coil BG> you've made, but got into this echo a bit too late to hear BG> the important stuff... can you fill me in on it? (like, how BG> big is this beast, and what can you do with such a thing?).. The coil is not very big. The actual coil featured on the video is 10-3/4 inches in diameter. The winding is a single layer of #21 magnet wire, 1024 close spaced turns, making a winding length that is only 32", on a form that totals 35" in height. But the sparks from this coil have exceeded 14 feet in length... I have imported some stuff from my archives (which are extensive) to answer in more detail... >What can a person do with such a device once constructed? Does >it have any practical purpose other than to amuse your friends? I first began to build small 1/4 wave (spark generating) Tesla coils for fun. I loved the light show, and so did my friends. As I gained experiance in building coils I realized that most of the "plans" were full of inaccuracies. I began to design my own systems to increase efficiency. As my interest and experience grew, I discovered more advanced coil systems that Tesla designed (the Tesla Magnifier) and began initial research into other areas: particle acceleration, lasers, wireless power transmission, and particle beams. I am planning on making a very serious study in these areas in the next few years. Dave Archer is a painter in California who uses a Tesla coil to electrically spread paint. He places his canvas on a grounded plate and directs the Tesla discharge over it. The resulting paintings are regularly featured as space backgrounds and hanging art on Star Trek TNG, Omni Magazine and several other publica- tions, as well as private collections. Tesla coils were also used in the time travel scenes in both Terminator movies, and are re- emerging in the special effects industry because they photograph well and the sparks are more realistic than computer generation or animation. Tesla coils were used in the first induction heaters, and were employed medically for the treatment of arthritis and other joint and muscle problems. The same coil could be adjusted to generate sufficient voltage to produce X-Rays, and as such a Tesla coil was a standard medical instrument in Dr's offices in the early 1900s. Nearly all of the first high quality X-Rays were produced with Tesla driven X-Ray tubes until the 1930's. The first self cauterizing "electric scalpels" were electrified with a Tesla coil. A Tesla coil is in your monitor (flyback transformer). Tesla coils were also an important part of the first radio transmitters. My feeling is that the Tesla coil has a major place in modern physics, but has not been fully evaluated. The 1/4 wave Tesla coil (sweet and simple, though there are other configurations) is an oscillator driven, air core resonate transformer. The oscillating tank circuit drives the secondary coil. The tank circuit consists of pulse discharging capacitors, air gap (spark gap, break) and the primary coil. I said the setups are very flexible, so I will focus on specs for the 10KVA coil. The primary coil is wound from a single 100' length of 1/2" soft copper water pipe placed on plexiglas stand off insulators. The inside turn starts at 14" in diameter, and the turns wind outward to form a flat pancake spiral, like the grooves on a phonograph record. The outside turn is 36" diam.. There are a total of 15 turns in this coil, spacing between turns is 1/4". I own two .1 mfd 45 kvac pulse discharging capacitors. These two custom commercial units were purchased to supplement my 14 homemade polyethylene/aluminum flashing/mineral oil units rated at .02 mfd 10 kvac pulse. With the 10 KVA coil I use the two commercial "caps" in series with the primary, so the actual operating capacitance is only .05 mfd. (rated 90 KVAC though...). I connect the capacitors to the primary coil and the spark gap. By using a movable "tap" lead which can clip to any location on the heavy primary coil, the primary coil inductance is varied, and the tank circuit frequency can be changed or "tuned". The spark gap acts as a high voltage switch. When the gap is open, the capacitors charge. When the gap fires, the caps are discharged in a pulse. Because of the voltage and currents involved, the gaps on larger coils employ a rotary break, almost exactly like a large car distributor at high speed. This pulse discharging produces a large current (over 1000a@20kv in my system) from a modest transformer output (.5 amp @ 20kv). The pulse "rings" (oscillates) from capacitor plate, through the coil, and back. The secondary coil has a natural electrical resonate frequency dependant mostly on wire length. It may be modified or tuned by addition or subtraction of top capacitance or "discharge terminal". The two coils are tuned to the same frequency, and then energy is xfered from the primary to the secondary. This is the resonate transformer theory. BG> Also, I'm interested in making a Jacob's Ladder. Do you have BG> any plans or ideas on that? All you need is a neon sign xfrmr and a couple of coat hangers. Neons have built in current limiting. Do not construct a Jacob's Ladder with an xfrmr that is not current limited. ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Date: 05-03-94 21:23 From: Richard Quick To: Dave Mcknight Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ DM> I definitely need to pickup the instruments DM> necessary to actually tune the coils. I did not bother with the signal generator and O'scope until I was up in power levels to the point where I knew something was going to blow (big time!) if I threw the switch and was not in rough tune. Even with the scope... I tune better by the seat of the pants. DM> One other thing I want to study more is Tertiary coils. I DM> haven't had time to watch your video all of the way through, DM> so you may touch on that topic there. But when I was DM> reading a book on Tesla, it described how Tesla would add a DM> third coil to drastically increase the output of his DM> devices. Sorry, I have about an hour worth of video showing some of my three coil Magnifier systems in operation. I did not include any of this on your tape. Most people interested in seeing my work are still struggling to get a decent 1/4 wave coil to fire well. If you are really interested post me back on this and I will toss some three coil theory out (like why it works, how it works, and why it is more efficient). I can also walk you through a step by step on building a demo system if you wish. You need to have 1/4 wave coiling down pretty well pat before Magnifiers can be made to work. The magnifiers require better gaps, a selection of coils, capacitors, and a decent regulated power supply with heavy RF protection. A signal generator, frequency counter and O'scope help a lot, though my first Magnifer was put together seat of the pants, and all of Tesla's work was done without such equipment. ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Date: 05-03-94 09:17 From: Dave Halliday To: Richard Quick Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ RQ|Better. It's the weekend! I edited out some stuff here, but we |were discussing the Tesla RF dedicated ground... RQ| DH> Got it - the RF ground is in place - three ten-foot | DH> lengths of 1/2" copper pipe sunk into my front yard. I | DH> have some 1" heavy copper braid that I will be using to | DH> connect them together ( still thinking of the best way | DH> for that - I will start with stainless hose clamps and | DH> see what I can work out from there. RQ|This should work fine. Trench about 4" down and run the braid |below the sod. Hose clamps are excellent, I use them too, but |you might want to think about getting out the blowtorch and |silver soldering the connections. Just a suggestion,I do both. I have the pipe just at the surface and a large flower pot dug in around them, covering them. I was not thinking about trenching the braid into t he ground but it makes a lot of sense... I have some 3" PVC pipe from my shop vacuum system that I could use as conduit... I was thinking either blowtorch and solder or else making a large-area clamp out of some copper sheet - the silver solder actually sounds a lot better in terms of long-term corrosion resistance. I have an oxy-acetyline setup over at a friends house so I'll borrow it back for a few days. RQ|Now we are talking about HV RF choke/filters to protect the |step up xfrmr from the kickback of the Tesla Tank circuit... RQ| RQ> BC1 is a Bypass Capacitor. I use high voltage barium | RQ> titanate doorknobs, with stacks of four or more in | RQ> series. DH> OK - I was going to ask if you had a good source for them. RQ|Gary Legel has them for $6.00 each for the ones I use: Sprague |.003 ufd @ 30 KVDC. Write Gary at: 1306 Sheppard Dr. Fullerton |CA. 92631. RQ|Dan Smith also has these same caps: Dan Smith, 8904 Cypress, |Cotati, CA. 94931 Great! I will send a letter off to them today - thanks for the info - leads like this can be hard to come by! The Seattle surplus market is unfortunately a mere shadow of it's former self people selling stuff place way too high a value on it these days. RQ| RQ> Use no more than .0008 or so microfarads per side, as too | RQ> large a bypass capacitance will create an oscillating | RQ> current in the high voltage windings on your step up | RQ> xfrmr that will cause the xfrmr to fail. RQ| DH> OK - never thought of that but it makes a lot of sense! | DH> You are trying to tune the coil, not your neons... RQ|Yup, I burned 1/4" holes through a 1" braided ground strap |because I used to much bypass capacitance. The strap welded |itself to the case of my neon bank where it was connected and |at incidental contact points. .00015 ufd was all it took to |set up the high current ocsillation between the xfrmr windings |and the ground. This is another good reason for using a |DEDICATED HEAVY GROUND for the xfrmr core, safety gap, and |coil. YOW! That is a fair bit of power floating around there! I can see the temptation though - if 0.0008 is fine, 0.0016 should be twice as fine Anyway, I will send a letter off to Gary and Dan today - thanks again! ! Origin: Grey Matter * Seattle, WA * (206) 528-1941 (1:343/210) ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Date: 04-30-94 21:11 From: Jim Oliver To: Richard Quick Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ On: 24-04-94 RICHARD QUICK wrote To: JIM OLIVER RQ> I am really glad you enjoyed the Tesla videos, I worked very RQ> hard to get the best possible material on tape... I have had a few more sessions with them, with a great amount of pleasure at a job well done. Thank you again. RQ>As for the large coil striking the grounded rail protecting RQ>the primary... The problem is not the distance that the RQ>secondary is positioned from the primary, it is the height of RQ>the toriod Ok Richard, it's difficult to see if the arc is hitting the ground or the safety earthed guard wire around the primary. But the net effect is to raise the discharge away from the ground isn't it ? RQ>lifted the toroid up, the spark spread out for even longer RQ>strikes, and they occured more frequently. Satisfying stuff - indeed. RQ>Once again thanks for letting me know you received the tapes RQ>OK, and I do hope you picked up a pointer or two. Thank _you_. The data is of the highest quality. Combined with your posted mail there is a real treasure trove of info. I'm a bit frustrated right at the moment that I can't make the most of it ! A few people in New Zealand have seen the posts in this conf. and asked for copies of my tapes to avoid the hassles of freight etc. I have yet to convert the tapes to PAL format, but when I do, do you mind me copying these and handing them on further ? I can assure you that I will only ask for compensation for tapes and copying charges etc. I'm not aiming to make huge profits :-) I would not make further copies without your approval. I have also pointed a few others who have been asking about design factors etc toward you. They have been in the main from the USA. I've read their posts in other Internet confs. (sci.electronics) so maybe you've not seen these. One guy in Finland who has written a small book on coils (which is available by ftp) has also expressed great interest in getting copies of the ELECTRONICS Tesla traffic. He intends to make your'e posts available from an ftp site so that more people can enjoy the wealth of info in them. I assume that since they were originally public that you have no objection to this happening. In the video you showed a wonderful photo of a huge discharge display. Do you have any info about the coils etc that were used ? Jim Oliver (3:771/370) ! Origin: WELCOM BBS NZ WC3.9 04-385-6550 (3:771/370.0) ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Date: 04-29-94 19:35 From: Jim Oliver To: Brett Lilley Subj: Tesla Coils, Video. ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ On: 26-04-94 BRETT LILLEY wrote To: JIM OLIVER BL> * Reply to message in "FidoNet mail" BL> > I'll keep your name here and let you know when I have a BL> > good price. BL>If you keep in touch and decide to play I may be able to help I have no return address for you Brett. Your Fido node wasn't echoed to the bottom line, and we arn't using the same BBS, so I had to reply here. I have more to tell, and ask you. :-) Jim Oliver (3:771/370) ! Origin: WELCOM BBS NZ WC3.9 04-385-6550 (3:771/370.0) ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Date: 05-03-94 13:54 From: David Kellum Jr. To: Emile Diodene Subj: Something fun ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ On (24 Apr 94) Emile Diodene wrote to Matthew Werner... ED> Am elctronics class I was a part of designed one. It was ED> the best ozone smelling... Shocking experiance of our lives. ED> We would hook it up to the door knob of the lab on ocassion ED> also. It worked great !!! Until the Dean got shocked !!! ED> Oops... No one was hurt though... I remember that. Everyone should have one in their house! David (1:396/88.1) ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Date: 05-06-94 08:52 From: Dave Mcknight To: Richard Quick Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ RQ>Sorry, I have about an hour worth of video showing some of my >three coil Magnifier systems in operation. I did not include >any of this on your tape. Most people interested in seeing my >work are still struggling to get a decent 1/4 wave coil to >fire well. RQ>If you are really interested post me back on this and I will >toss some three coil theory out (like why it works, how it >works, and why it is more efficient). I can also walk you >through a step by step on building a demo system if you wish. >You need to have 1/4 wave coiling down pretty well pat before >Magnifiers can be made to work. The magnifiers require better >gaps, a selection of coils, capacitors, and a decent regulated >power supply with heavy RF protection. A signal generator, >frequency counter and O'scope help a lot, though my first >Magnifer was put together seat of the pants, and all of >Tesla's work was done without such equipment. Well, I'm nowhere near where I need to be on 1/4 wave coils, but I'd appreciate the step by step on building a demo 3 coil system. If nothing else I'll stash the info until that point in the future where I CAN use it. Why better gaps for three coil work? I understand that with three coils it would be more difficult to get the system to resonate properly, but I thought that was more a factor of the coils and caps. ! Origin: The Computer Room-Pickerington, Oh (614)861-8377 (1:226/110) ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Date: 05-06-94 19:32 From: Richard Quick To: Dave Halliday Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ RQ> I would really be interested in hearing more about this RQ> computerized power controller. DH> It is an interesting project - stuff like this I can do at DH> the store when it isn't busy so I get a lot more done there. DH> I based it on the Intel 8051 which is not exactly state-of- DH> the-art but hey... it works. Right now, it is just set up DH> to take the input from the ARM pushbutton on the controller DH> box, count off ten seconds during which the ON button on DH> the control paddle must be pushed. This then enables the DH> Powerstat and makes sure that the rotor is returned to the DH> zero position. The voltage up/down buttons on the control DH> paddle are then enabled. There is also an OFF button on the DH> paddle and the controller box and when this is pushed, it DH> goes to off and the ARM button must be pushed to start it DH> again. The board that I am using for my CPU has on-board DH> eight channel 10-bit A/D conversion and two RS-232 serial DH> ports so I will be using these to tie it to a PC for data DH> logging. This is something I will be developing later - I DH> want to start generating some ozone first! This sounds mighty interesting. Be careful with all of your wiring! The RF from medium and high powered Tesla coils will make every effort to appear in your control circuitry. Chips are especially vulnerable. All low voltage send/return signal wiring for the board should be grounded shield coax type, and I would mount the circuitry in a metal box. Ground everthing to a low potential ground point, not the dedicated Tesla ground. You are correct in your efforts to ask around about RF chokes, shielding, etc. for this portion of the project. Though I doubt you will encounter anyone with experience in keeping an EPROM chip alive in this type of RF enviroment. As I am sure you noticed in my tape, all of my wiring is "heavy" and I use 24 volt AC & DC control and power relays, with manual switches. I have not had a problem with my bridge rectifiers smoking on the DC side of the control circuits: but I have seen coils run with variable speed DC motors to drive the rotary gap, and I have seen the heavy duty diode bridges fail (as in burst) from high potential RF in the DC wiring to the motor. Good luck! ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Date: 05-07-94 16:53 From: Richard Quick To: Dave Mcknight Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ DM> Why better gaps for three coil work? I understand that with DM> three coils it would be more difficult to get the system to DM> resonate properly, but I thought that was more a factor of DM> the coils and caps. I am going to answer this question first. My response to the first part of your post (not quoted here) may take me a few hours to put together. Tesla saw the limitations of the simple 1/4 wave coil system very quickly. The first (and biggest) problem is that the two coil, 1/4 wave, system is only 50% efficient. The second problem is that the secondary coil alone is responsible for the entire system VSWR voltage rise. (VSWR = Voltage Standing Wave Ratio, as applied in transmission line theory). With the 1/4 wave (two coil) system, it is impossible to trap more than half of the tank circuit energy into the secondary coil. Regardless of when the main system spark gap is quenched (or extinguished) during the primary wave train of oscillations, no more energy may reside in the secondary coil than exists in the primary. As long as the gap is closed (firing), energy may be exchanged in both directions: from primary to secondary, and from secondary to primary. There is equilibrium here. The clincher is that even maintaining equilibrium can be a challenge: in practice, the secondary coil wants to donate all of it's energy back to the tank circuit, and the spark gap does not want to quench at all. The problem becomes difficult at power levels over 3 KVA in 1/4 wave Tesla coils; the secondary coil wants to dump it's energy back to the primary; as it is doing so, it feeds current to the main system spark gap, which keeps firing. The second limitation with 1/4 wave two coil systems is that the entire VSWR must be achieved in one coil. Practically, this limitation is seen in the loose inductive coupling required between the primary and secondary coils: If you place the secondary coil in too close proximity to the primary, the secondary overloads, and the coil frequency "splits". Splitting results in parasitic 1/4 wave voltage peaks appearing in the secondary coil windings below the discharge terminal. Sparks jump out of the sides of the coil. If allowed to operate in this overcoupled state, the secondary coil will self-destruct as a result of these parasitic sparks. So Tesla added the third coil: this allowed him to tighten the coupling between the primary and secondary, and shifted the main VSWR (voltage rise) to the extra coil. The effect is that the extra coil removes energy from the secondary as it is input, and the 50% efficiency barrier is eliminated. In order to take advantage of the much tighter coupling between primary and secondary, and the removal of the 50% efficiency limitation: quench times in the main system spark gaps must be cut drastically. The key here is that spark gap improvements, above and beyond those used in most 1/4 wave coils (even large ones) allows the system to process powers with efficiencies substantially over the 50% mark. Equilibrium does not exist between the primary and secondary coils in the Tesla three coil Magnifier, as the secondary coil has a transmission line to remove energy to the base of the extra coil. But with the primary and secondary coils coupled much tighter, more pressure is placed on the spark gaps. The secondary coil wants to transfer energy back to the primary, but if this transfer of energy back to the primary is not allowed (by quenching the gap) the energy is FORCED into the extra coil. The Tesla three coil Magnifier offers revolutionary advantages over the classic two coil system: lower impedance, higher VSWRs, closer coupling, efficiencies over 50%, smaller coil size (in high powered systems), smaller capacitors and power supplies; but taking advantage of these improvements means using much more sophisticated spark gap systems. High speeds, low quench times, and high current handling capabilities in a large rotary break are required to really process power efficiently. The spark gap is the most important single component of a well designed and efficient Tesla Magnifier. ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Date: 05-07-94 22:57 From: Richard Quick To: Dave Mcknight Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ DM> Well, I'm nowhere near where I need to be on 1/4 wave coils, DM> but I'd appreciate the step by step on building a demo 3 DM> coil system. If nothing else I'll stash the info until that DM> point in the future where I CAN use it. Well the first thing you need to do to build an efficient three coil Magnifier is to wind the secondary or "driver" coil. I have found that the driver coil works best with a very low aspect ratio (height to width ratio) usually around 1.5 to 1 on a fat coil form. I like the following coil design for general Magnifier work: Cut a two foot (24") high section of 14" diameter PVC pipe. It make no difference here if this is thin wall, thick wall, or whatever wall. I have seen no performance variations dependant on material type or wall thickness with this coil design. No sealing or prep work of the coil form is required. Wind on about 200 turns of heavy stranded insulated wire. I don't have a coil or wire chart handy, but I believe #12 or #14 PVC insulated wire will give the right number of turns per inch (8 TPI) to get you in the ballpark. I prefer #12 PVC jacketed, so you may have to juggle the coil form diameter (or height) to get the proper length of wire on the form. You are shooting for a coil with a frequency right around 450 KHZ, which will require a little over 730 feet of wire. Slap on a few coats of polyurethane sealer to glue the wire on to the coil form. Once the sealer is dried, cap the coil top and bottom with a couple of plexiglass disks glued down with clear epoxy, and wind on a roll of clear plastic wrap (Saran wrap) to protect the coil: flashover from the closely coupled primary coil will cause headaches. If necessary I will also wind a layer or two of 30 mil polyethylene sheet around the driver coil to protect it from primary coil flashovers. The primary coil for this system should be a classic vertical helix, just like the driver. Use a 75-100 foot length of 3/8" copper refrigerator tubing. Build a plastic coil form about four inches larger in diameter than the OD of the completed driver coil. Space your primary turns so that the primary coil is 2/3rds the height of the driver coil (another way to look at this is the primary should be a little higher than the driver is wide). You should have a driver that nests neatly inside the primary, with about two inches of spacing between the two coils. This arrange- ment provides the close coupling required. A little trick that you would find useful: grease the top five or so turns of the primary with mineral oil or vaselene, and slide a 25 foot length of heavy wall vinyl tubing over the copper pipe. This will really help prevent flashovers; tap your primary from the bottom. Make your permanent connection at the top of the primary, remove any sharp edges or points, and insulate it well. On top of the driver coil I build a little steeple out of plastic, and run the output wire here for connection to the transmission line. Your extra coil needs to be close wound, and fairly high inductance. If the extra coil is lower in inductance than the driver coil, the system will not function. I like an 8" diameter extra coil, about 14" high, wound with about 400 turns of #20 double Formvar coated magnet wire. This coil should resonate below 400 KHZ, and have the higher inductance necessary to function well with described driver coil. BTW, this coil form should be low loss, or well dried and sealed thin wall PVC drain pipe, and should have plenty of top coats of sealant. The transmission line connecting the top of the driver coil to the bottom of the extra coil must be low loss, I like 1/2" hard copper water pipe for a transmission line. To lift the extra coil spark discharge up away from the transmission line, set the extra coil up on a tall insulated pedestal, and top the coil with a small toroid (say 12" diamtr). Set a 2' length of stove pipe on the center of the small toroid, and cap the whole balancing act with a 30-35" toroid. You may need some juggling with the top capacitance, but this should bring the coils into a rough frequency match. The extra coil requires a huge top capacitance (toroid discharger) to function well. This is where an O'scope, signal generator, and frequency counter come in very helpful. The addition of top capacitance is required to bring the system into frequency match with the driver. As top capacitance is added to a coil, the resonate frequency of the coil drops. I grid dip the driver coil alone, then grid dip the extra coil alone. Add top capacitance to the extra coil until the frequency is brought down to about 1/2 that of the driver coil. In this instance, 225 KHZ is about right. This frequency matching will facilitate 1/8th wave current production from the driver coil, where the transmission line feeds the current into the base of the tuned 1/4 wave resonator. The tank circuit is tuned to operate at the resonate frequency of the extra coil, not the driver coil. I use the signaling equipment to grid peak the tank circuit, then final tune by seat of the pants. For high powered Magnifier operation I like a variable speed rotary gap capable of at least 1000 breaks per second on the balanced Tesla Tank circuit. Large capacitors are not required for really huge sparks: higher input voltage from the step up xfrmr, combined with higher break rates, keeps the processing power up (more, bigger sparks) while the capacitors stay small. ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Date: 05-06-94 16:35 From: Dave Halliday To: Richard Quick Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ RQ| DH> |were discussing the Tesla RF dedicated ground... DH> Got it - the RF ground is in place - three ten-foot DH> lengths of 1/2" copper pipe sunk into my front yard. I DH> have some 1" heavy copper braid that I will be using to DH> connect them together ( still thinking of the best way for DH> that - I will start with stainless hose clamps and see what I DH> can work out from there. RQ| RQ|This should work fine. Trench about 4" down and run the | braid below the sod. Hose clamps are excellent, I use them | too, but you might want to think about getting out the | blowtorch and silver soldering the connections. Just a | suggestion, I do both. OK - I tend to error in the direction of "creeping elegance" in things that I build and a gob of silver solder would certainly be just fine. DH> I have the pipe just at the surface and a large flower pot DH> dug in around them, covering them. I was not thinking about DH> trenching the braid into the ground but it makes a lot of DH> sense... I have some 3" PVC pipe from my shop vacuum DH> system that I could use as conduit... RQ|I would not bother with insulating conduit. Just lay the strap |in the trench and backfill. The braided strap placed in |contact with the earth below the sod will increase your |grounds surface area. I was not thinking of that - the area is a landscaped "garden" ( replaced my lawn with something interesting to look at - and much easier to care for... ) so there would be no chance of the strap being run over with a lawn mower. It has been nice and slow this last day or so - weather is getting hot and the boating season has it's official "opening day" tomorrow so I should be able to get in another good slug of work on the coil. Getting psyched! also: I was at the City Light surplus place yesterday and they had some pole pig transformers - two bushing type - but they were only rated at 4,800 with 120/240 secondaries. About two feet tall, weighed about 80-120 pounds... Didn't think to get the power rating on them... Was wondering if I could run the powerstat at 240 volts connected to the 120 tap on the secondary and get 7,500-9,600 volts out of it at reduced duty cycle... Any ideas? These things are non-PCB oil cooled so I should be able to run them for 15 minutes without serious damage... ! Origin: Grey Matter * Seattle, WA * (206) 528-1941 (1:343/210) ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Date: 05-09-94 14:20 From: Blair Groves To: Richard Quick Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Hi Richard, After reading about your three coil design, I really would like to see your video on the subject, and the theory, construction and operation of the coil. Is there anyone in the Toronto area here (that you might know of), that has a coil, and would be willing to demostrate it? Thanks ...Blair ! Origin: CRS Online, Toronto, Ontario (1:229/15) ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Date: 05-11-94 11:42 From: Dave Halliday To: Richard Quick Subj: reality check... TESLA C ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Hi Richard - you had mentioned the other day that I could get two of the smaller PolePig transformers ( commercial power distri- bution units ) and run them in series to get a higher voltage. You had recommended to get the two bushing type in order to run a balanced secondary. Seattle City Light surplus has a lot of the 4.8 KV single bushing types and I was just wondering if I could get two of them, connect the primaries out of phase and then run the secondaries in series as follows: HV #1 HV #2 +-+ +-+ | | | | ___|_|_ _|_|___ | | common | | | |===========| | |______| ground |______| It would seem to work and to solve the double-bushing high voltage pole pig availability problem... Anyway, I will be down there today ( got busy yesterday and they close at 3:30 - the rats ) ! Origin: Grey Matter * Seattle, WA * (206) 528-1941 (1:343/210) ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Date: 05-11-94 22:58 From: Richard Quick To: Richard Chapman Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ -=> Sez Richard Chapman to All <=- RC> Has anyone out there got any good sources for Tesla coil RC> info (text, videos) etc. I've built a small coil but want RC> to build a bigger one, trouble is that information is a bit RC> hard to come by here in New Zealand. RC> Anything appreciated. You need to Echo at Jim Oliver in this conference. He has two hours of video I have taken of my coiling activities (LARGE sparks, Tesla Magnifiers, RF choking, power supplies, etc.) Jim lives in Lower Hut, and is converting my two video tapes to PAL, he also has a disk crammed with my posts in this conference, all on Tesla Coils. Please drop him a post in this area, or post me again and I can send the material directly. ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Date: 05-11-94 13:39 From: Mark Conway To: Richard Quick Subj: tesla coils ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ TID: FastEcho 1.40 15032 Hi Richard, Ive been reading your Tesla coil stuff for a while now and I thought I'd drop you a line. I made a solid state Tesla coil ( the one described by Duane Bylund in 1993 Radio Electronics experimenters handbook). The results from it are disappointing- it gives a spark about 3-4 inches long when an earthed electrode is held near it but I dont get any brush discharge from the doorknob terminal. According to the magazine there should be a snappy 5-6 inch brush discharge. If I replace the door knob with a needle I get a measly 1 inch brush discharge. I think I probably messed up winding the coil. The coil is wound on a 5 gallon bucket with 30 gauge wire. I wound the coil by hand- it took ages to wind and I accidently crossed the wires a few times. Anyway, even just looking at my tiny brush discharge gives me sore eyes. I guess it must be uv rich. How do you view the discharge from your monster coil - do you have eye protection to stop the uv? Reading your stuff on Tesla coils has sparked (sorry!) my interest again and I'm going to have a go at making a capacitor discharge tesla coil. I've just bought a 15kV 30mA neon transformer which I will use to drive the circuit described in Spaceage Projects (?) for a 250 kV coil. Down here in NZ it is impossible to get any high voltage caps like the doorknob ones that you mention so I will try putting some 3kV surge supression caps in series to make up the required HV. I read your article on making caps- do you have any info on how to make those salt water caps that you mention briefly in your article? Best Regards, Mark ! Origin: Infomania! - The Information System 64-9-489-6750 (3:772/195) ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Date: 05-12-94 19:53 From: Richard Quick To: Dave Halliday Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ -=> Sez Dave Halliday to Richard Quick <=- DH> Hi Richard - you had mentioned the other day that I could DH> get two of the smaller Pole Pig transformers (commercial DH> power distribution units) and run them in series to get a DH> higher voltage. Absolutely DH> You had recommended to get the two bushing type in order to DH> run a balanced secondary. Also very true. DH> Seattle City Light surplus has a lot of the 4.8 KV single DH> bushing types and I was just wondering if I could get two of DH> them, connect the primaries out of phase and then run the DH> secondaries in series as follows: HV #1 HV #2 +-+ +-+ | | | | ___|_|_ _|_|___ | | common | | | |===========| | |______| ground |______| DH> It would seem to work and to solve the double-bushing high DH> voltage pole pig availability problem... Well I hope you picked up a couple, because what you are looking at will work just fine. Two single bushing pole pigs run in series will give the equivalent of an xfrmr with two high voltage bushings. The only difference being that the center of your high voltage winding will be at ground potential. Just remember that with the cases (cores) and secondaries of the series run xfrmrs at ground potential in the center you will need to split your bypass capacitors and ground the centers of those as well. ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Date: 05-12-94 22:45 From: Richard Quick To: Dave Halliday Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ DH> Seattle City Light surplus has a lot of the 4.8 KV single DH> bushing types and I was just wondering if I could get two of DH> them, connect the primaries out of phase and then run the ^^^^^^^^^^^^ DH> secondaries in series as follows: HV #1 HV #2 +-+ +-+ | | | | ___|_|_ _|_|___ | | common | | | |===========| | |______| ground |______| Almost let this one slip by me, posted my reply before thinking all the way through. Anyway, the way I look at this: there is no need to reverse the primaries for operation out of phase with one another. This would cancel one xfrmr against the other. Assuming that these are identical units, the primaries and secondaries will be wound the same direction. Simply common the grounds (cases) on both units, wire the primaries in parallel, and you should have opposite polarity 60 cycle from each high voltage bushing. One secondary winding simply acting as an extension of the other. ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Date: 05-05-94 20:02 From: Jim Oliver To: Richard Quick Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ On: 28-04-94 RICHARD QUICK wrote To: BRUCE KINGSBURY RQ> -=> Sez Bruce Kingsbury to Jim Oliver <=- RQ>Humm, looks like you guys are going to be burning sparks soon! Not me I fear - unfortunately. I'm a bit of a bystander right now, but still very interested. RQ> BK> Is that hardcopy or still on disk? RQ>Trust me, it is still on disk. There is enough on that disk to RQ>print out a nice thick book! RQ> BK> Anyway, I'm sure I'm not the only one in NZ that's RQ> BK> interested in that video! RQ>(So my videos are going to be making the rounds in New RQ>Zealand!) Hopefully you will have my mail re my request for permission to make these copies. RQ>I guess I can't really complain about you guys making copies RQ>of my tapes, being halfway around the world and all. Enjoy the RQ>info, and I hope you pick up some coiling tips. We do Richard. Those 100 inch arcs are impressive. The main problem with the videos from USA is the NTSC aspect. I'm Ok since I have a player, but they are very rare and conversion costs are horrendous at about NZ $ 200 per tape. RQ>But please let me know what you think when you get your copy. RQ>I sent Jim four hours of video (two tapes), if you are only RQ>going to get two hours from him (one tape), be sure to ask for RQ>the last two hours worth, with my big coil cooking up the RQ>backyard. I've explained some of this to Bruce by E-mail. Jim Oliver (3:771/370) ! Origin: WELCOM BBS NZ WC3.9 04-385-6550 [V32B V42B] (3:771/370.0) ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Date: 05-05-94 20:07 From: Jim Oliver To: Richard Quick Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ On: 29-04-94 RICHARD QUICK wrote To: DAVE MCKNIGHT RQ> RQ>Dave your video tape was posted today. RQ> DM> Thank YOU Richard. I've been following this thread for RQ> DM> awhile, so I've already learned quite a bit from you. RQ>How long have you been tuning in, and what are your main RQ>interests/problems with Tesla Coils? My video tape is skewed RQ>perhaps to the majority interest... POWER (which I freely RQ>admit being a sucker for), but it only covers a tiny fraction RQ>of the coiling work/experimentation that I have conducted. RQ> DM> I've already built a desktop unit of my own, Richard - somethings still pretty screwy here with the mail. I'm seeing this one, but didn't see Dave's mail to you. Fortunately we appear to be able to communicate. BTW Another NZer (he is an electrical engineer with a hankering for 5 - 15 KVA coils) has recently requested copies of videos, that makes 3 all told. (Bruce Kingsbury, Brett Lilley, and Rick Nolan) Jim Oliver (3:771/370) ! Origin: WELCOM BBS NZ WC3.9 04-385-6550 [V32B V42B] (3:771/370.0) ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Date: 05-10-94 20:06 From: Jim Oliver To: Richard Quick Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ On: 04-05-94 RICHARD QUICK wrote To: JIM OLIVER RQ> RQ to Jim Oliver in New Zealand RQ> RQ> I am really glad you enjoyed the Tesla videos, I worked RQ> RQ> very hard to get the best possible material on tape... RQ>You are very welcome! Thank YOU! And and I have had them converted now. It costs but the quality is excellent I'm happy to say. RQ> JO> I would not make further copies without your approval. RQ>Under the circumstances you have my permission. The goal of my RQ>work, and the videos, is to disseminate information. I do not RQ>make any profit at all. Considering that you are in New RQ>Zealand I have no problem with you making copies of anything I RQ>have sent for local (New Zealand) distribution. This is a RQ>special case: the tapes have to be converted to PAL, overseas RQ>shipping is expensive, currency has to be exchanged, time, RQ>etc.. Thats very generous of you Richard. RQ> JO> One guy in Finland who has written a small book on coils RQ> JO> (which is available by ftp) has also expressed great RQ> JO> interest in getting copies of the ELECTRONICS Tesla RQ> JO> traffic. He intends to make your posts available from an RQ> JO> ftp site so that more people can enjoy the wealth of info RQ> JO> in them. I assume that since they were originally public RQ> JO> that you have no objection to this happening. RQ>None at all: as long as the copied material re-posted remains RQ>in the public domain, no money is made, and my name is not RQ>removed. The last thing I would want is some guy writing a RQ>second book, pasting in my material under his name, and RQ.getting paid for it... His "book" is an article which is disseminated for free on Internet. He has no intention of making money from your posts, but wants the info available to all coilers in the spirit it was written. The vast majority of Internet users don't come *near* Fido so miss out on your stuff totally. He (and I) think this limits it's usefulness. RQ> JO> In the video you showed a wonderful photo of a huge RQ> JO> discharge display. Do you have any info about the coils RQ> JO> etc. that were used ? RQ>That coil was built by Richard Hull of Richmond, Virginia. The RQ>secondary was 14" in diameter, wound with #18 magnet wire. The RQ>coil winding is 42" high and it is topped with a 56" toroid RQ>discharge terminal. The unit was firing with .09 uf RQ>capacitance, 9-12 KVA input, and produces a spark 12 feet in RQ>length. That particular system has been dismantled. Does he something larger !!! ? Thanks for that Richard. Jim Oliver (3:771/370) ! Origin: WELCOM BBS NZ WC3.9 04-385-6550 [V32B V42B] (3:771/370.0) ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Date: 05-20-94 23:09 From: Richard Quick To: Jim Oliver Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Jim, I was just wondering if you have had a chance to convert my tapes to PAL yet. If so, how did the tape quality turn out? I have seen a few posts originating in NZ from people who have expressed an interest in seeing the tapes. Have you done any business yet? I am curious because there seems to be a real lack of good coiling information/data down there, and I was hoping the tapes might work their way around a bit. Let me know how it goes. ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Date: 05-12-94 21:23 From: Jim Oliver To: Dave Halliday Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ On: 06-05-94 RICHARD QUICK wrote To: DAVE HALLIDAY RQ> RQ> I would really be interested in hearing more about this RQ> RQ> computerized power controller. ... edited a bit RQ> DH> This is something I will be developing later - I RQ> DH> want to start generating some ozone first! RQ>This sounds mighty interesting. It does sound interesting Dave. And you raised another point too, about ozone. I'm an industrial chemist by trade and I was always fascinated by the idea of "life" evolving from a lightning strike onto the primeval "soup". To this end I have run my primary sparks in closed containers as an experiment. All that happened was I rotted out the (firstly) cork end and then rubber ends. The ozone and oxides of nitrogen that are formed will rot nearly anything, including lungs no doubt ? The air space in the bottle used to become quite brown with nitric oxide. When I tried this with the secondary arc I didn't get the brown gas, but I did get the rotting of rubber etc. So I guess that the RF arcs will be lowish in power (amps per sq. inch) but still high enough in potential to produce ozone. High power arcs used to be (maybe still ?) used to manufacture nitric acid in Norway and such cheap power places by blowing air through high current arcs. Maybe the ozone / nitric acid ratio can be adjusted by altering the nature of the arc. I should ask this question somehere else on the net and see what response I get. :-) Jim Oliver (3:771/370) ! Origin: WELCOM BBS NZ WC3.9 04-385-6550 (3:771/370.0) ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Date: 05-06-94 20:14 From: Jim Oliver To: Brett Lilley Subj: Tesla stuff ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Brett I don't have an E-mail address for you. Are you still interested in copies of Richard Quick's videos ? Jim Oliver (3:771/370) ! Origin: WELCOM BBS NZ WC3.9 04-385-6550 [V32B V42B] (3:771/370.0) ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Date: 05-21-94 19:33 From: Richard Quick To: Jim Oliver Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ RQ quoting Dave Halliday in message to Jim Oliver DH> want to start generating some ozone first! JO> And you raised another point too, about ozone. JO> I'm an industrial chemist by trade... JO> ... I have run my primary sparks in closed containers as an JO> experiment. All that happened was I rotted out the (firstly) JO> cork end and then rubber ends. The ozone and oxides of JO> nitrogen that are formed will rot nearly anything, including JO> lungs no doubt ? No Doubt.. JO> The air space in the bottle used to become quite brown with JO> nitric oxide. When I tried this with the secondary arc I JO> didn't get the brown gas, but I did get the rotting of JO> rubber etc. So I guess that the RF arcs will be lowish in JO> power (amps per sq. inch) but still high enough in potential JO> to produce ozone. You have hit it square on the head. JO> High power arcs used to be (maybe still ?) used to JO> manufacture nitric acid in Norway and such cheap power JO> places by blowing air through high current arcs. Maybe the JO> ozone / nitric acid ratio can be adjusted by altering the JO> nature of the arc. Well from what I am able to gather, the temperature of the arc is important if oxides of nitrogen are desired. Ozone, as you mentioned, requires some potential for formation (though not that much), and oxides of nitrogen require high temperatures such as those associated with large currents (like main system spark gaps). My guess (and this is largely a guess) is that electrodes of specific metals may be employed with high current arcs to facilitate the production of nitrogen oxides. It makes some sense to me that catalytic assisted reactions will occur with the proper metal plasma present in the arc. ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Date: 05-21-94 20:01 From: Richard Quick To: Jim Oliver Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ RQ>I am really glad you enjoyed the Tesla videos, I worked very RQ>hard to get the best possible material on tape... JO> And and I have had them converted now. It costs but the JO> quality is excellent I'm happy to say. I would not make JO> further copies without your approval. RQ>Under the circumstances you have my permission. JO> Thats very generous of you Richard. Practical! Generosity did not have anything to do with it. JO> One guy in Finland who has written a small book on coils JO> (which is available by ftp) has also expressed great JO> interest in getting copies of the ELECTRONICS Tesla JO> traffic. He intends to make your posts available from an ftp JO> site so that more people can enjoy the wealth of info in JO> them. I assume that since they were originally public that JO> you have no objection to this happening. RQ> None at all: as long as the copied material re-posted RQ> remains in the public domain, no money is made, and my name RQ> is not removed. The last thing I would want is some guy RQ> writing a second book, pasting in my material under his RQ> name, and getting paid for it... JO> His "book" is an article which is disseminated for free on JO> Internet. He has no intention of making money from your JO> posts, but wants the info available to all coilers in the JO> spirit it was written. Please feel free to release my material to him. JO> In the video you showed a wonderful photo of a huge JO> discharge display. Do you have any info about the coils etc JO> that were used ? RQ> That coil was built by Richard Hull of Richmond, Virginia. RQ> The secondary was 14" in diameter, wound with #18 magnet RQ> wire. The coil winding is 42" high and it is topped with a RQ> 56" toroid discharge terminal. The unit was firing with .09 RQ> uf capacitance, 9-12 KVA input, and produces a spark 12 feet RQ> in length. That particular system has been dismantled. JO> Does he something larger !!! ? Magnifiers, large high powered units put out greater spark with 1/3 less input power, and the total size of the system is much smaller. ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Date: 05-21-94 14:24 From: Dave Halliday To: Jim Oliver Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ To: JIM OLIVER Subject: 10KVA Tesla Coil JO|RQ> DH> This is something I will be developing later |RQ> DH> - I want to start generating some ozone first! JO|It does sound interesting Dave. JO|And you raised another point too, about ozone. JO|I'm an industrial chemist by trade and I was always fascinated |by the idea of "life" evolving from a lightning strike onto |the primeval "soup". Neat - Harold Urey's experiment - got him the Nobel Prize too!!! JO|To this end I have run my primary sparks in closed containers |as an experiment. All that happened was I rotted out the |(firstly) cork end and then rubber ends. The ozone and oxides |of nitrogen that are formed will rot nearly anything, |including lungs no doubt ? JO|The air space in the bottle used to become quite brown with |nitric oxide. When I tried this with the secondary arc I |didn't get the brown gas, but I did get the rotting of rubber |etc. So I guess that the RF arcs will be lowish in power (amps |per sq. inch) but still high enough in potential to produce |ozone. Hmmm... I wonder if there is a specific energy level required to form the NO - maybe the RF created lower temperatures than a straight 60 Hz arc... I have heard that ozone is murder on any kind of plastic or rubber - it is a very powerful oxidizing agent. JO|High power arcs used to be (maybe still ?) used to manufacture |nitric acid in Norway and such cheap power places by blowing |air through high current arcs. Maybe the ozone / nitric acid |ratio can be adjusted by altering the nature of the arc. JO|I should ask this question somehere else on the net and see |what response I get. :-) That would be interesting to look into - I wonder if the straight arc is more efficient than a mercury arc lamp ( these are used in pools and spas for O3 generation to replace chlorine ) ! Origin: Grey Matter * Seattle, WA * (206) 528-1941 (1:343/210) ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Date: 05-22-94 07:22 From: Mark Conway To: Richard Quick Subj: Tesla coil ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ TID: FastEcho 1.40 15032 Hi Richard, Thankss for the info on Salt Water caps and how to improve my solid state coil. I will try splicing the wires on my coil next weekend. By the way, what is the reason that crossed wires on a Tesla coil are so bad? Best Regards, Mark ! Origin: Infomania! - The Information System 64-9-489-6750 (3:772/195) ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Date: 05-20-94 23:09 From: Richard Quick To: Jim Oliver Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Jim, I was just wondering if you have had a chance to convert my tapes to PAL yet. If so, how did the tape quality turn out? I have seen a few posts originating in NZ from people who have expressed an interest in seeing the tapes. Have you done any business yet? I am curious because there seems to be a real lack of good coiling information/ data down there, and I was hoping the tapes might work their way around a bit. Let me know how it goes. ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Date: 05-22-94 18:52 From: Blair Groves To: Jim Oliver Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Forgive me for asking such an obvious question, but if the Tesla Coil can generate ozone, why not use coils to mass-produce ozone and transport it to the ozone layer? Granted, that the hole in the ozone layer is immense, but there ought to be a way to produce enough ozone over several years to achieve measurable results. (Richard, are you reading this? -- what's your opinion on this?) ...Blair ! Origin: CRS Online, Toronto, Ontario (1:229/15) ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Date: 05-24-94 18:11 From: Richard Quick To: Dave Halliday Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Dave; Have you made a decision about the two pole pigs run in series? If you have decided to go ahead and get them, have you any thoughts on what you are going to use to current limit them? Just thought I would pop my nose in and see. ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Date: 05-16-94 15:46 From: Don Peruski To: Mark Conway Subj: Re: tesla coils ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ MC> up the required HV. I read your article on making caps- do MC> you have any in on how to make those salt water caps that you MC> mention briefly in your article Wow...I must have missed some messages here seeing is I am the one who brought the subject up!! I must have missed a lot here. I made some salt water caps using pickle jars and a fish tank. Mine was not solid state so everything I did was quite adjustable. Sounds like the solid state one stinks anyway :). Nothing to making the caps. Just add another jar when needed or add more salt or water.... Make sure you top it all off with some vegetable oil so it doesn't arc across. Fun stuff, but I have no formula. Good Luck! ...Don ! Origin: Diskwiz BBS --==Node 1==-- (810)548-7258 (1:120/299) ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Date: 05-26-94 07:20 From: Dave Mcknight To: Richard Quick Subj: TESLA TUNING ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ I've been making improvements on my Tesla coil based on all of the information you've been supplying, and I've got questions about tuning coils. 1)I created a toroid (garden tractor inner tube, fiberglass, Al foil) and when I mount it on my coil I notice a reduction in output, but alot more arcing at my safety gap. Would this indicate that I need to increase the capacitance/inductance in the tank circuit? 2)When playing around with my first small coil, I added a much larger capacitor than I originally had, and when adjusting the spark gap I got a strange effect. Using a copper toilet bowl float as a discharge terminal, I would get a corona from the seam in the middle of the float. When I adjusted the gap, the corona would move from the seam of the float down to the top turn of the secondary coil. Would this indicate that the resonance freq. of the tank was shifted to a higher freq.? I still don't have anything to compare to even your smallest system, but I can get interesting corona effects and about a 4" arc, so I'm having fun. ! Origin: The Computer Room-Pickerington, Oh (614)861-8377 (1:226/110) ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Date: 05-25-94 21:01 From: Richard Quick To: Blair Groves Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ -=> Sez Blair Groves to Jim Oliver <=- BG> Forgive me for asking such an obvious question, but if the BG> Tesla Coil can generate ozone, why not use coils to BG> mass-produce ozone and transport it to the ozone layer? BG> (Richard, are you reading this? -- what's your opinion on BG> this?) Well it's not that I haven't thought about it, but it cannot be done practically. The problem is not really insufficient ozone anyway, there is plenty of ozone produced by the high energy radiation penetrating the upper atmosphere. The problem is that the half-life of the ozone produced has been decimated by the presence of free chlorine. This is a sophisticated atmospheric chemistry. Chloroflorocarbons appear to be using the surface of complex ice crystals in very high clouds as a catalyst. Simply adding ozone does not remove the chemistry that causes the problem of depletion. ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Date: 05-25-94 21:26 From: Richard Quick To: All Subj: Proper grounding ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ I am re-posting this back to net. Reason: Andy knows what he is talking about, and his explaination of ground loops, and signal grounds is the best I have read (outside of my own posts on this subject made last year) -=> Sez Andrew Broughton to Tim Hartnett <=- AB> I will tell you that almost never is live equipment wired AB> "properly" with respect to grounding. Now that doesn't mean AB> that these mis-wired system won't work, or will hum, I just AB> mean that they don't follow the proper procedures. The whole AB> basis for proper grounding is that the ground line only AB> follows one path back to the earth, and that this path be as AB> low-resistance as possible. AMEN ANDY! This not only applies to audio, but the same theory applies to RF equipment, computers, Tesla Coils etc.. Read on... AB> The most common problem with patching the multitude of AB> equipment together that's necessary for a live show is AB> "ground loops". This is where there is more than one path to AB> ground from a specific piece of equipment. Please note again: this applies in every other type of grounding application, especially where analog or digital signal is involved. AB> For example, if you plug a power amplifier into an AC socket, AB> it now is grounded. (assuming the ground pin is still intact, AB> etc.) We now have one ground path. Now you take a equalizer, AB> and plug it into an AC socket. If it has a ground pin, now AB> it's grounded as well. If you connect a signal cable from the AB> equalizer to the amplifier, you have connected the grounds AB> together, creating a a loop. If a hum results, the typical AB> solution used by most "techs" is to "lift" the ground on the AB> AC of either the power amp of the crossover, or (aughh) AB> both. Now, since the safety of the system is comprimised this AB> way, the proper method to eliminate the loop is to lift the AB> ground on the signal line at the power amplifier end. This AB> means taking apart the 1/4" jack or XLR connector at the AB> amplifier end, and snipping the ground connection there. Only AB> one end should be snipped; If both are done, you'll have an AB> unshielded cable. Many modern amplifiers and processing AB> equipment have "earth link" or "chassis ground link" AB> connections on their rear panel. these can be used in place AB> of modifying the connecting cables, as they separate the AB> signal ground from the AC ground in the equipment. AB> I have seen so many "professional" power amplifier racks with AB> 3 or more power amps in them, with a "ground lift" switch on AB> the front or back panel, which disconnects the AC ground to AB> the rack. I've seen musicians getting electric shocks from AB> touching their guitars and a microphone. I think what saves AB> most shows is the fact that a short from AC to ground doesn't AB> happen very often. But with ground-lifted equipment, if that AB> one faulty extension cord decides to short out, or that AB> distro panel gets a drink of water, LOOK OUT! AB> Hope that helps! Does that ever! Excellent post and well worth repeating. I will also note here that ground loops are prone to heavy oscillating currents where capacitors are employed in the power supplies, filters, or circuit boards of the looped equipment. This can get especially bad with tube equipment where the case of large electrolytics are grounded to both the plug and the cable shield. ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Date: 05-27-94 01:24 From: Richard Quick To: Mark Conway Subj: Tesla Coils ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ -=> Sez Mark Conway to Richard Quick <=- MC> Hi Richard, MC> Thanks for the info on Salt Water caps and how to MC> improve my solid state coil. I will try splicing the wires MC> on my coil next weekend. By the way, what is the reason that MC> crossed wires on a Tesla coil are so bad? Best Regards, MC> Mark Each successive turn on a Tesla secondary has a higher voltage. This increase in voltage pretty much follows the VSWR (Voltage Standing Wave Ratio) rises predicted by transmission line theory. The problem with crossing wires, especially on base fed coils (such as Duane Bylunds) is that the lower turns can act as a low voltage "ground" point. Crosses between turns (especially on short fat coils with high interturn voltage increases) results in tiny breakdowns in the magnet wire insulation. These breakdowns cause excessive losses. Another way to look at it is that each overlapped turn represents an intermittant short circuit. ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Date: 05-27-94 10:09 From: Dave Halliday To: Richard Quick Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ RQ|Dave; Hi Richard! How's it going? RQ|Have you made a decision about the two pole pigs run in RQ|series? Yeah - I found two that looked nice and then asked the yard people what the price was... They told me that the transformers were not for sale! They sell everything to the public but the xformers are sold in yearly lots... Liability and PCB ( even though the ones I looked at had stickers on them ) concerns... Sheesh - we can't even electrocute ourselves any more... no fun... I will probably run with the neons I have and order one later from Larry at the Transformer Bank. Also, I just got done hiring a new person so as soon as they get trained, ( shouldn't be too long - really smart and good with people! ) I will be able to get back to some of the important things in life - running my BBS and finishing off the tesla coil! I am thinking too about later this summer, renting a generator and setting the coil up on the dock near my house - overlooks lake washington. I could run a bunch of aluminum sheets into the water for grounding. Would be a spectacular shot! þ A day without sunshine is like a day in Seattle ! Origin: Grey Matter * Seattle, WA * (206) 528-1941 (1:343/210) ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Date: 05-27-94 16:20 From: Blair Groves To: Richard Quick Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Hi Richard, > Well it's not that I haven't thought about it, but it cannot > be done practically. The problem is not really insufficient > ozone anyway, there is plenty of ozone produced by the high > energy radiation penetrating the upper atmosphere. The problem > is that the half-life of the ozone produced has been > decimated by the presence of free chlorine. RQ So in order to solve the problem, the other reactants need to be neutralized? You have to wonder how much attention our "great leaders" are giving to this situation. Probably not any, since the ozone depleted area is over the south pole, where it doesn't appear to be the jurusdiction of anyone but the penguins. Thanks for putting the chemistry into words! ...Blair ! Origin: CRS Online, Toronto, Ontario (1:229/15) ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Date: 05-25-94 21:01 From: Richard Quick To: Blair Groves Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ -=> Sez Blair Groves to Jim Oliver <=- BG> Forgive me for asking such an obvious question, but if the BG> Tesla Coil can generate ozone, why not use coils to BG> mass-produce ozone and transport it to the ozone layer? BG> (Richard, are you reading this? -- what's your opinion on BG> this?) Well it's not that I haven't thought about it, but it cannot be done practically. The problem is not really insufficient ozone anyway, there is plenty of ozone produced by the high energy radiation penetrating the upper atmosphere. The problem is that the half-life of the ozone produced has been decimated by the presence of free chlorine. This is a sophisticated atmospheric chemistry. Chloroflorocarbons appear to be using the surface of complex ice crystals in very high clouds as a catalyst. Simply adding ozone does not remove the chemistry that causes the problem of depletion. ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Date: 05-27-94 01:24 From: Richard Quick To: Mark Conway Subj: Tesla Coils ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ -=> Sez Mark Conway to Richard Quick <=- MC> Hi Richard, MC> Thanks for the info on Salt Water caps and how to MC> improve my solid state coil. I will try splicing the wires MC> on my coil next weekend. By the way, what is the reason that MC> crossed wires on a Tesla coil are so bad? Best Regards, MC> Mark Each successive turn on a Tesla secondary has a higher voltage. This increase in voltage pretty much follows the VSWR (Voltage Standing Wave Ratio) rises predicted by transmission line theory. The problem with crossing wires, especially on base fed coils (such as Duane Bylunds) is that the lower turns can act as a low voltage "ground" point. Crosses between turns (especially on short fat coils with high interturn voltage increases) results in tiny breakdowns in the magnet wire insulation. These breakdowns cause excessive losses. Another way to look at it is that each overlapped turn represents an intermittant short circuit. ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Date: 05-27-94 19:49 From: Richard Quick To: Dave Mcknight Subj: TESLA TUNING ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ -=> Sez Dave Mcknight to Richard Quick <=- DM> I've been making improvements on my Tesla coil based on all DM> of the information you've been supplying, and I've got DM> questions about tuning coils. DM> 1)I created a toroid (garden tractor inner tube, fiberglass, DM> Al foil) and when I mount it on my coil I notice a reduction DM> in output, but a lot more arcing at my safety gap. Would DM> this indicate that I need to increase the capacitance/ DM> inductance in the tank circuit? OK, you really did not give me a lot to go with here, but I think I can still set you straight. By adding a much larger discharger, in this case a toroid, you have really reduced the resonate frequency of the secondary coil. Your system is probably way out of tune after the modification, as indicated by increased activity at the safety gap. To regain tune you may have to modify some more... 1) Add inductance to the primary coil. I like to run between 9-15 turns total on the primary, and I try to avoid tapping below 8 turns out. If your primary coil does not have 15 turns on it, then consider splicing on extra conductor. 2) If you are still not able to regain tune with additional primary inductance in the circuit, then you must add some additional capacitance. Always try adding inductance before capacitance. When you add capacitance; the next thing you need is a larger power supply, then better gaps, etc.. Add inductance first. DM> 2)When playing around with my first small coil, I added a DM> much larger capacitor than I originally had, and when DM> adjusting the spark gap I got a strange effect. Using a DM> copper toilet bowl float as a discharge terminal, I would DM> get a corona from the seam in the middle of the float. When DM> I adjusted the gap, the corona would move from the seam of DM> the float down to the top turn of the secondary coil. Would DM> this indicate that the resonance freq. of the tank was DM> shifted to a higher freq.? Doubtful that the tank circuit shifted up in frequency with the addition of a larger capacitor: It went down. What most likely happened was that the tank circuit had to be retuned by reducing the number of primary turns, and I'd bet you dropped to three turns or less. Too few turns means poor coupling coefficients, which means the secondary is not energized evenly over the entire length of winding. This means that the top of the coil is just being "pushed along" by the bottom turns. The 1/4 wave voltage peak can then shift to a physically lower point, frequently below the discharger. When the coil sparks from the winding and not the discharger: you are poorly coupled, have a poorly adjusted discharger height, or your discharger lacks sufficient diameter. DM> I still don't have anything to compare to even your smallest DM> system, but I can get interesting corona effects and about a DM> 4" arc, so I'm having fun. Keep at it. You know it can be done, and it really is not that hard, just keep plugging and improving a little at a time here and there until you get it. You are the first person here that I have heard of to build a homemade toroid. ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Date: 05-30-94 11:54 From: Andrew Sempere To: Blair Groves Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ BG> Forgive me for asking such an obvious question, but if the BG> Tesla Coil can generate ozone, why not use coils to BG> mass-produce ozone and transport it to the ozone layer? Forgive me for poking my nose in here, but wouldn't it take more power (hence the burning of fossil fuels that destroy the ozone layer) to run the coils than would be worth the O3 output? Anyway, the tesla coils wold have to be pretty big, and I heard that Tesla himself build a 10 story coil that was capable of lighting up bulbs 20 miles away.... It also caused all the corn fields within a 20 mile radius to spontaneously combust :) -Andrew ! Origin: AEOLUS - Andover, MA, USA - (508) 474-0328 (1:324/114) ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Date: 05-30-94 12:09 From: Andrew Sempere To: All Subj: Tesla Coils ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Does anyone have any suggestions as to where I could find plans or a book on building a small tesla coil? (Is this a stupid question?) I really don't want a monster, just a small scale coil that would make a good summer project. Thanks -Andrew ! Origin: AEOLUS - Andover, MA, USA - (508) 474-0328 (1:324/114) ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Date: 05-31-94 00:19 From: Richard Quick To: Andrew Sempere Subj: Tesla Coils ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ -=> Sez Andrew Sempere to All <=- AS> Does anyone have any suggestions as to where I could find AS> plans or a book on building a small tesla coil? Sure, give me some more details. You probably want to build a small coil with a static spark gap and neon power supply. You have several homemade and commercial capacitor options available. You need to figure out how many watts of power you want to process, and post back to me. A typical neon sign xfmr gives 200-400 watts each and may be banked up for more juice. Figure out the power you want, find or build the proper capacitor, and construct the primary circuit and secondary accordingly. A handbook may be nice, but you can design a coil without one. I am always happy to answer questions here. ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Date: 05-31-94 09:52 From: Dave Halliday To: Andrew Sempere Subj: Tesla Coils ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ AS| Does anyone have any suggestions as to where I could find AS| plans or a book on building a small tesla coil? (Is this a AS| stupid question?) I really don't want a monster, just a small AS| scale coil that would make a good summer project. Hi Andrew - I don't know of any books that give hands-on construction plans but there are several people here who are active. A friend of mine is building a "tabletop" coil - 3" diameter, 12" long You will need to collect some neon sign transformers (12-15Kv), build a spark gap, put together a capacitor and wind the primary and secondary coil. Key thing with coils - stay away from PVC pipe - especially the thick-wall stuff labeled "Schedule 40" - at the frequencies involved, these are conductive and will sap your coils energy. ! Origin: Grey Matter * Seattle, WA * (206) 528-1941 (1:343/210) ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Date: 05-30-94 17:15 From: Richard Quick To: Dave Halliday Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ RQ> Have you made a decision about the two pole pigs run in RQ> series? DH> Yeah - I found two that looked nice and then... They told DH> me that the transformers were not for sale! Figures... DH> Sheesh - we can't even electrocute ourselves any more... no DH> fun... Oh, you can still run 240 volts to your bathtub, but if you want FUN electrocutions, with foot long (or more) power arcs, it does get more difficult. DH> I will probably run with the neons I have and order one DH> later from Larry at the Transformer Bank. Yeah you are better off throwing the switch on some neons the first few times anyway. DH> I am thinking too about later this summer, renting a DH> generator and setting the coil up on the dock near my house DH> - overlooks Lake Washington. I could run a bunch of DH> aluminum sheets into the water for grounding. Would be a DH> spectacular shot! Sure would!