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Msg#: 1846 Date: 10-05-93 12:54
From: Richard Quick
To: David Tiefenbrunn
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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I get some good results, not many people can hold a candle to it.
Need to move into a warehouse with some headroom and more power.
A dedicated substation would be nice... RQ
DT> Where are you running this thing now, out of curiosity?
DT> Don't the neighbors complain about the RFI?
DT> Do you have any pictures or .GIF files of this unit in
DT> action?
I run either in the garage for low power tests, or set up outside
in the back driveway for the real high powered stuff. I have had
no RFI complaints, but have had complaints about the noise: the
spark gaps sound much like an unmuffled chainsaw run flat out,
wide open. I made peace, and am allowed to fire up until 10 P.M.
with a days notice. But no more 2-3 A.M. testing...
> I have used forced air cooling (ozone city) with good results
> up to about 5 KVA. RQ
DT> Have you tried cooling the air before it is blown into the
DT> spark gap? You could run the air (I'm assumeing that your
DT> using an air compressor) through a coil of copper tubing in
DT> your ice bath. The best part is when the air expands as it
DT> is blown into the gap, it will cool further. (basic physics
DT> of gasses type stuff)
I cool using forced air from a 220V industrial shop vac motor in
my old set of gaps, the new gaps are quenched by air blast from a
3.5 HP air compressor. The problem is the CFM of air flow
required is so large that I don't think pre-cooling is pratical.
It would require another design modification. The expanding air
alone works pretty well. The real advantage to high speed forced
air is that it not only cools, but it physically disrupts the
high voltage arc, assisting the rotary in making the break.
Your idea for a forced air cooled rotary gap was excellent. The
only problem I see is in engineering the units to specs close
enough to get excellent performance and safety. My rotors are
dynamically balanced to 5000 RPM, and break rates need to be 450
BPS or better for good operation. In designing a rotating break I
try to keep the mass as low as possible on the rim: when they
come apart they resemble an explosion, with lots of hot shrapnel
and plenty of arcs and sparks!
> The research goes into several directions...Anybody know how
> to get lightning to excite a gas laser tube? RQ
This was misunderstood by severl people. Specifically what I was
wondering about was the possibility of using the oscillator
output (which is similar to lightning) to excite a monopolar (one
wire input) gas laser tube.
DT> Do you know what the mix is in a standard NeHe laser tube?
No. I am not an expert on lasers. But I am more than willing to
learn. I am open to input from anybody with experiance.
RQ> ... And if all else fails... Put another megavolt through
RQ> it.
DT> With your equipment, it sounds like you actually could...
Absolutely, positively. Though I can't figure out how to make a
RF voltmeter that would not be utterly consumed by the output of
my machines. My guess is between 3 - 5 million volts output with
the setup we have been discussing.
As for proof. Yes, I can supply proof. I have some still photos
taken at about 3600 watts which are very impressive. But as my
work progressed I switched over to recording the experiments on
video tape so I can analysize the tests in the safety and comfort
of my living room. If anybody writes me I will happily provide
a two hour video tape in exchange for: One blank (high quality)
VHS tape, a postage pre-paid return mailer, $10.00 to pay for my
time and effort in seeing that you get a high quality, two hour,
recording of my work. Note this offer is not made on my behalf to
make any money, and I am not resposible for anybody's safety
should they decide to replicate any of the experiments I perform.
I will send a glossy print for $1.00 and a SASE.
Richard T. Quick II, 10028 Manchester Rd., Suite 253, Glendale,
Missouri, 63122, USA
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Msg#: 1971 Date:10-09-93 16:29
From: Richard Quick
To: Guy Daugherty
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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GD> I'd say if they're working that well for you, they're hardly
GD> junk. Is there, uh, any point to this stuff, or just
GD> blasting electrons across the ether?
Yes, there is a purpose. Actually more than a few.
High power particle accelerators is one. The typical linear
accelerator of the 30's and 40's were RF powered. They abandoned
the coils as they were not sufficently frequency stable, and the
output was damped as opposed to continous wave. But, a book was
published last year: NICKOLA TESLA ON HIS WORK WITH ALTERNATING
CURRENTS AND THEIR APPLICATION TO WIRELESS TELEGRAPHY, TELEPHONY,
AND TRANSMISSION OF POWER. Leland Anderson, Sun Publishing,
available through 21st Century Books, P.O. Box 2001,
Breckenridge, CO. 80424.
This work is the result of research into the files of several law
firms dating back to around 1915. Tesla was called to give
depositions for three days to prepare for patent trials against
the Marconi Company. Tesla clearly documented priority in
frequency stablized continous wave signal production and radio
signal transmission (and reception) on multiplexed circuits as
early as 1891. All of Marconi's patents pertaining to radio were
overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1942 or 1943. The key to
this is that Tesla's work in this area was extremely advanced,
and most of it has yet to be applied to high powered accelerator
work. His systems of continous wave RF current production with
very high potentials is easily adapted to small, high powered,
linear particle accelerators. The peak powers of his Colorado
Spings machine (built, tested, and documented in 1899) exceeds
all but the largest accelerators in existance today. By the way,
the Tesla system is continous, and the modern systems are pulsed.
The misunderstanding is damped vs. undamped wave production. The
machine is capable of both, though the famous photos were taken
when the machine was set up to produce damped (disruptive) waves.
I don't think anybody really understood what Tesla was doing,
certainly he never clearly explained it until I read the work
above.
In addition to this, a moderately sized machine should be capable
of doing research into power transmission through earth resonate
ground currents at frequencies under 30 khz (see document above).
Later Tesla realized the particle accelerator potential of the
machine and designed a power head for a particle beam weapon
using the magnifier circuit as the signal generator. Lasers were
not invented yet when Tesla died, but I believe a low impedance
coil system can supply enormous peak powers to gas laser tubes.
The Maser is a derivitive of this line of investgation, though
the frequencies of operation are much higher than can be supplied
from a coil system, the idea is exactly the same. Use a tuned gas
laser tube as a cavity resonator excited by the RF output of the
coil system.
Then there is ball lightning research...
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Msg#: 125 Date: 10-09-93 22:35
From: Dave Halliday
To: Richard Quick
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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>a two hour video tape in exchange for: One blank (high quality)
>VHS tape, a postage pre-paid return mailer, $10.00 to pay for my
>time and effort in seeing that you get a high quality, two hour,
>recording of my work. Note this offer is not made on my behalf to
>make any money, and I am not resposible for anybody's safety
>should they decide to replicate any of the experiments I perform.
>I will send a glossy print for $1.00 and a SASE.
RQ>Richard T. Quick II, 10028 Manchester Rd., Suite 253, Glendale,
>Missouri, 63122, USA
Two comments:
1) - What IS your monthly electrical bill
2) - The $10 is in the mail Monday
have been a wee fan of Tesla for a looong time - talking with some
people now about maybe building a BIG one out in Seattle - have done a
few small ones
b QMPro 1.51 b 10... 9... 8... 7... 6... (Bo Derek getting older).
-!- WM v3.10/92-0434
! Origin: Advanced Software Concepts-WC3.90P-15.8,301-794-6496
(1:109/546)
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Msg#: 2001 Date:10-10-93 16:33
From: Richard Quick
To: David Bearrow
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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DB> How did you go about winding your coil? What are the specs?
DB> And how much did it cost?
The first step in winding a coil is to select a coil form. The
coil form should be a low loss material (we are talking RF
losses) like polyethylene, polystyrene, or polypropylene: but the
most common material is PVC plastic drain pipe (thinnest wall is
best) which is high loss. I used a section of PVC thin wall flume
duct.
Ratios of coil height to width are important. Small coils work
best with aspect ratios (height to width) around 5:1 - 4:1,
larger coils (over 8" diam.) have aspect ratios around 3:1. Now
we are talking about the actual winding length here, so allow an
extra inch or so of coil form on each end. Determine the length
required and cut the ends square.
The form must be sanded smooth of surface imperfections, dried
thoroughly, and if PVC is used, it must be sealed. A good sealer
is polyurethane, another is two part epoxy paint. By sealing the
surface of the PVC before you wind on wire you can negate the
excessive losses in PVC plastic coil forms. If necessary the coil
form may be sanded after the sealer had dried.
The coil should be wound with good quality magnet wire. I use
double Formvar enamel coated magnet wire. Magnet wire gives you
maximum inductance. A coil should have over 900 turns, but not
too much over 1000 turns. There is a little leeway here. Select a
gauge of wire which will allow the aspect ratio and number of
turns to fall within this range.
I plug the ends of the coil form and run a dowel through a center
hole so that it will spin. I set up the wire spool on one end of
a pair of sawhorses, and the coil form on the other end. I wind
the wire on by hand, making sure the windings are tight, smooth,
and even. I use a dab of hot glue or tape to hold the first turns
in place, and make sure to leave a tail of wire at either end.
Once the coil is wound, it is sealed to prevent corona leakage
and breakdown. I use the same sealers mentioned above. Coats of
sealer are applied until there are no ridges and valleys in the
wire. In other words the coats must build up until the wire is
completely imbedded in sealer.
The wound, sealed, coil is capped at both ends with plexiglas
plates glued down with epoxy. I cut circles out of plexi sheet
that is about the same thickness as the coil form. I rough up the
surface around the edges to give the epoxy a bite. One small hole
may be drilled into the bottom end plate to allow the air
pressure to equalize, but under no circumstances should any other
holes be drilled. The wire is never allowed inside the form.
I have numerous coils, my largest coil has specs as follows:
10.5" O.D. thin wall PVC flume duct, the coil form is 34" high.
The coil is wound with #21 magnet wire, 1024 turns, actual
winding length is 32", aspect ratio 3.05:1. The coil is sealed
with eight coats of polyurethane on top of the wire and five
coats under the wire so that the wire is not in contact with the
PVC but is suspended in sealer.
Coils take time more than anything to construct. I suppose the
material cost for my 10" coil is around $60.00. Smaller coils are
cheaper of course. What can be expensive is putting together the
rest of the oscillator components. Things like HV pulse
capacitors, xfrmrs, and power controllers like variacs. Beginners
can usually start with a few old neon sign xfrmrs, make some caps
(homemade salt water caps are very cheap) or buy some used, and
fire a small coil for under $150.00 from start to finish.
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Msg#: 2098 Date: 10-12-93 18:29
From: Bud Davis
To: Richard Quick
Subj: Re: 10kva Tesla Coil
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>In a message of <Oct 09 20:51>, Richard Quick (1:100/4) writes:
> A twenty-two megawat continuious fire gas laser...
BD> I just picked up this thread a week ago, your recent postings
BD> are saved to a file...This is very interesting!
MF> 22 MW is your input, with typical gas laser efficiency you'd
MF> be lucky to squeek a (one) measly MegaWatt out. Just enough
MF> to cut through armor at a few inches per second, or mabey a
MF> foot of steel. Don't know about lunar soil. Some gasses
MF> don't scale well to high powers, CO2 would probably be
MF> the best candidate.
>I kind of thought CO2 was the way to go, but I was not sure. I
>have not had much experience with high powered gas lasers,
>though I did build a ruby rod laser in high school powered by a
>xenon flash tube. I can't find the rod anywhere now...
BD>CO2 is a good choice for high power. I'm not sure which
BD>transition level for CO2 is used for lasing but I could find
BD>out.
>I have a feeling that with a properly designed system though,
>the efficiencies could get considerably greater. My assumption
>is based on some experiments which show that RF excites gases
>much more easily than high voltage, high currents, or both.
>Telsa went on and on about the advantages of using RF when
>energizing gasses.
BD> A Soviet researcher named Kapitza developed RF devices with
BD> plasma temperatures high enough to fuse hydrogen! They used a
BD> cylindrical resonant chamber driven by a room full of tuned
BD> circuits, the high temperature was observed in a corona
BD> discharge along the axis...I guess it went on the back burner
BD> along with the tokomak.
BD> Hmm...stick a CO2 filled tube in a properly sized RF
BD> resonator... a few mirrors, heat sinks...
BD> I wish I had your original post. :-(
BD> ! Origin: Wendell Woodworking BBS(508)544-2402 (1:321/154)
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Msg#: 2097 Date:10-13-93 00:46
From: Richard Quick
To: David Bearrow
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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>> The coil should be wound with good quality magnet wire. I use
>> double Formvar enamel coated magnet wire. Magnet wire gives
>> you maximum inductance. A coil should have over 900 turns,
>> but not too much over 1000 turns. There is a little leeway
>> here. Select a gauge of wire which will allow the aspect
>> ratio and number of turns to fall within this range.
DB> Did you calculate this so that the capacitive reactance
DB> equals the inductive reactance? I understood thats what was
DB> so interesting about Tesla's coils.
No. The balancing act that you are referring to occurs in the
primary tank circuit. High voltage pulse discharging capacitance
(capacitive reactance) is made to balance off the heavy primary
coil (inductive reactance). The primary coil is made to very low
resistance; like HEAVY cable, strap, or soft copper water pipe.
The inductive reactance is "canceled" by the capacitive
reactance, and a very low resistance "tank" is formed where heavy
currents can oscillate with low loss. In order to excite the tank
circuit, high voltage feed lines are brought in to charge the
capacitors. Voltage rise in the capacitors (as they charge)
breaks down the main system spark gap, and bang, the tank fires.
Currents of hundreds of amps, with voltages in the thousands of
volts, ring through the Tesla Tank Circuit.
The energy delivered can easily reach peak powers in the megawat
range. Since the main system spark gap fires hundreds of times
per second, these high peak powers are, for most practical
purposes, continuous. This primary circuit energy is transmited
through inductive coupling to the Tesla Secondary.
The secondary coil that I described in the quoted post is NOT a
balanced coil. On the contrary, this coil is pushing the extreme
of several design limits in the quest for more efficient power
processing. The secondary coil, wound as I instructed, results in
a very high inductance coil; but it has a significant internal
capacitance and resistance due to the closeness of the windings,
the length of the wire, and the number of turns.
The high inductance makes the secondary effective. The higher the
inductance, the more energy can be absorbed from the primary tank
circuit.
Resistance and internal capacitance limit the Tesla secondary for
obvious reasons. Current, especially RF current, reacts poorly to
resistance, which gets worse in small diameter wire. Internal
Capacitance in a coil also reduces throughput, as the capacitance
in the turns of wire slow the current peak.
Designing a potent Tesla secondary balances the maximum
inductance (a positive factor) against the resistance and
internal capacitance (negitive factors). It takes into account
the need for "critical coupling" between the primary and
secondary (for good energy transfer), resistance of the wire,
internal capacitance between turns, and the breakdown voltages of
the construction. The design given is well researched and proven.
> BUT THE COIL IS UNBALANCED!!! YOU SAID SO ABOVE!!!
Yes, it is VERY unbalanced. Yes, the Tesla circuit depends on
balance for maximum efficiency. The high inductance of the
secondary is balanced by the addition of a large (even huge) top
capacitance. Donut shaped dischargers, called toroids, are used
as a large capacitive air terminal. This air terminal capacitance
"unloads" the secondary, and allows for current flow through the
high inductance coil. The secondary coil, as I instructed, will
not function well without an effective discharger; a capacitive
reactance to balance it. Without it the coil will not survive
much input energy and will self destruct. We have just pushed the
limits with modern plastics in 1/4 wave Tesla oscillators.
Back to the primary; the circuit is tuned. By changing the
location of the tank circuit "tap" connection to the primary, the
frequency of the circuit is altered. The more turns, the lower
the frequency. The secondary coil acts like an antenna. This wire
when excited by the primary, vibrates electrically, and produces
a quarter wave signal. The frequency is primarily a function of
wire length and the capacity of the discharger. The primary and
secondary are both adjusted to operate at the same frequency. So
there is a lot of balancing going on.
By the way, I make my toroids out of 4-6" ridged flexible black
polyproplyene drain pipe. I make a circle and mount some
cardboard or thin masonite in the center, then cover the thing
with aluminum plumbers tape, and foil glued with adhesive spray.
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Msg#: 2135 Date:10-14-93 10:57
From: Richard Quick
To: Bud Davis
Subj: Re: 10kva Tesla Coil
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BD> CO2 is a good choice for high power. I'm not sure which
BD> transition level for CO2 is used for lasing but I could find
BD> out.
RQ> Please check into it and let us know what turns up.
>I have a feeling that with a properly designed system though,
>the efficiencies could get considerably greater. My assumption
>is based on some experiments which show that RF excites gases
>much more easily than high voltage, high currents, or both.
>Telsa went on and on about the advantages of using RF when
>energizing gasses.
BD> A Soviet researcher named Kapitza developed RF devices with
BD> plasma temperatures high enough to fuse hydrogen! They used
BD> a cylindrical resonant chamber driven by a room full of
BD> tuned circuits, the high temperature was observed in a
BD> corona discharge along the axis...I guess it went on the
BD> back burner along with the tokomak.
I really feel that there is a lot of uncovered work in areas such
as this. The publication I refered to last week (A transcription
of a legal deposistion Tesla gave in 1916, over a period of three
days) is only a year in print. Using some of the ideas that Tesla
presented in this deposistion in work such this has not been
done.
BD> Hmm...stick a CO2 filled tube in a properly sized RF
BD> resonator... a few mirrors, heat sinks...
Yup, very close to my thoughts. Tesla states that low pressure
gas, being highly conductive to RF, can be used as the actual
resonator. So take a properly sized resonator, fill it with CO2,
a few mirrors, heat sinks...
The actual resonator can be the laser tube, and losses can really
be cut down. This is exactally how a MASER works, but needs to be
scaled up for low frequency work. I have been wondering about the
addition of a short coil to the resonate chamber to bring the
frequency down, thereby keeping the size of the resonate chamber
under control.
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Msg#: 2138 Date:10-14-93 16:53
From: Richard Quick
To: Bud Davis
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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P.S.
I would also be very interested in the source material for the
information you relayed on the Russian RF work. Experiments of
this nature (using RF inputs to excite tuned resonators) is
exactly along the line that my future work will be heading.
I don't know how much of this thread you were able to pick up in
a week (I have seen a lot of posts indicating new boards getting
this echo in the past week) but I am currently running and
improving very high powered equipment. Experiments of this nature
are not at all beyond my means. I have all of the power
controller circuits, the capacitors, and the HV xfrmrs. I am
developing a new liquid cooled, air blast gap to run in series
with my rotary, and I have plenty of coils, both primaries and
secondaries.
I have constructed and fired small Tesla Magnifiers in the 2.5
KVA power range, and feel (like Tesla did) that the magnifier
circuit is a clear and away breakthrough in RF power processing
efficiency. A properly designed and constructed Tesla Magnifier
system easily achieves 70% efficiency, and can be brought up to
over 90% efficient in larger systems. They will produce and
process damped and undamped (continuous wave) signals depending
on the setup and power supply. The currents and voltages this
circuit will handle are nothing short of mind boggling.
The Magnifier is designed specifically to drive a 1/4 wave
resonator, whether it be helical (coil), coaxial, or cavity,
makes no difference. I doubt that the Russian was using a large
magnifier to drive the resonator in the experiment you mentioned.
James & Kenneth Corum (PhDs) did not publish the mathematical
treatise of the Tesla Magnifier until just a few years ago, and
until the treatise was published, nobody was able to get the free
resonator to function properly as part of the lumped, tuned
circuit. These problems have been worked on and resolved by very
few people since. I can count myself as one of the half dozen or
so who have publicly documented success.
My best guess is that the Russian was using a large tube powered
RF signal generator to drive a coaxial resonator. I think that if
the experiment were redesigned, it could be done much cheaper, at
much higher powers and efficiencies, with a Tesla Magnifier
driver circuit. Tesla went on and on about this stuff too, nobody
listened then, and few listen today; hell, people ask me all the
time why I chase such "impracticalities". They don't understand
that Tesla was so far ahead of his time that we still haven't
caught up! My guess is that we stand today where Tesla stood in
1898, as far as RF power processing efficiencies are concerned.
But photos or data from the Russian experiment would be
invaluable for any work in this direction. What did he use for a
transmission line? How did he introduce the signal into the
resonator? From having done a little work with helical resonators
to produce large voltages at very high currents, I realize
technique is half the battle. Any additional information on this
work would be appreciated.
As for what you missed, well it can't be as much as what is most
likely still to come. Stay tuned!!! And feel free to ask about
anything you don't understand.
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Msg#: 1981 Date: 10-16-93 18:39
From: Richard Quick
To: Ron Beam
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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>On Oct 10 16:33 93, Richard Quick of 1:100/4 wrote:
>Coils take time more than anything to construct. I suppose
>the material cost for my 10" coil is around $60.00. Smaller
>coils are cheaper of course. What can be expensive is
>putting together the rest of the oscillator components.
>Things like HV pulse capacitors, xfrmrs, and power
>controllers like variacs. Beginners can usually start with a
>few old neon sign xfrmrs, make some caps (homemade salt
>water caps are very cheap) or buy some used, and fire a
>small coil for under $150.00 from start to finish. RQ
>Richard, do you know what frequency (if not 60Hz) and voltage
>should be used for a coil such as you mentioned?
Frequency and voltage entirely depend on the aims of the
designer/builder. Since none of these systems are purchased
(nearly every component handcrafted) they can be built to nearly
any specification desired (within reason). Frequency, input &
ouput voltages, current, and impedance are just some of the
variables. The idea with a Tesla coil system is to covert 60
cycle line current into RF with very high efficiencies. My 10"
secondary coil has a natural 1/4 wave resonate frequency of 132.5
KHZ. I use a power distribution transformer run backwards (put
240 in and get HV out) to step up my line voltage to ~20,000
volts. This input RMS voltage is converted into RF (say 132.5
KHZ) by the Tesla Tank Circuit. The high frequency conversion is
achieved as a property of capacitve discharge through a coil
(tuned oscillating circuit). The main system spark gap acts as a
high voltage switch which allows the capacitor to charge over a
period of time, then discharge nearly instantaneously. Because of
the pulse discharge, the RF generated in the tank circuit has
much greater peak power than the HV feed line from the step up
transformer. The grounded secondary coil receives the EMF from
the primary and converts the energy back into electricity (air
core RF transformer). Since the secondary coil has a much greater
number of windings the voltage is stepped up considerably.
> What does the coil do (or look like) when you turn it on?
A 1/4 wave Tesla coil generates very long RF sparks that resemble
natural lighting in many aspects. These sparks do not need to
strike a grounded object but can terminate in air.
>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 experiance
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.
Two years ago a man (I don't have his name handy) was issued a
patent for a thermo-couple using a Telsa discharge.
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.
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Msg#: 1983 Date:10-16-93 21:30
From: Richard Quick
To: All
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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This thread seems to be getting a lot of attention and responses.
I will try to give some basics here, and answer a few questions.
The modern 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 (break)
and the primary coil. In my previous post 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".
There are many ways to place the gap and capacitance in the tank
circuit. I like the "balanced" circuit Tesla developed in
Colorado Springs for his monster machine. In the balanced circuit
the capacitance is divided into two equal parts and placed on the
ends of the primary coil. The gap is placed across the HV feed
line feeding the caps.
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 these two
commercial "caps". In the balanced circuit the capacitance is run
in series with the primary, so the actual operating capacitance
is only .05 mfd..
I connect one cap to the inside turn terminal of the primary.
The second cap is connected to a movable "tap" lead which can
clip to any location on the heavy primary coil. By moving the tap
lead, the primary coil inductance is varied, and the tank circuit
frequency can be changed.
With one capacitor terminal connected to each end of the primary,
I still have two free capacitor terminals. Across these terminals
I place the gap, and the HV feed lines.
When HV 60 cycle current is fed to the capacitors they charge. As
the voltage rises, tension builds in the air gap. When the
tension is sufficient, the gap breaks down and the capacitors are
discharged rapidly. This 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" from capacitor plate, through the coil, to the
second capacitor plate; and back again.
The frequency of the "ring" (oscillation) depends on the size of
the cap, and the inductance (# of turns) in the coil. Since my
capacitance is fixed, the coil size (inductance) is varied by
moving the tap to a different location. In this fashion the spark
gap oscillator is tuned. The parameters of this particular system
allows frequencies from ~200 - 57 KHZ.
Now the secondary coil (specs in previous post) has a natural
frequency of 132.5 KHZ. I load the secondary coil with top
capacitance, most commonly a toroid shaped conductive terminal.
This lowers the natural frequency of the sec. coil. My best
results were obtained using a 40" diam. X 4" thick toroid
discharger, lowering the frequency of the coil from 132.5 kHz to
79 kHz.
The secondary coil with discharger is placed upright in the
center of the primary coil. The secondary coil base wire is
ground to a heavy, dedicated, RF ground. The air terminal is of
course the other connection.
By tuning the frequency of the primary tank circuit to match the
frequency of the secondary coil, energy is transferred from
primary coil to secondary coil thorough mutual induction. This is
much like a common transformer, but at these frequencies an iron
core is wasteful.
... If all else fails... Put another megavolt through it.
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Msg#: 1984 Date:10-16-93 21:54
From: Richard Quick
To: All
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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10KVA Tesla Coil cont.
In essence the primary coil is an inductive RF transmitter, and
the grounded secondary coil is an inductive RF receiver.
The secondary coil receives the energy from the primary and
become electrically excited. The coil develops a 1/4 standing
wave of the system frequency, hence "1/4 wave" Tesla coil, or
"1/4 wave helical resonator" are descriptive terms. What that
means is that the potential at the base of the coil (ground) is
"zero". The voltage rises up the coil until you reach maximum
potential at the top. This is essential to producing good spark.
If you look at a sine wave of one complete oscillation you will
see half of the wave above the "X" axis, and half of the wave
below the "X" axis. The point where the sine wave crosses the "X"
axis is ground potential or "zero" voltage.
On the "Y" axis you will find the peaks of the sine wave located
at the 1/4 points of the wave length. These "Y" axis peaks are
the locations of the maximum voltage. The "X" axis crossings
("zero" volts) are the locations of maximum current in the wave.
So to come back to lay terms, the base of the excited Tesla
secondary is at ground potential, but there is a lot of RF
current flow. For the coil to operate, this current must be
removed, hence a heavy RF ground is required.
The top of the coil is the high voltage end, where the 1/4 wave
voltage peak is located. Since the voltage is RF, and the
discharge terminal is air insulated, the voltage simply breaks
down the air. Large sparks and streamers and corona leave the
discharger in a display unequalled by anything else in my
experience.
The high voltage can be trapped in the system by adding
discharger capacitance until the spark will not break out. Energy
is constantly fed into the coil from the primary, and the only
escape is through radiation or the ground wire. Radiation alone
simply cannot remove the energy in the coil, so massive currents
are forced into the ground. This forms the basis of Tesla's
system for wireless power transmission.
Experiments confirming his ideas can be performed with small
coils. I took a single 6" Tesla secondary, no primary or tank
circuit, just a coil and a discharger; and walked over a quarter
mile, to a nearby creek. I grounded the coil by placing 10' of
aluminum flashing in the creek water. Back in my basement, an
assistant fired a Tesla coil that operated at the same frequency
as my "free" coil in the creek. The system being fired was loaded
with discharger, so spark could not break out.
Down in the creek I was able to light bulbs from the top of the
grounded coil, despite the 1/4 mile distance (and don't forget a
creek bank and a rebar wall) between my location and the power
supply. This coil was not receiving radiated signal, it was
resonating on base fed ground current.
Coils can be forced to operate at frequencies other than the
natural 1/4 wave by top loading "extra" coils or other resonators
on the end of the system. Tesla used this more complex "Magnifier
Coil" circuit in the Colorado Springs machine. In the Magnifier,
the secondary coil is forced to resonate at 1/8th, 1/16th,
1/32nd, or any other harmonic of the system frequency. A
transmission line is used to take CURRENT from the secondary to a
RESONATOR located away from the primary/secondary driver system.
The resonator may be helical (coil), coaxial, or cavity. In this
way the Tesla system may be used as an efficient driver for
experiments in other areas of physics. I have wondered about the
possible use of a tuned cavity resonate laser tube, or linear
particle accelerator. Another guy told me about a Russian using
coaxial resonators for fusion.
Tesla built a system for the worldwide transmission of electrical
power by top loading the "extra" coil (a base fed 1/4 wave
helical resonator) so spark would not break out. This forced the
tremendous energy to ground. He tuned the system so that the
ground current was also earth resonate. This was a double ended
resonator system of very high efficiency. The earth acted as a
cavity resonator on the base (for the ground current) the extra
coil was a helical resonator a with radiating discharger in the
air. He stated the system was to be used as a multiplexed
wireless transmitter from both the ground and air terminals (he
had tuning and harmonic coils in the ground path).
... If all else fails... Put another megavolt through it.
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Msg#: 2110 Date:10-20-93 00:18
From: Richard Quick
To: All
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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OK, back on topic.
I just dug up a catalog for some more source material. This one
is the Tesla Book Company, P.O. Box 121873, Chula Vista, CA.
91912. They have a 1-800-398-2056 information, catalog, and
ordering service. They carry a book "VACUUM TUBE TESLA COILS",
and I believe that this is the same book that I am going to be
referring to. The Book I am looking at, VACUUM TUBE TESLA COILS,
is written by James & Kenneth Corum. You may also contact Corum &
Associates, Inc. at 8551 State Route 534, Windsor, OH. 44099. I
have met the Corums, they are for real.
I see some other publications worthy of note in this catalog:
TESLA COIL DESIGNER is a computer program written by my friend
Walt Noon, I use this program to determine ball park frequencies
and inductances in mathematical simulation before I wind any
coil. This software is menu driven and Walt has been very helpful
in working out the bugs and adding features with me. It works and
saves hours of designing time.
I see an entry here for Dr. Nickola Tesla's Diary 1899-1900. This
was the time Tesla spent in Colorado Springs working on his
monster oscillator, but this does not sound like the preferred
reference, THE COLORADO SPRINGS NOTES which includes most of the
printable photographs of the lab and the machine. However, the
original prints of this work (as I look at my copy) are from
NOLIT, in Belgrad, Yugoslavia, and are now expensive. 21st
Century Books has copies, P.O.Box 2001, 100 South Ridge St. #101,
Breckenridge, CO. 80424-2001, tel. 303-453-9293, but they want
$100.00 where I paid $45.00 a few years back. I will have to take
better care of mine...
Both of these companies sell "new age science", "zero point
energy" and "scalar wave" material; which in my opinion is
garbage and not worth the paper the printing is on.
Now the Corum book which I will talk about briefly, is a piece of
hard core electronics engineer stuff, but it is worth trying to
muck through for those who don't believe coil driven RF equipment
can have "practical" uses in physics and electronics. It contains
most of the important facts on "A Technical Analysis of the Extra
Coil as a Slow Wave Helical Resonator". This refers of course to
the function of the "extra" coil in Tesla's Colorado Springs
machine. But the book is much more. Tesla driven X-Ray machines,
tapped coaxial helical resonators, particle accelerators, cavity
resonators, etc.
The book has charts and diagrams even the most novice electronics
buff would understand sandwiched between pages of calculus needed
to design and construct the equipment. One page (XI-10) shows the
development of conducting electrical resonators from Lord Kelvin
through Tesla, to Schumann's verification of the earth as an
electrical cavity resonator in 1952.
Books of this quality are rare, and make excellent reading for
anybody interested in high energy electronics. It has an
excellent bibliography.
In searching for material to lead to coil powered high energy
devices I can say that this points to the right directions.
"The coaxial geometries do have the advantage of compactness and
portability. And, this may be of significance to those interested
in directed energy devices."
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Msg#: 2109 Date:10-20-93 21:35
From: Richard Quick
To: All
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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A couple of weeks ago someone posted me some "new to me"
information about Russian RF resonator work that resulted in a
machine capable of fusion. I asked for some additional
information on this subject, and as of yet I have not heard back.
However, I have done some delving of my own and came up with some
very interesting information about this guy (P.L. Kapitza). I
stumbled across the name doing some related research (yes this
thread is based in fact, and Tesla's work has practical apps)...
His name is Peter L. Kapitza, and he shared in a Nobel Prize
in 1978 with Americans Arno Penzias and Robert W. Wilson for his
work in magnetism and the behavior of matter at extremely low
temperatures. His work on RF resonators was apparently done much
earlier, as I find a reference to "High Powered Electronics" in a
Russian periodical, Uspekhi Fizicheskikl Nauk, Vol 78 (November
2, 1962, pp. 181-265). In the same bibliography I find another
"more unusual" reference by physicist Jerzy R. Konieczny "New
Weapon 'X'" in a Polish periodical, Wojskowy Przeglad Lotniczy,
(November 2, 1963, pp. 72-75) apparently referring to a particle
beam device...
A little more research back to Kapitza, turned up Tesla's name in
a quote!!! (See Margaret Cheney, TESLA, MAN OUT OF TIME, pp.284,
Dorset Press, 1981, available from Barnes & Noble, 126 Fifth Ave,
New York, NY 10011, tel 201-767-7079)
The quote is too long to reproduced here (it refers to high
powered particle beams), but it clearly shows Kapitza was very
much aware of Tesla's work in this country. Tesla was, by the
way, the first to investigate "magnetism and the behavior of
matter at extremely low temperatures" in the search of super-
conductivity for his coils. Kapitza credits him.
Tesla lost a laboratory in New York, to fire, at 2:30 A.M., March
13, 1895. The fire is believed to have been caused as a result of
liquid air leaking from his equipment. Tesla stated to the fire
officials at the time that the air liquidation equipment was the
only thing left running in his absence. He used the liquid air to
cool his coils for experiments in high efficiency magnetism...
Now I'm not saying this means anything... but I keep finding
these references dancing around the subject of particle beam
weapons, fusion, high energy lasers, and power transmission
without wires. These are modern references mind you, not Tesla's;
but the deeper I dig, the more I find Tesla's name.
I am also finding out more information on involvement of
"National Security" interests in these references. I mentioned
about James & Kenneth Corum having a paper taken from them after
a presentation by the FBI. In Cheney's book (pp. 310) we find
this... "the U.S. government has deemed the material important to
national security and has been at great pains to conceal it's
existence." She is referring to all of Tesla's advanced (and of
course unpublished) research and papers taken into U.S. custody
at the time of his death.
Now I am sick to death of hearing about Tesla conspiracy, ad
nauseam. But I ask this based on fact (check em yourself). If the
work Tesla did in these areas does not yield workable devices,
then why would there be a "national security" interest? Tesla
laid the ground work for people like Kapitza, Konieczny, and our
own SDI projects.
Again, I will state that it is not illegal to build coils or
other resonators, lasers, particle accelerators, masers, rail
guns, etc. Though I sometimes feel that the government wants
everything but taxes made illegal.
I am still not able to locate any information in english on
Kapitza's RF resonator fusion machine. So whoever sent me the
post, please keep digging.
Now back to the topic...
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Msg#: 2133 Date: 10-21-93 17:41
From: Richard Quick
To: All
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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The Tesla Magnifier
What exactly is the Tesla Magnifier, and how does it differ from
the standard 1/4 wave Tesla Coil? This question has been asked
over and over in the past 93 years. I think I can give some
insight into this for a better understanding of the system. A lot
of the information I will present here (to the best of my knowl-
edge, feel free to prove me wrong) appears in text form for the
first time.
I have explained in some detail the set up and basic operation of
my 10KVA 1/4 wave system. To get a mental picture of how the
coils are physically positioned for firing in this 1/4 wave
system, imagine a 12" phonograph record, with a Quaker Oats
canister sitting upright on the center. The phonograph record
represents the wide flat primary coil, and the oats canister
represents the 1/4 wave secondary coil. The secondary coil would
be topped with a toroid shaped discharger.
These coils are "loosely coupled", "coupling" in coil systems
refers to the mutual inductance between primary and secondary.
The coupling is kept loose because these coils are capable of
such high energy transfers that the secondary is overdriven or
"split" if placed in too close proximity to the primary.
Splitting of the secondary is seen in coils that are over driven
or "over coupled". The excess energy absorbed in the secondary
coil causes a frequency split with the result that harmonic 1/4
wave voltage peaks appear in the secondary coil windings. These
harmonic peaks show up as sparks that break out from the
sides of the coil. If the coupling is not loosened, or input
powers reduced, the coil will be destroyed in short order.
This is a serious limiting factor in 1/4 wave Tesla systems.
"Critical" or perfect coupling limits the amount of energy that
can be processed through the system. Large toroid dischargers
assist in unloading the secondary, and allow for closer coupling,
but this is like treating the symptom, not effecting a cure.
The problem with the 1/4 wave coil system is that all of the
energy processed in the system remains trapped in the secondary
until it is removed by spark. As spark lengths and input powers
grow, so do coupling problems. Strain is also put on the tank
circuit. Energy can flow in both directions in the 1/4 wave
system, and secondary energies can unload not only in spark from
the discharge terminal, but can also flow back into the primary
tank circuit. This results in nightmarish problems "quenching"
the arc at the main system spark gaps. In theory no more than 50%
of the input energy can be converted into discharge off the
secondary air terminal, as both primary and secondary energies
equalize before a break can be effected at the main system spark
gap. Once the break (open, non-firing spark gap) is made, the
secondary energy is trapped, and must be radiated or discharged.
Tesla realized that critical coupling limited the efficiency of
the system, and came up with a unique solution. He added an
"extra" coil to the secondary. The extra coil is a normal 1/4
wave helical resonator, or Tesla secondary. The coil was placed
away from any inductive effects of the primary/secondary "driver"
coils, and was bottom fed by transmission line with the output of
the driver secondary. Tesla was able to determine certain
"harmonic" shifts in the system, but nobody else was able to
figure out what was happening for years and years.
What is happening is this. In order for the "extra" coil to
function properly it must be fed RF current that matches it's
natural 1/4 wave frequency. In order to provide a working system,
the output of the secondary driver coil in his three coil Mag-
nifier must be shifted away from it's normal 1/4 wave output.
The normal 1/4 wave output (high voltage peak) of the Tesla
secondary must be shifted to a lower harmonic in order for the
extra coil to receive current. If you base fed an extra coil with
1/4 wave voltage peaks, all you would get would be sparks from
the transmission line, and a fire at the base of an extra coil
(I've done it). Experiments, and review of Tesla work show that
the 1/8 wave harmonic is preferred. The extra coil will cause
some shifting of the driver coil output, but the system operates
best when THE DRIVER COIL IS WOUND WITH THE PROPER LENGTH OF WIRE
TO FACILITATE 1/8th WAVE OUTPUT.
This boosts efficiency in several ways. First, the energy in
1/8th wave output is about 20% greater than the energy of a 1/4
wave peak. The 1/8th wave location on the sine represents 70%
of the wave energy, as opposed to 50% of the energy at the 1/4
wave point; the 1/8 wave point being the product of both current
and voltage at this location on the sine. While this may seem a
little technical to the novice, a 20% gain is realized by
shifting the output to the lower, 1/8th wave harmonic.
The second increase in efficiency is due to the fact that the
secondary, or driver coil, is no longer responsible for the end
processing of the system energy. The majority of the resonate
rise, or VSWR, occurs in the uncoupled resonator located some
distance away, and fed by transmission line. The secondary is no
longer stressed by a high voltage point at the top of the coil,
and the current produced in the secondary is removed rapidly by
the transmission line to the end resonator (extra coil).
The third boost to efficiency is the ability to tighten the
coupling between the primary and secondary driver set. The coils
can be placed with much greater mutual inductance (tighter
coupling). Energy can then be forced into the driver in much
larger amounts without the problems of splitting and breakdown.
The coils can be arranged more like two nested buckets, with one
inside the other, as opposed to a phonograph record with an oats
canister on top.
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Msg#: 142 Date: 10-24-93 20:25
From: David Tiefenbrunn
To: Richard Quick
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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On 10-20-93 Richard Quick wrote to David Tiefenbrunn...
RQ> RQ> The following instructions are for a pulse discharging
RQ> RQ> capacitor with a .02 uf at 35 kvdc rating.
Thanks for the rest of the info.
I was talking to another engineer that I know,
and I mentioned your Tesla coil. He has a 150W
T-coil. We got to talking about spark gaps.
It seems there used to be a rather large industry
for them, back before vacuume tubes (and even larger
than 10KW). One type was basically a stack of convex
metal disks, with heatsink fins on the outside. The
disks were spaced rather close together (maybe .05"?)
but there were MANY in the stack. This spreads the heat
around. Maybe something like that with compressed air
cooling is a solution. I can try to get more info
if you want. He was also aware of *room* sized
spark gaps in use back then.
Dave
___
* OFFLINE 1.54 * I love the smell of ozone in the morning.
-!- Maximus 2.01wb
! Origin: Abbey Road BBS Higganum, Ct. USA (1:320/5967)
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Msg#: 139 Date: 10-26-93 11:57
From: Richard Quick
To: Dave Halliday
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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>a two hour video tape in exchange for: One blank (high
>quality) VHS tape, a postage pre-paid return mailer, $10.00 to
>pay for my time and effort in seeing that you get a high
>quality, two hour, recording of my work. Note this offer is
>not made on my behalf to make any money, and I am not
>resposible for anybody's safety should they decide to
>replicate any of the experiments I perform. I will send a
>glossy print for $1.00 and a SASE.
RQ>Richard T. Quick II, 10028 Manchester Rd., Suite 253,
>Glendale, Missouri, 63122, USA
DH> Two comments:
DH> 1) - What IS your monthly electrical bill
I'd rather not go into electric bills, let's just say it's going
to get worse...
DH> 2) - The $10 is in the mail Monday
I will be sure you get lots of Arcs & Sparks for your hard earned
money. I will get the tape out the following mail day. It would
help to know if you are more interested in seeing spark or
techinque.
DH> have been a wee fan of Tesla for a looong time - talking
DH> with some people now about maybe building a BIG one out in
DH> Seattle - have done a few small ones.
Big coils are a challenge. But I really think (and experiments
prove) that the Magnifier System is more efficient as you scale
up. Large 1/4 wave Tesla coils are not nearly as efficient.
Send me a post and let me know what you think of the video.
... If all else fails... Put another megavolt through it.
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12
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Msg#: 172 Date: 10-27-93 13:29
From: Richard Quick
To: David Tiefenbrunn
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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DT> Thanks for the rest of the info.
No problem, I hope you find it useful, I sure have. You don't see
plans for components like that everywhere.
DT> I was talking to another engineer that I know,
DT> and I mentioned your Tesla coil. He has a 150W
DT> T-coil. We got to talking about spark gaps.
DT> It seems there used to be a rather large industry
DT> for them, back before vacuum tubes (and even larger
DT> than 10KW). One type was basically a stack of convex
DT> metal disks, with heatsink fins on the outside. The
DT> disks were spaced rather close together (maybe .05"?)
DT> but there were MANY in the stack. This spreads the heat
DT> around. Maybe something like that with compressed air
DT> cooling is a solution. I can try to get more info
DT> if you want. He was also aware of *room* sized
DT> spark gaps in use back then.
I am always interested in more information. I live for the stuff.
As to the gaps you are describing, they are called "quench" gaps.
The metal discs are separated by gaskets of mica. The mica gasket
determines the gap distance between plates. The gasket prevents
air exchange, so as the gap breaks in, the O2 is consumed and
they run with in a nitrogen atmosphere.
These plates were machined to very close tolerances, and the
actual electrode surface was kept fairly small. The large plate
was used for a heat sink. The best gaps of this type were German
made by Telefunken.
The advantage of the quench gap is they produce a continuous wave
(undamped) oscillation in the tank circuit. They were employed in
the first long range Tesla transmitters. Most of the major ship
lines (with the exception of White Star I believe) used Tesla
transmitters with Telefunken quench gaps. Telefunken had
contracts with the shipping lines for gap service, and after so
many hours of operation the gap would be removed by a certified
Telefunken technician, cleaned and serviced. Per contract nobody
else was allowed to break the seals. Telefunken had facilities in
every major port.
Tesla used disruptive breaks in his demonstrations, but clearly
documented that continuous waves from quenched or CW gap systems
were used for transmission of electricty (both for power
transmission and radio). Now this is where is starts to get
interesting. 1/4 wave Tesla systems produce much less spark with
a quench gap, but they will light low pressure gas bulbs many
yards away, so they definately radiate much better. But the Tesla
Magnifier with a quench gap produces excellent spark, AND
radiates over long distances, especially if sparks are prevented
by loading it up with discharger.
The problem with high powered systems running quench gaps is as
you say, the gaps get huge, and you would almost need a cooling
tower to remove the heat. This heat represents high loss from the
tank circuit. Tesla solved this problem too, but the solution is
not well known. He began running multiple phases directly into
his oscillators, up to 6 phases in the experimental Colorado
Springs, and 4 phases in the commercial Wardenclyff plant on Long
Island. By using a quench gap system in series with a rotary
break running at very high speeds (40,000 BPS and possibly even
higher) he was able to obtain CW output from a disruptive (read
rotary) gap system. This way he was able to reduce loss, keep the
size under control, and still get CW output; at the same time he
was able to really increase the power processed by the system.
This is the type of system required for more advanced work with
coil powered directed energy devices.
... And if all else fails... Put another megavolt through it
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12
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Msg#: 200 Date: 10-30-93 09:52
From: Richard Quick
To: All
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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RQ>THIS POST MAY BE A REPEAT. MY SYSOP INFORMED MY 10/29/93 THAT
RQ>HE TURNED OFF ALL CONFERENCES FOR OUTGOING MAIL 10 DAYS AGO BY
RQ>MISTAKE. WHAT A MESS!
The Tesla Magnifier
What exactly is the Tesla Magnifier, and how does it differ from
the standard 1/4 wave Tesla Coil? This question has been asked
over and over in the past 93 years. I think I can give some
insight into this for a better understanding of the system. A lot
of the information I will present here (to the best of my knowl-
edge, feel free to prove me wrong) appears in text form for the
first time.
I have explained in some detail the set up and basic operation of
my 10KVA 1/4 wave system. To get a mental picture of how the
coils are physically positioned for firing in this 1/4 wave
system, imagine a 12" phonograph record, with a Quaker Oats
canister sitting upright on the center. The phonograph record
represents the wide flat primary coil, and the oats canister
represents the 1/4 wave secondary coil. The secondary coil would
be topped with a toroid shaped discharger.
These coils are "loosely coupled", "coupling" in coil systems
refers to the mutual inductance between primary and secondary.
The coupling is kept loose because these coils are capable of
such high energy transfers that the secondary is overdriven or
"split" if placed in too close proximity to the primary.
Splitting of the secondary is seen in coils that are over driven
or "over coupled". The excess energy absorbed in the secondary
coil causes a frequency split with the result that harmonic 1/4
wave voltage peaks appear in the secondary coil windings. These
harmonic peaks show up as sparks that break out from the
sides of the coil. If the coupling is not loosened, or input
powers reduced, the coil will be destroyed in short order.
This is a serious limiting factor in 1/4 wave Tesla systems.
"Critical" or perfect coupling limits the amount of energy that
can be processed through the system. Large toroid dischargers
assist in unloading the secondary, and allow for closer coupling,
but this is like treating the symptom, not effecting a cure.
The problem with the 1/4 wave coil system is that all of the
energy processed in the system remains trapped in the secondary
until it is removed by spark. As spark lengths and input powers
grow, so do coupling problems. Strain is also put on the tank
circuit. Energy can flow in both directions in the 1/4 wave
system, and secondary energies can unload not only in spark from
the discharge terminal, but can also flow back into the primary
tank circuit. This results in nightmarish problems "quenching"
the arc at the main system spark gaps. In theory no more than 50%
of the input energy can be converted into discharge off the
secondary air terminal, as both primary and secondary energies
equalize before a break can be effected at the main system spark
gap. Once the break (open, non-firing spark gap) is made, the
secondary energy is trapped, and must be radiated or discharged.
Tesla realized that critical coupling limited the efficiency of
the system, and came up with a unique solution. He added an
"extra" coil to the secondary. The extra coil is a normal 1/4
wave helical resonator, or Tesla secondary. The coil was placed
away from any inductive effects of the primary/secondary "driver"
coils, and was bottom fed by transmission line with the output of
the driver secondary. Tesla was able to determine certain
"harmonic" shifts in the system, but nobody else was able to
figure out what was happening for years and years.
What is happening is this. In order for the "extra" coil to
function properly it must be fed RF current that matches it's
natural 1/4 wave frequency. In order to provide a working system,
the output of the secondary driver coil in his three coil Mag-
nifier must be shifted away from it's normal 1/4 wave output.
The normal 1/4 wave output (high voltage peak) of the Tesla
secondary must be shifted to a lower harmonic in order for the
extra coil to receive current. If you base fed an extra coil with
1/4 wave voltage peaks, all you would get would be sparks from
the transmission line, and a fire at the base of an extra coil
(I've done it). Experiments, and review of Tesla work show that
the 1/8 wave harmonic is preferred. The extra coil will cause
some shifting of the driver coil output, but the system operates
best when THE DRIVER COIL IS WOUND WITH THE PROPER LENGTH OF WIRE
TO FACILITATE 1/8th WAVE OUTPUT.
This boosts efficiency in several ways. First, the energy in
1/8th wave output is about 20% greater than the energy of a 1/4
wave peak. The 1/8th wave location on the sine represents 70%
of the wave energy, as opposed to 50% of the energy at the 1/4
wave point; the 1/8 wave point being the product of both current
and voltage at this location on the sine. While this may seem a
little technical to the novice, a 20% gain is realized by
shifting the output to the lower, 1/8th wave harmonic.
The second increase in efficiency is due to the fact that the
secondary, or driver coil, is no longer responsible for the end
processing of the system energy. The majority of the resonate
rise, or VSWR, occurs in the uncoupled resonator located some
distance away, and fed by transmission line. The secondary is no
longer stressed by a high voltage point at the top of the coil,
and the current produced in the secondary is removed rapidly by
the transmission line to the end resonator (extra coil).
The third boost to efficiency is the ability to tighten the
coupling between the primary and secondary driver set. The coils
can be placed with much greater mutual inductance (tighter
coupling). Energy can then be forced into the driver in much
larger amounts without the problems of splitting and breakdown.
The coils can be arranged more like two nested buckets, with one
inside the other, as opposed to a phonograph record with an oats
canister on top.
... If all else fails... Put another megavolt through it.
SLUG-BBS_The Most Unreliable Feed in St. Louis!
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12
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Msg#: 201 Date: 10-30-93 09:55
From: Richard Quick
To: Guy Daughterty
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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RQ>THIS POST MAY BE A REPEAT. MY SYSOP INFORMED ME 10/29/93 THAT
RQ>HE TURNED OFF ALL CONFERENCES FOR OUTGOING MAIL 10 DAYS AGO BY
RQ>MISTAKE. WHAT A MESS!
GD> Well, yeah, Richard. We all think you're wacky, and keep
GD> looking toward your direction on the planet waiting to see
GD> the kaboom.
GD> So, once the atmosphere DOES light, how do we turn it off
GD> again? -!-
On your last question: Turn off the switch. I use multiple
interlocks in case one or two fuse closed. Had it happen on the
arc welder current limiter once. When I opened the cabinet to
repair the switch, I noticed the variable shunt was also stuck
and there were signs of arcing. But it is an arc welder...
First remark: Keep looking. Probably won't be a kaboom though,
more like a bazzzap. Obviously even you see the potential.
But if everybody thinks I'm wacky, should I stop posting? I don't
want to waste people's time. I just thought you all were
interested.
... If all else fails... Put another megavolt through it.
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12
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Msg#: 203 Date: 10-30-93 10:02
From: Richard Quick
To: Guy Daugherty
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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RQ>THIS POST MAY BE A REPEAT. MY SYSOP INFORMED ME 10/29/93
RQ>THAT HE TURNED OFF ALL OUTGOING MAIL FROM OUR BOARD TO THE NET
RQ>ABOUT 10 DAYS AGO BY MISTAKE. WHAT A MESS!
GD> Well I have a Jacob's ladder on an old theatre marquis neon
GD> transformer. Really makes the kitty stop and pay attention.
GD> Worries people who see it, too. My inner Beavis loves it.
Yeah, I have some videos of the pole pig settin on the garage
floor with 3/8" copper pipe rails. Pulls arcs clear to the
rafters. Running the tape in slo-mo shows plasmoids forming at
power levels over 5KVA.
I have also messed with doping the rails with salts which modify
the colors. You can get some pretty good Halloween effects with a
couple of old neons and some strontium or lithium salts.
By the way Guy, what grade are you in?
... And if all else fails... Put another megavolt INTO SYSOP!
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12
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Msg#: 210 Date: 10-30-93 16:13
From: Richard Quick
To: Dave Halliday
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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Dave,
I got your package in the mail today, and your tape went back
out. It is after the pickup time on Saturday, but you should have
the tape by midweek.
Let me know when you get it, and what you think. I am sorry I had
to cut a lot of material out, but two hours just doesn't seem to
be enough time to give you the tour, show you some techniques,
and show all of the systems. I cut back on a lot of smaller test
and prototype stuff to let you focus on the big coil.
If your interested in anything else, just let me know.
... And if all else fails... Put another megavolt through it
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12
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Msg#: 419 Date: 11-01-93 10:21
From: Guy Daugherty
To: Richard Quick
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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RQ>But if everybody thinks I'm wacky, should I stop posting? I don't
RQ>want to waste people's time. I just thought you all were
RQ>interested.
I'd guess that the ones of us who are doing similar research are
completely engrossed with your findings and research- I think it's
interesting, though I fail to see the utility of what the devil it
is you're up to, as opposed to my productive reduction of lifespan,
i.e., posting smartass remarks in a few conferences and running up
the phone bill for dozens of sysops across the globe. I'm curious
what your end goal is, if you believe that even if you can prove
Tesla's principles and concepts to have the validity his proponents
trumpet, how could your break into the lockup current utility
companies have over the conversion and distribution of electrical
energy.
I have similar feelings about the use of dinosaur ooze for
internal-combustion engine fuel --hydrogen would solve the
pollution, supply limitation and toxicity problems-- but I have no
fantasy of it coming to pass in my lifetime.
I say keep posting. We're interested. Plus, it narrows down
the amount of territory we'll have to look for you in when
something goes horriblly awry.
-!-
SLMR 2.1a Everybody's a dreamer, everybody's a
star....
-!- GEcho 1.00
! Origin: The Silhouetter bbs (209)472-0843 USR DS 16.8K
(1:208/216)
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Msg#: 338 Date: 11-01-93 16:43
From: Robert Taylor
To: Richard Quick
Subj: 10KVA TESLA COIL
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Wanted to pass along some reference material that may be of interest.
In addition to the _Tesla, Man Out of Time_ book, Barnes & Noble also
has _The Inventions, Researches, and Writings of Nikola Tesla_ (edited
by Thomas Martin--ISBN 0-88029-812-X)--I picked this one up form them
for about $15 w/in the last 6-9 months--think they still show it in
their catalog.
The book is made up of transcripts of lectures & demonstrations given
by Tesla, & several chapters are devoted to the coil & what he saw as
its practical applications. Included are alot of technical details of
his construction methods, as well as schematics. Unfortunately, there is
nothing included as to the math that he used in design.
While looking at this thread, I noticed that someone made mention as to
a variety of spark gap designs. Some of this is covered--including
magnetic & compressed air quenching.
I did some fooling around with these designs a few years ago, but
never got it to your level of development. Did not know the details
of the oil-immersion cap at the time so I built a humongous Lleyden Jar
cap for the tank circuit (after having blown up a ceramic high freq
transmitter cap--not a pretty sight).
However, did discover that a good power supply is a plain ol' 15
KV neon sign transformer (found some used ones at local sign shops).
My biggest problem was working out the inductance--never could get
the primary & secondary to sync properly--but it made one heckuva
broad-band spark gap transmitter.
Still interested in Tesla & his work. Quite a mind there.
-!- Maximus/2 2.00
! Origin: BLUFF CITY BBS (1:123/70)
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Msg#: 409 Date: 11-03-93 13:43
From: Dave Halliday
To: Richard Quick
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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RQ>Dave,
RQ>I got your package in the mail today, and your tape went back
>out. It is after the pickup time on Saturday, but you should have
>the tape by midweek.
RQ>Let me know when you get it, and what you think. I am sorry I had
>to cut a lot of material out, but two hours just doesn't seem to
>be enough time to give you the tour, show you some techniques,
>and show all of the systems. I cut back on a lot of smaller test
>and prototype stuff to let you focus on the big coil.
GREAT! I will look forward to viewing it! Also, emphasis on the big
coil is perfect.
TTYL - Dave ë:-)
b QMPro 1.51 b Tagline for mind readers:
-!- WM v3.10/92-0434
! Origin: Advanced Software Concepts-WC3.90P-15.8,301-794-6496
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Msg#: 2529 Date:11-03-93 18:32
From: Randy Mcvittie
To: All
Subj: diode detectors
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RM> I am wondering if anyone else has tried using run of the mill silicon
RM> diodes for measuring radiation. I have tried some diodes that I had
RM> and I got a decent sized signal off of them and that got me to
RM> wondering why the "Detector Diodes" cost so much, part of it is
RM> gouging but for the most part electronics are VERY CHEAP to produce
RM> once you get the process worked out.
RM>
RM> "Detector diodes" are like $500, the diode I used was about $0.05!
RM>
RM> For anyone wanting to try it out I used a plain 1N4007 and put my DVM
RM> on it and then put the diode in a radiation field.
RM>
RM> 60KV 8.9 mVdc
RM> 80KV 27 - 29 mVdc
RM> 100KV 64 - 70 mVdc
RM>
RM> in a Cobalt 60 beam about 65mVdc
RM>
RM> On a Therac 20 High Energy Linear Accelerator
RM>
RM> 6MeV 348 - 239 mV (peak of pulses)
RM> 9MeV 341 - 239 mV
RM> 13MeV 403 - 350 mV
RM> 17MeV 402 - 372 mV
RM> X18MV 58 - 54 mV
RM>
RM>
RM> I haven't done a lot of work on this yet, it just kind of hit me one
RM> day that this could be worth a try.
RM>
RM> I haven't gone to the library yet to do a search but I'd appreciate
RM> any info on this topic.
RM>
RM>
RM> Cheers
RM>
RM> Randy....
RM>
RM>
RM> ... OFFLINE 1.42 * We don't need no steenking tag lines...
RM> -!- DlgQWK v0.71a/DLGMail
RM> ! Origin: The Forge - 12 Lines, 2.3 Gig, 2xDHST, CD ROM (1:249/116)
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Msg#: 352 Date: 11-03-93 20:42
From: Richard Quick
To: Robert Taylor
Subj: 10KVA TESLA COIL
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RT> Wanted to pass along some reference material that may be of
RT> interest. In addition to the _Tesla, Man Out of Time_ book,
RT> Barnes & Noble also has _The Inventions, Researches, and
RT> Writings of Nikola Tesla_ (edited by Thomas Martin--ISBN
RT> 0-88029-812-X)--I picked this one up from them for about $15
RT> w/in the last 6-9 months--think they still show it in
RT> their catalog. The book is made up of transcripts of
RT> lectures & demonstrations given by Tesla, & several chapters
RT> are devoted to the coil & what he saw as its practical
RT> applications. Included are alot of technical details of
RT> his construction methods, as well as schematics.
RT> Unfortunately, there is nothing included as to the math that
RT> he used in design.
Math? Tesla did not use math. Seriously. Oh, he used some
equations to give ballpark figures. But the numbers he was
working with were for the most part taken from machines he had
already constructed and were operating. Most of the math was not
figured out until years and years later. The mathmatical treatise
on extra coil work was not drived until the 1980's, Sloans work
on resonators (mathmatical treatise) was not published until the
1930's. Tesla invented and built, he left the math for others to
clean up later.
RT> While looking at this thread, I noticed that someone made
RT> mention as to a variety of spark gap designs. Some of this
RT> is covered--including magnetic & compressed air quenching.
The book is OK, but read it for generalities and direction only,
outside of the schematics (which are his more primitve circuits)
it should not be followed closely. We are in the age of plastics,
and Tesla was in the age of wood, and rubber (carbon rich and a
poor RF insulator). Some of the experiments are interesting, but
I have performed many better ones that do not require $300.00
(modern prices) custom made tubes.
RT> I did some fooling around with these designs a few years
RT> ago, but never got it to your level of development. Did not
RT> know the details of the oil-immersion cap at the time so I
RT> built a humongous Lleyden Jar cap for the tank circuit
RT> (after having blown up a ceramic high freq transmitter
RT> cap--not a pretty sight).
Good capacitance is a must! I too have built many, many, homemade
capacitors and leyden jars. Blew every one! Your not coiling
unless your blowing capacitors! Then when you get things worked
out to where the capacitors stop blowing, you start blowing
transformers. By this time though your usually running well over
a killowatt and are getting (or have seen) some decent spark.
Then you start working with power controllers, and HEAVY RF
choking, next thing you know your in the big leagues.
The best capacitors for beginners are salt water types. Bottles
are filled with salt water, and placed in a salt water filled
pan. The pan is lined with alum. foil, and a long bolt or some
other conductor is placed in the bottle. The salt water in the
pan is one plate, the salt water in the bottle is another plate,
and the glass bottle is the dielectric. Oil can be poured over
the water to reduce corona loss. Tesla used salt water caps on
the Colorado Springs machine, and I have a friend running 5-8 KVA
with plastic bucket salt water caps.
RT> However, did discover that a good power supply is a plain
RT> ol' 15 KV neon sign transformer (found some used ones at
RT> local sign shops).
I recommend beginners start with 9000 volt neons, then move up to
12,000 volt units before jumping into the 15s. The 15KV neons put
too much stress on the capacitors (unless you are using glass
leyden jars, or salt water caps with thick bottles).
RT> My biggest problem was working out the inductance--never
RT> could get the primary & secondary to sync properly--but it
RT> made one heckuva broad-band spark gap transmitter.
You just needed to learn the ins and outs of tuning. It takes a
little practice. A lot of balancing is required to get optimum
performance. Coupling, spark gap quenching, terminal capacitance,
as well as the primary/secondary inductance all come into play.
Sounds like you made a good start, to bad you did not take it any
further. Thinking about picking it up again? With modern
materials, a little time and effort, and modern designs, you
would be surprised what you can achieve with coils.
RT> Still interested in Tesla & his work. Quite a mind there.
Me too, and I agree. Tesla was a man very far ahead of his time
and technology.
-!-
... And if all else fails... Put another megavolt through it
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12
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Msg#: 430 Rec'd Date: 11-03-93 22:00
From: Bob Stephenson
To: Richard Quick
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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> GD> Well I have a Jacob's ladder on an old theatre marquis neon
> GD> transformer. Really makes the kitty stop and pay attention.
> GD> Worries people who see it, too. My inner Beavis loves it.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Oh man, I love it....Thank you!
Bob
-!- GEcho 1.00
! Origin: Rock In A Hard Place - Teaneck, NJ (1:2604/109)
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Msg#: 482 Date: 11-04-93 05:00
From: George Powell
To: Robert Taylor
Subj: Re: 10KVA TESLA COIL
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> using neon xformers..
Do you have any probs with the xformers heating up after a while?
Using one as a jacobs ladder tends to get it quite hot after a time.
Although after all the years of use/abuse, it's still ticking away
and works fine. Is high temp a normal thing for these neon units? The
temp is uncomfortable to touch..
Gp
-!- Fruity Dog 6.0
! Origin: Fruity Dog Support (1:2460/21)
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Msg#: 396 Date: 11-04-93 19:17
From: Richard Quick
To: Robert Taylor
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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BTW,
I have read the book you mentioned in the post received here
yesterday. I bought it from Barnes & Nobel last month and have
read it cover to cover twice.
The books I mentioned earlier, (example _NICKOLA TESLA ON HIS
WORK WITH ALTERNATING CURRENTS AND THEIR APPLICATION TO WIRELESS
TELEGRAPHY, TELEPHONY, AND TRANSMISSION OF POWER_ ISBN 0-9632652-
0-2, from 21st Century Books, P.O. Box 2001, Breckenridge, Colo.
80424) is a much more informative work.
Tesla did not go public with much after he saw the tide of his
fortunes turning. He kept his more advanced work very close to
his chest. Even his basic experimental circuits used in
developing the Magnifier were not published until the 1970's, the
math not worked out until late in the 1980's, and the systems
actually re-tested (with the exception of Golka's primitive
efforts) until the last two years! Right now work on the
Magnifier is at the point where any serious hobbyist can make a
mark.
The book above is a candid interview with Tesla's attorneys in
1916 (after Wardenclyff), he talks, submits photographs,
sketches, and schematics; all of which is recorded by
stenographer. All documents submitted by Tesla are reproduced.
This book really cuts to the core. We see that Tesla used red
herrings, even from the start, to disguise the true nature of his
work. An example is his submission of photos and patent wrappers
of an alternator. The alternator was patented (#447,920 March 10,
1891) as the power supply in a "Method of Operating Arc Lamps".
Yet Tesla goes on to produce schematics showing it as the signal
generator for the first radio, AND shows how the circuit evolved
in a matter of months into a powerful lumped tuned circuit
transmitter.
He submits schematics of his experimental tank circuit used in
the New York lab prior to leaving for Colorado Springs, complete
with three phase synchronous gaps (never published or patented).
We see photos taken from Wardenclyff powerplant showing huge four
phase high frequency alternators, and text describing the
operation and performance.
The Colorado Springs notes are another example of Tesla
revelations. Tesla never intended those notes be published, and
we see circuits in there that are meaningless, until you add
perhaps a little note from the book mentioned top. We see the
circuit that Tesla used to create ball lightning in the lab
(Colorado Springs Notes pp 115,162), advancements made on the
three phase gap (but not showing the gaps, just the improvement).
Then we add information gleaned from the Corums' book _VACUUM
TUBE TESLA COILS_ (ISBN 0-924758-00-7) and we begin to see that
his later claims of particle beam weapons, worldwide power
transmission, robotics, etc. are not based on some "crackpot's
fantasy" (as Guy Daugherty would have some believe).
He completed all of the basic research, had an operational
worldwide transmitter (Wardenclyff, look at the powerplant
photos) though nobody had receivers yet. He had operational
remote control robots (ISBN 0-9632652-0-2, pp 157 {photo}, patent
613,809 11/8/1898!).
I guess what I am trying to say is that his lectures, published
explanations, even to some extent his patents are misleading, and
deliberately so. You have to dig into sources that Tesla did not
intend to become public, then you have to build and test these
systems, then you are on the road to his later secrets. But they
all seem to reach back to his 1/4 wave coil systems and the
lectures, for the roots. The problem is that the work he
presented in the lectures is now obsolete, both from a design and
engineering point of view. With exception of some of the
experiments, skip on to the material I have documented.
-!-
... And if all else fails... Put another megavolt through it
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12
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Msg#: 559 Date: 11-04-93 20:28
From: Mark Lawton @ 930/20
To: Richard Quick
Subj: 10kva tesla coil
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RQ>But if everybody thinks I'm wacky, should I stop posting? I don't
RQ>want to waste people's time. I just thought you all were
RQ>interested.
No! Keep the Tesla info comming. I've been building coils for 25+
years. Your description of the magnifing coil is the best I've heard.
Before you burn a hole in the Earth, let me know, I want to get a
picture of it! <g>
Mark Lawton 71740,2005
===
* WinQwk 1.30 #279 * Bonehead Racing - Off-road ATV Champions
-!- InterPCB 1.50
# Origin: Dallas Remote Imaging Group BBS 214-394-7438
(8:930/20)
! Origin: Gateway System to/from RBBS-NET (RBBS-PC 1:10/8)
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Msg#: 560 Date: 11-04-93 20:32
From: Mark Lawton @ 930/20
To: Richard Quick
Subj: 10kva tesla coil
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RQ> GD> Well I have a Jacob's ladder on an old theatre marquis neon
RQ> GD> transformer. Really makes the kitty stop and pay attention.
RQ> GD> Worries people who see it, too. My inner Beavis loves it.
RQ>
RQ>Yeah, I have some videos of the pole pig settin on the garage
RQ>floor with 3/8" copper pipe rails. Pulls arcs clear to the
Love it... Pole Pig = Jacob's Ladder
PS Does anyone need some neon transformers? I've got 3 collecting
dust. (2) 7500V & (1) 15000V
ML
===
* WinQwk 1.30 #279 * Bonehead Racing - Off-road ATV Champions
-!- InterPCB 1.50
# Origin: Dallas Remote Imaging Group BBS 214-394-7438
(8:930/20)
! Origin: Gateway System to/from RBBS-NET (RBBS-PC 1:10/8)
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Msg#: 437 Date: 11-04-93 22:11
From: David Tiefenbrunn
To: Richard Quick
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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On 10-30-93 Richard Quick wrote to Guy Daughterty...
RQ> RQ>THIS POST MAY BE A REPEAT. MY SYSOP INFORMED ME 10/29/93 THAT
I didn't see it before...
RQ> But if everybody thinks I'm wacky, should I stop posting? I don't
RQ> want to waste people's time. I just thought you all were
RQ> interested.
I'm interested. On another un-usual experimental topic,
have you ever seen / read about / or heard of a rail gun?
Dave
___
* OFFLINE 1.54 * Hey, is that thing SUPPOSED to smoke like that?
-!- Maximus 2.01wb
! Origin: Abbey Road BBS Higganum, Ct. USA (1:320/5967)
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Msg#: 398 Date: 11-05-93 01:25
From: Richard Quick
To: David Tiefenbrunn
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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Well Dave,
I talked with the architect again today. Things are firming up
for a real lab.
The building so far is looking like this:
50' x 60' with 8' masonry walls and 8' sheet metal walls on top.
This gives a total wall height of 16 feet, with a slope up to the
center of the roof for a 20' peak.
The half masonry, half sheet metal wall was a compromise for
security, cost, and you'll never guess what else... My testing
shows an all metal walled building will induct, and large
currents will cruise through the structure. So masonry for the
first 8' feet seems a good compromise.
For electrical service I'm getting 480 volt 3 phase, 400 amps,
and 110/220 single phase 200 amps.
The building will have 4" x 15' galvinized pipe driven into the
ground before the slab is poured as an RF ground, and I plan to
extend it later. Thought I would drop you a line and let you
know, as I was pretty excited to see some drawings.
-!-
... If all else fails... Put another megavolt through it.
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12
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Msg#: 1 Date: 05 Nov 93 02:22:00
From: Richard Quick
To: All
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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If you are interested in making a high voltage, high current,
power supply, I can tell you how to do it for free....
First call the local neon shop(s) and tell them that your working
with Tesla coils. Ask them to hold all of their failed xfrmrs so
you can pick them up. Make sure you talk to the boss or foreman,
and tell them that you want dead units. I have never had a shop
turn me down for free cores. They are happy to get rid of them.
There are two types of failed neon xfrmrs: warranty units, and
old junk. The local shop must return units that fail within the
two year warranty period back to the distributor for credit. Old
junk (older than two years) you can pick up for free right from
the local shop, but I also scavenge from the distributor. Ask
where the failed warranty units go.
If you can locate the distributor who sells wholesale, and
handles failed warranty units, you have found a gold mine of high
voltage xfrmrs. The distributor removes the PLATE from the xfrmr
for return to the manufacturer, and throws the unit away. The
manufacturer credits the distributor for the plate, as the
shipping is too expensive. The cores go to the dumpster.
After locating your source of failed units, be selective. Try to
bring home the high current units. Ratings commonly used are 9
kv, 12 kv, & 15 kv, with common current ratings of 30 & 60 ma.
Once in awhile you will come across a 120 ma unit. I grab all
of the high current units (60 ma+) I can get in these voltages.
First test your units. Use wire with a 15 kv rating or better.
This wire can be obtained where you pick up the transformers.
If you ask they will usually cut you off a few feet for free.
I prefer using the solid polyethylene core from RG-213 coax, as
it will withstand the voltage with gobs of extra safety margin.
Draw an arc from the HV bushing to the case, one at a time.
About 50% of the "failed" units I pick up are just fine and need
nothing other than a clean up. There is nothing wrong with them.
Often shops get these units from signs they have dismantled, and
they just toss them into the junk pile with the rest. The other
50% are bad. Either one, or both, of the HV windings have broken
down. These units can frequently be repaired.
Remove all hardware, and insulators if possible. Take a hammer
and a chisel and remove the cases by splitting them down the
corners. Break off any stubborn insulators, but try to preserve
the lead wire. You are left with a block of tar. Set the unit
outside when it is very cold, and let it freeze solid overnite.
The next morning, short the high voltage lead wires with a clip
lead, and connect 110 volts across the primary. Since the cores
on these transformers are shunted, they may be shorted without
harm or blowing fuses. Let the unit cook for 15-30 minutes.
Disconnect your leads, and with the chisel and hammer, chip a
groove around the block. You want to score a groove lengthwise
that will allow the block to cleave in two. Then starting from
one end of the block, chip until you hit the core, then do the
same with the other end. Pry and chip the tar away from the core
until the xfrmr is free. The core may then be disassembled, and
the windings removed and examined. Kerosene and a stiff brush
will clean up the windings and core of any remaining tar.
The "cold-cook" method is fast, clean, and works very well. Since
the tar is frozen it chips away cleanly. The "cooking" softens up
the tar around the core allowing it to release. The only other
ways I know to free the cores are long soaks in solvent such as
kero or gas, (the nasty waste does make a good crack filler),
or melting out the tar with external heat from a fire or oven.
Most units fail when the high voltage breaks down the tar insul-
ation. The resulting carbon track shorts the winding. Simply
removing the tar brings them back to life. Other times the coils
break down internally. In this case I discard the winding after
disassembling the core, and replace it with a good winding from
another unit of the same model with the same type failure.
While the core is apart, you can beef up the current output by
removing a few of the shunting plates between windings. Never
take out more than 2 or 3 of these plates per side, as the
additional power output will burn out the secondaries. Generally
I get about 70-75 ma out of 60 ma units after I have finished.
Rebuilt units need a little protection from the high voltage
secondary outputs. The first thing I do is solder on a new lead
wire to the high voltage windings. The HV secondaries are wound
with very fine magnet wire, in the 30 ma units the wire is not
much thicker than a coarse hair. Once a good solder connection
is made, bed the connection and the first 1/2 inch or so of lead
wire to the top of the HV winding with hot glue or clear epoxy.
The lead wire need not be anything special, any thin insulated
stranded wire may be used. Heavy wire increases the chances of a
failed connection due to mechanical stress. When setting the unit
up to fire you simply have to route it on insulators.
The windings themselves are wedged against the core to prevent
vibration. I have seen wood, bakelite, and plastic wedges used
commercially. What I like to do is to soften up some 30 mil
polyethylene plastic sheet in boiling water, and heat the core in
a warm oven. I wrap dry softened plastic around the core and
gently force the windings down on it. Once cooled, the windings
have some insulation from the core, and they will not vibrate.
The base wire from the HV windings must be grounded to the core.
Use the original grounding point if possible, if not you may
split the core apart slightly with a thin blade and insert the
wire into the gap before you clamp the core back up. If required
you may splice on a small piece of wire for added length.
Neon sign transformers that have been rebuilt may be fired dry.
The tar used to pot the cores for neon use does not really
insulate well against the RF and kickback from the Tesla Tank.
The units last longer when they are freed of the tar potting. The
only other choice is to sink rebuilt units in mineral or xfrmr
oil which is a very good RF insulator. I choose to fire them
"dry"; it works, and there is no mess.
Neons may be run in parallel to deliver the current required to
fire medium sized coils, and I have run up to 4000 watts with
banked neon power supplies. The general practice is to run these
banks off of 240 volt feeds controlled through a variac. Neons
with matched outputs are run in pairs in these banks. The
primaries are paired up in series, and the secondaries are all
paralleled to the HV buss. Phasing is important here, and each
transformer must be checked as it is added to the bank to ensure
it is in phase with the other units. If an xfrmr draws an arc
from a lead wire brought to the HV buss, the primary or secondary
connections must be reversed.
Neons typically have an efficiency of about 50%, in that they
draw twice as much power as they put out. This problem can be
resolved with the use of power factor correction (pfc) capaci-
tance across the line. The pfc capacitors used are the same as
for alternating current motors. The voltage rating should be at
least twice the line current used, and I like a 4x voltage margin
for long life. The formula used to determine ballpark pfc is as
follows:
9
10^
C = Corrected kVA ------ 2
2 f e^
This should read C = Corrected kVA times (10 to the ninth power)
over, (2 pi times f times e squared)
C = required capacitance in microfarads
f = frequency of applied voltage
e = applied voltage
Corrected kVA is determined by dividing the volt*amps (watts)
output of the neon sign xfrmr by 1000
Using a pair of rebuilt 12 kv, 60 ma neons, with 2 shunting
plates removed from the core next to each HV winding, and power
factor correction capacitance, you can get a nice 1.5 KVA Tesla
power supply with over 90% efficiency. Total cost: $5.00 for the
pfc capacitors, and a few hours of time.
I have unpotted dozens of neon transformers from many different
manufacturers. I have tried to make this as informative as
possible, and have checked it over for mistakes. If I have erred,
or was not clear on something, please let me know. Use common
sense, and don't expect the first attempt to work out. On my
first attempt I managed to destroy a HV winding during the
unpotting, as I did not know where the windings were located on
the core. But once you see one core unpotted, with minor
differences, you have seen them all.
... If all else fails... Put another megavolt through it.
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12
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Msg#: 441 Date: 11-06-93 19:22
From: Richard Quick
To: David Tiefenbrunn
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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DT> I'm interested. On another un-usual experimental topic,
DT> have you ever seen / read about / or heard of a rail gun?
Sure, two different types.
Steve Hanson runs a particle accelerator rail gun in his
basement. It is small, but it cooks!
He has extensive vacuum equipment, and the basic setup looks like
this:
Two copper rods form the rails. They are set up in parallel bar
fashion with the bases mounted in an insulator block. At the base
of the rods, near the insulator, he wraps a tungsten filament
removed from a common light bulb. He places a glass cylinder,
like an elongated bell jar, with a target mounted in the closed
end, over the rails. The jar is sealed at the base and pumped
down to a hard vacuum.
Two high current lead wires are connected to the rails. They are
epoxied into the insulator base so as to be air tight. He takes a
HVDC power supply and charges a massive capacitor bank. He throws
the switch, and BANG! the tungsten is vaporized.
The plasma is highly conductive, and maintains a current flow
between the rails. The high current produces electro-magnetic
force which propels the plasma under high acceleration down the
rails and into the target. A regular microscope shows the plasma
impact damage on plate glass targets. It really sinks the
tungsten into the material.
Steve publishes a journal in which he covers his work. You may
write to him at: 35 Windsor Drive, Amherst, NH. 03031.
The other type of rail gun uses a monorail system. A "bullet" of
conductive material is loaded onto a single nonconducting rail
surrounded by heavy coils. The coils are energized by a timed
capacitive discharge. A special rotary gap with varied spaced
electrodes may be used, but recent work points to computers to
control to pulses. Timing is most critical.
The heavy current flow through a coil induces a current in any
conductive material, in this case the projectile. The circulating
currents in the projectile produce a magnetic field, which repels
it from the coil. As it passes the next coil down the rail, the
second coil is pulsed and so on. Since the current and voltage
from the capacitive discharge is high, the forces imparted to the
projectile are great. I believe the speed of sound has been
broken by projectiles from small "hobby" guns.
I have not had contact with a working monorail gun. I have seen
several photos. Information Unlimited, P.O. Box 716, Amherst, NH.
03031, tel: 603-673-4730 (9-5) may have additional information on
monorail guns of this type.
Then there is this guy in California with a multi-gigawatt Taser
gun....
The commonality of these systems is capacitive discharge, and
power supplies. You must have HV pulse discharging capacitors and
a high current, high voltage, power supply to experiment in these
areas.
... If all else fails... Put another megavolt through it.
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12
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Msg#: 4 Date: 07 Nov 93 02:03:00
From: Richard Quick
To: Guy Daugherty
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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GD> I'm curious what your end goal is, if you believe that even
GD> if you can prove Tesla's principles and concepts to have the
GD> validity his proponents trumpet, how could your break into
GD> the lockup current utility companies have over the
GD> conversion and distribution of electrical energy.
We may never see this one, even if commercial feasibility is
proven. But you are taking a bit of a narrow view, that is all.
My personal goal is not only to prove Tesla's principals and
concepts (which I believe has already done as far as his patents
are concerned), but also for the pure search of knowledge.
Practical applications, something I think may be possible to
achieve, would be perhaps a true "high efficiency" laser. If we
have one, then someone will figure out how to employ it for
profit, maybe in fusion. Me, I am looking to spend money with
this, not make it.
You must be misunderstanding the breakthrough that the Magnifier
circuit represents. Just because Tesla saw one commercial
application for the circuit in a transmitter does not mean that
this is the only single use, or the only use Tesla saw. This is
definately not the case. The circuit is a very, very, very
efficient RF power supply. It can be set up to provide RF
current, or voltage (or both) depending on the intended app-
lication. As a power supply for large tuned resonate loads there
is nothing equal. In effect the circuit is narrow band RF signal
generator capable of enormous powers. It is relatively cheap and
easy to build, and the design and components are easily modified.
The Magnifier was not recognized as a high efficiency, narrow
band signal generator until the mid 1980's; 90 years after Tesla
had industrial scale operational units, and a full ten years
after Tesla's Colorado Springs Notes went into print for the
first time. The photos published at the time (early 1900s)
only show, and the only thing people remember, are the sparks.
Yet in the opening pages of the Notes, Tesla clearly stated his
intended goals for the machine, he does not mention sparks.
In an era with no o'scopes, multimeters, RF detectors, or
stabilized RF generators (other than his); Tesla proceeded to
design, construct, and test, a narrow band RF signal generator
driving a tuned 1/4 wave resonate load to a voltage of 9.5
Megavolts with RMS currents of 1100 amps. Figure it out Guy,
thats 10.45 Billion watts. He did this with an input power
of 250 kVA, and so named the circuit "The Magnifier". The only
way he could judge the performance of the system was to tune for
spark occasionally.
The reason the system was so large was because physical size was
the only way to contain the energy in the system without break-
down. He had to keep his charge density low or he lost energy. He
did not have plastic film type pulse discharge capacitors, poly-
ethylene core coax, PVC jacketed wire, or any of the dozens
of other modern materials I use daily.
When Tesla perfected the circuit, the only 1/4 wave resonator
in existance was the resonate coil. We now have coaxial, tapped
helix coaxial, and pure cavity geometries. Tesla never mentioned
coherant radiation, and now we have lasers and masers. The
Kapitza fusion experiment and the maser are examples of modern
applications of resonate loads. Both are cavity type 1/4 wave
resonators driven by signal generators.
In my recent research I ran across an article, "Cavity-Coupling
Investigation for the Phermex 50 MHz RF Accelerator", by E.W.
Pogue and F.R. Buskirk, IEEE Trans. on Nuclear Science, Vol. NS-
32, No. 5, October, 1985, pp 2852-2853.
The boys at Phermex seemed really excited to discover an increase
of performace in the accelerator when run off parallel drivers.
Yet Tesla shows the SAME IDENTICAL CIRCUIT, and at least three
variations, with notes relative to the performance and character-
istics of each in The Colorado Springs Notes in 1899!
See Colorado Springs Notes, pp 153-156, mid August 1899.
The circuit is precisely identical, the only differences being
the frequency of operation and the geometries of the resonator.
Tesla BTW was running powers an order of MAGNITUDE greater
the the Phermex team.
The magnifier is a very efficient signal generator, NOT a
transmitter unless you CHOOSE to set it up as one. The entire
purpose behind the magnifier circuit, it's only true function, is
to drive resonators, not to transmit power.
So lets forget the sparks for a moment, and lets forget global
transmission of power. Why not hook the system to a tuned 1/4
wave resonator designed as a laser tube? A system 1/10th the
power of Tesla's Colorado Springs oscillator would deliver a
billion watts. With modern materials the size could be reduced
greatly because we can insulate with plastics. In real dollars
the cost is cheaper than Tesla's because we can tap the
industrial surplus markets, transformers he paid thousands for
then, I can buy surplus for a few hundred.
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Msg#: 633 Date: 11-07-93 12:15
From: Guy Daugherty
To: Richard Quick
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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RQ>I talked with the architect again today. Things are firming up
RQ>for a real lab.
RQ>The building so far is looking like this:
RQ>50' x 60' with 8' masonry walls and 8' sheet metal walls on top.
RQ>This gives a total wall height of 16 feet, with a slope up to the
RQ>center of the roof for a 20' peak.
This is geting out of hand, Richard.
-!-
SLMR 2.1a You, you, and you panic. The rest of you, come
with me.
-!- GEcho 1.00
! Origin: The Silhouetter bbs (209)472-0843 USR DS 16.8K
(1:208/216)
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Msg#: 634 Date: 11-07-93 12:48
From: Guy Daugherty
To: Richard Quick
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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RQ> GD> I'm curious what your end goal is, if you believe that even
RQ> GD> if you can prove Tesla's principles and concepts to have the
RQ> GD> validity his proponents trumpet, how could your break into
RQ> GD> the lockup current utility companies have over the
RQ> GD> conversion and distribution of electrical energy.
RQ>We may never see this one, even if commercial feasibility is
RQ>proven. But you are taking a bit of a narrow view, that is all.
Narrow view? Me? That'll shock 'em.
RQ>My personal goal is not only to prove Tesla's principals and
RQ>concepts (which I believe has already done as far as his patents
RQ>are concerned), but also for the pure search of knowledge.
RQ>Practical applications, something I think may be possible to
RQ>achieve, would be perhaps a true "high efficiency" laser. If we
RQ>have one, then someone will figure out how to employ it for
RQ>profit, maybe in fusion. Me, I am looking to spend money with
RQ>this, not make it.
Well, now you've stumbled onto MY area of expertise. Send me a
signed check and I'll show you some pointers...
-!-
SLMR 2.1a The less you bet, the more you lose when you
win.
-!- GEcho 1.00
! Origin: The Silhouetter bbs (209)472-0843 USR DS 16.8K
(1:208/216)
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Msg#: 1 Date: 07 Nov 93 16:14:00
From: Richard Quick
To: Dave Halliday
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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DH> Hi Richard - again, thanks for the fantastic video! Loaned
DH> it to my dad this morning - he used to teach physics ( still
DH> writes textbooks ) and is a Tesla fan too...
DH> Anyway, I was wondering how you went about getting your pole
DH> pig - line xfrmr - and how much it set you back... I called
DH> our local City Light and they cannot sell them because of
DH> the EPA regulations. They actually ship them to some company
DH> overseas for salvage... I will try some of the smaller PUD's
DH> and see if they are not so "Politically Correct" <grin>
Well you can try the utilities, I did, with no luck:-( Unless you
are willing to climb the fence into their transfer yard and climb
back out, in the dark, with a 200+ lb. pole pig under your arm,
you will not get one there :-) I bought mine from:
Larry J. Rebman
The Transformer Bank, Inc.
University Technology Center
1313 Fifth St. SE
Minneapolis, MN 55415
Tel: (612) 379-3958, Fax: (612) 379-5962
The transformers they sell are brand new GE surplus, certified
PCB free. GE manufactures at their plant in Hanover, North
Carolina. Unsold units sit in the yard, and on GE's balance
sheet, for 5 years and depreciate. Once GE has depreciated them
to zero, The Transformer Bank buys them for 50 cents a pound.
The Transformer Bank enters all of the plate information from
these surplus pigs into their database in Minneapolis. They will
fax you the plate specs on any surplus pig in the Hanover yard.
Once you have chosen the xfrmr you want by comparing a few plate
specs, call them for a price, then send them a certified check.
The retail cost is a little over $1.00 a pound, so figure a 230
pound, 10 KVA xfrmr, will run about $250.00.
The Transformer Bank has a shipping contract with Consolidated
Freightways. The units are shipped directly from the Hanover
yard. The contractual rate is about 50% the normal retail rate,
and the Transformer Bank passes the entire savings on to the
customer. Figure about $50.00 shipping per 250 pounds.
My pole pig ran $303.00, including shipping, and was delivered to
me ten days from the date I dropped the certified check in the
mail to Minneapolis. It arrived still strapped on the original
pallet, and it had no dings, dents or chips. The pallet was
heavily weathered as one would expect, but once the pig was
cleaned up, it looked (and is) brand new.
The unit came with certification papers that match the serial
number on the plate, showing it to be PCB free. Copies of the
certification are on file with GE, so disposal or transfer of
the pig will not be a problem.
In shopping for a pig, you should be looking for a unit with two
high voltage bushings, no taps, 120/240 primary, and a secondary
voltage of 14,400 volts or higher. Remember! I am accustomed to
running pigs backwards! You will always see me refer to inputs
and outputs in reverse of utility pratcice when I talk about
pigs. Thus my "primary" is the actual secondary, and v.v..
The kVA rating on pigs are of course for continous duty. They
will run 24-7 at the plate rating and not warm appreciably. You
may run them at twice the rated kVA output for 5 min or so
without any problem. 10 kVA seems to be a nice size for high
powered Tesla work. The 15 kVA pigs have a substantially larger
core, and require more energy to energize.
Since the cores on these are shell wound, you will not encounter
appreciable core saturation. These units must be run with a heavy
current limiter or they will pull the entire neighborhood into
your experiment. You should be able to energize them without
dimming the lights. Due the the heavy current limiting required,
your input and output voltage will be lower than your line. My
10 kVA pig has a rated output of 23,890 volts, but with current
limiting, the calulated output is closer to 20,000 volts.
Both resitive and inductive current limiting may be used. The
inductive delay (about 1 sec.) in the current limiter and variacs
make control pretty jumpy, so it is best to use at least some
resistive ballast to smooth things out, especially if you are not
accustomed to these powers. The smoothest coils use all resistive
ballast, but things get pretty hot. The best combination seems to
be 6 or more paralleled oven elements placed in series with an
inductor. I opted for pure inductance because I hate to waste
energy as heat, but I feel the tug on my variacs through the
control wheel, and Gary has seen some arcing in the variac
brushes when the current limiter finally lets loose. When I add
some resistive ballast these problems are eliminated.
... And if all else fails... Put another megavolt through it
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Msg#: 463 Date: 11-07-93 23:46
From: Richard Quick
To: All
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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> CORRECTION!
I posted a formula for power factor correction capacitance
in magnetic shunted neon sign transformers the other day. As my
word processor was formatting the pages for a DOS text save the
formula apparently got messed up. The ASCII character "pi" was
stripped, and formula was more or less "disassembled". The text
below the formula in the original post reads correctly, and the
formula should look like this:
9
10^
C = Corrected kVA ------ 2
2 f e^
That is C = Corrected kVA * (10 to the ninth)
over (2 pi * f * e squared)
Where C = capacitance required in microfarads
f = frequency of applied voltage
e = the applied voltage
Corrected kVA is the Volt*Amps (watts) output divided by 1000.
I apologize for any inconvenience!
... And if all else fails... Put another megavolt through it
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Msg#: 522 Date: 11-08-93 00:07
From: Richard Quick
To: George Powell
Subj: Re: 10KVA TESLA COIL
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> using neon xformers..
GP> Do you have any probs with the xformers heating up after a
GP> while? Using one as a jacobs ladder tends to get it quite
GP> hot after a time. Although after all the years of use/abuse,
GP> it's still ticking away and works fine. Is high temp a
GP> normal thing for these neon units? The temp is uncomfortable
GP> to touch..
No it shouldn't really bother them. Neon sign xfrmrs have a low
power factor due to poor regulation. This condition is purposely
built into the xfrmr so that the current output can be
controlled. This limitation prevents burn-out of the secondary
windings. Consequently, the secondary of a neon sign transformer
can be short-circuited without harm.
The poor regulation can be traced to the magnetic shunt. The
shunt acts acts to draw the magnetic flux away from the secondary
coil. Transformers of this type are often called "magnetic
leakage xfrmrs".
As the current in the magnetic leakage xfrmr increases, more and
more of the magnetic lines are bypassed through the shunt. As a
result, fewer magnetic lines reach the secondary windings.
Consequently, as more current is drawn, less voltage is produced.
Under load, the efficiency of these type xfrmrs is around 50%.
Half of the energy is bypassed through the shunt, and is
converted into heat. These units get hot as a result, but are
normally rated for continous duty. Unless the tar starts bubbling
out (indications of a problem in the primary coil) they should be
just fine.
I just posted instructions on how to increase the performance of
these xfrmrs from 50% to around 90% by unpotting, removing a
couple of shunt plates from each secondary winding, and using
power correction capacitance on the input line. They not only
put out more power, but the input current is reduced by nearly
50%, and they don't get nearly so hot...
Yet they are still limited, and may be used for jacobs ladders.
-!-
... And if all else fails... Put another megavolt through it
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12
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Msg#: 570 Date: 11-08-93 11:07
From: Dave Halliday
To: Richard Quick
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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RQ>I talked with the architect again today. Things are firming up
>for a real lab.
RQ>The building so far is looking like this:
RQ>50' x 60' with 8' masonry walls and 8' sheet metal walls on top.
>This gives a total wall height of 16 feet, with a slope up to the
>center of the roof for a 20' peak.
WOW! Do you plan to do shows? You could charge admission.
Sounds fantastic!
b QMPro 1.51 b Avoid polysyllabification...
-!- WM v3.10/92-0434
! Origin: Advanced Software Concepts-WC3.90P-15.8,301-794-6496
(1:109/546)
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Msg#: 599 Date: 11-08-93 11:08
From: Robert Taylor
To: George Powell
Subj: Re: 10KVA TESLA COIL
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-=> Quoting George Powell to Robert Taylor <=-
> using neon xformers..
GP> Do you have any probs with the xformers heating up after a while?
To be honest--has been a while since I've had my xformers to play with.
But as I remember, the Jacob's Ladder hook-up didn't cause any unusual
overheat. You might check the size of your initiating gap at the bottom
of the ladder. If it's too close--it will put extra strain on the
xformer.
One thought--if your xformer is in a small case, the overheat may be
natural. The ones that I used were fairly big monsters that weighed
in at about 20 lbs.
If yours is in a case about 5" high by about 10" long--then yours may
be prone to overheating. However, if you have any questions as to
your coil's integrity try using a VOM or continuity tester on both the
secondary & primary & the case to make sure that there are no obvious
shorts. A serious overheat can really test your fire insurance.
You might also want to hook your VOM up on the primary side & monitor
your current draw (should be some specs on the case as to 120 VAC draw).
If you see way-out draws or if the draw starts up w/ time--then you may
have a problem w/ the windings.
Hope this helps you out.
Robert
... ZZAPP! Another one bites the dust!
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12
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Msg#: 2726 Date:11-10-93 12:15
From: Richard Quick
To: Dave Halliday
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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-=> SEZ Dave Halliday to Richard Quick 'bout Tesla Video <=-
RQ> sections of my preliminary Magnifier work, which I encourage
RQ> others to follow up on. If you and your friends decide to
RQ> take on
DH> That was at the beginning - fascinating because I was
DH> completely un-aware that the other coil was involved - I
DH> just thought it was part of the background because I could
DH> not see any arcs coming from it.
DH> Very interesting that so much of the energy from it could be
DH> so closely coupled to the second coil... This will be a fun
DH> winter project!!!
The "extra coil" is completely uncoupled from the driver system.
Current from the driver is being fed into the base of the free
standing "extra" coil by transmission line. While you are not
able to see in the video... The transmission line glows with
corona from the heavy current.
DH> I was talking with one of the people and they agreed to
DH> start on a smaller coil - I was thinking in the order of 4"
DH> diameter and about 3' long.
The aspect ratio (height to width ratio) is important. The
planned coil has an aspect ratio of 9:1 (36" long, 4" diam.)
this should be reduced to no more than 5:1 on a 4" diam. coil.
6" coils work best with 4:1 aspect ratio, anything larger 3:1.
DH> The vacuum gap looked easy enough to build.
This gap underwent about two weeks of prototyping not shown in
the video, but once it was working, it worked great. It has
trouble at power levels over 5 kVA. After an evening on the big
coil at 8 to 10 kVA I had some pitting and melting of the
electrode faces. This was reduced as I cut back on the number of
electrodes, increased the size (both length and diam.) of the
electrodes, and allowed for a larger gap between electrodes.
DH> file about building a capacitor also looks pretty
DH> straightforward. I guess the main deal there is just to be
DH> patient and very careful. I have a vacuum pump so getting
DH> all the air bubbles out of it should be pretty
DH> straightforward.
These homemade capacitors are high Q, reliable, and relatively
easy to build. Pumping them down will really help.
> please feel free to fire of any questions to me. As
> you can tell, I have some little experience with all of these
> systems, and may be able to help.
DH> Questions???? Hoooo boy - stand back! <G*10E8>
DH> You talk a bit about the kind of plastic to use for form for
DH> the secondary coil. There is PVC and ABS available readily.
DH> You mention that PVC is better but you also say not to use
DH> Schedule 40 - both kinds of pipe are rated as being Schedule
DH> 40...
PVC is the worst plastic for use in secondary coils. It is
"lossy" (high RF dissipation factor) and has a low dielectric
strength. But it is commonly used because, as you mentioned, it
is available. Coil forms, regardless of material, should be as
thin as possible. Schedule 40 is thick, and is rated for pressure
use. Try to locate the thinner "drain" pipe or "flume duct" PVC
or other thin wall plastic. If PVC is used, it MUST be dry (baked
is preferred) and well sealed with a low loss sealant like poly-
urethane or two part epoxy.
DH> How about plexiglass...
Acrylic and plexiglas is pretty good. Dielectric strength could
be better, but the RF dissipation factor is much lower than PVC.
I have a couple of small acrylic secondaries and I have been
pleased with them. Plexi in large diam. tubes gets expensive.
DH> What determines a certain plastic being good? Should I look
DH> up the dielectric constants and select for a high number?
A combination of dielectric strength, and the RF dissipation
factor. PVC fails this test, and requires drying and sealing to
make it suitable. Teflon is the best; good dielectric strength,
and the lowest RF dissipation factor; then comes polyethylene,
polystyrene, and polypropylene, all of which are good. The same
standards are also used to judge capacitor dielectrics and for
general insulation in Tesla work, and the plastics rate in the
same order.
You asked about power supplies: The pole pig info is on it's way.
See my two part post on obtaining neons for free, and rebuilding
them for high output, high efficiency, Tesla power supplies.
Remember Tesla power supplies must be protected with extensive
RF choking, and safety gaps. This is especially important with
neons, which are much more delicate than pole pigs or potential
xfrmrs. I also use bypass capacitors. For bypass capacitance
across the power supply HV terminals you WANT a dielectric with a
high RF dissipation factor. Barium titanate capacitors with a DC
rating are ideal for this use. Use a 4x voltage safety factor.
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Msg#: 588 Date: 11-10-93 12:26
From: Richard Quick
To: Mark Lawton @ 930/20
Subj: 10kva tesla coil
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-=> SEZ Mark Lawton @ 930/20 to Richard Quick <=-
RQ>But if everybody thinks I'm wacky, should I stop posting? I
RQ>don't want to waste people's time. I just thought you all
RQ>were interested.
ML@9> No! Keep the Tesla info comming. I've been building coils
ML@9> for 25+ years. Your description of the magnifing coil is
ML@9> the best I've heard.
Thanks for the vote of confidence. As for my description of the
Magnifier circuit; it is accurate because I have built, tested,
and documented a couple of prototype systems. Now I need a little
more room to scale up, and a place where a system can remain
standing after I have set it up. Where I fire now, if I were to
leave a system set up for 48 hours others would be inconvienced
with my "hogging" the floor space.
ML@9> Before you burn a hole in the Earth, let me know, I want
ML@9> to get a picture of it! <g>
If you write I will send you a glossy photo of a magnifier in
operation. I have a really hot, time exposure, showing the
glowing transmission line, and spots where the coil has struck
the transmission line. Sprays of corona are comming out of
perforations in the insulation.
... If all else fails... Put another megavolt through it.
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12
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Msg#: 589 Date: 11-10-93 12:32
From: Richard Quick
To: Dave Halliday
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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-=> SEZ Dave Halliday to Richard Quick <=-
RQ>I talked with the architect again today. Things are firming
RQ>up for a real lab.
RQ>The building so far is looking like this:
RQ>50' x 60' with 8' masonry walls and 8' sheet metal walls on
RQ>top. This gives a total wall height of 16 feet, with a slope
RQ>up to the center of the roof for a 20' peak.
DH> WOW! Do you plan to do shows? You could charge admission.
DH> Sounds fantastic!
The thought has crossed my mind. The primary use of the structure
would be of course R&D of the Magnifier on a medium scale, but
rest assured it will see other uses as well. With room for
storage, permanent set-ups, etc. Shows would be a snap to do.
Not many people have seen the old Million Volts Through The Body
trick, and it is a thrill to do, as well as to see.
... And if all else fails... Put another megavolt through it
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12
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Msg#: 645 Date: 11-10-93 12:43
From: Dave Halliday
To: Richard Quick
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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RQ> DH> Hi Richard - again, thanks for the fantastic video!
RQ> DH> Anyway, I was wondering how you went about getting your pole
> DH> pig - line xfrmr - and how much it set you back... I called
> DH> our local City Light and they cannot sell them because of
> DH> the EPA regulations. They actually ship them to some company
> DH> overseas for salvage... I will try some of the smaller PUD's
> DH> and see if they are not so "Politically Correct" <grin>
RQ>Well you can try the utilities, I did, with no luck:-( Unless you
>are willing to climb the fence into their transfer yard and climb
>back out, in the dark, with a 200+ lb. pole pig under your arm,
>you will not get one there :-) I bought mine from:
I have tried six of the local PUD's - all with the same result... Some
of the people there seemed genuinely interested in helping but they had
their hands tied with all of the red tape...
I *do* know where Seattle City Light has their transfer yard (it's
really close to our local warehouse store ( Costco ) but the place is
too well looked after and I think it would be a little hard to build a
Tesla Coil while in jail... :)
RQ> Larry J. Rebman
> The Transformer Bank, Inc.
> University Technology Center
> 1313 Fifth St. SE
> Minneapolis, MN 55415
RQ> Tel: (612) 379-3958, Fax: (612) 379-5962
GREAT!!!!!
>Once you have chosen the xfrmr you want by comparing a few plate
>specs, call them for a price, then send them a certified check.
>The retail cost is a little over $1.00 a pound, so figure a 230
>pound, 10 KVA xfrmr, will run about $250.00.
RQ>The Transformer Bank has a shipping contract with Consolidated
>customer. Figure about $50.00 shipping per 250 pounds.
RQ>My pole pig ran $303.00, including shipping, and was delivered to
>me ten days from the date I dropped the certified check in the
RQ>The unit came with certification papers that match the serial
>number on the plate, showing it to be PCB free. Copies of the
This is exactly the info I have been looking for!
I also got your postings on neon sign transformers yesterday - the idea
of getting the reject units from a sign company is obvious - should have
thought of that one... <WHACK!> ( sound of head hitting desk )
RQ>In shopping for a pig, you should be looking for a unit with two
>high voltage bushings, no taps, 120/240 primary, and a secondary
>voltage of 14,400 volts or higher. Remember! I am accustomed to
Info saved!
RQ>Since the cores on these are shell wound, you will not encounter
>appreciable core saturation. These units must be run with a heavy
>current limiter or they will pull the entire neighborhood into
>your experiment. You should be able to energize them without
I was wondering why you put the limiter on the circuit...
Again, thanks for the info!
We will be starting out with neon transformers, I had mentioned in an
earlier post that the first one will be about 2 - 3' tall, probably a 4"
form - looking forward to drawing some sparks as well as experimenting
with the magnifier!
TTYL - Dave ë:-)
b QMPro 1.51 b W-E-H-T-H-U-R: Worst spell of weather in six
months...
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Msg#: 2 Date: 10 Nov 93 21:02:00
From: Richard Quick
To: Dave Halliday
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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><Imported from Archives, 10/10/93 message to Dave Bearrow><
DB> How did you go about winding your coil? What are the specs?
The first step in winding a coil is to select a coil form. The
coil form should be a low loss material (we are talking RF
losses) like polyethylene, polystyrene, or polypropylene: but the
most common material is PVC plastic drain pipe (thinnest wall is
best) which is high loss. I used a section of PVC thin wall flume
duct.
Ratios of coil height to width are important. Small coils work
best with aspect ratios (height to width) around 5:1 - 4:1,
larger coils (over 8" diam.) have aspect ratios around 3:1. Now
we are talking about the actual winding length here, so allow an
extra inch or so of coil form on each end. Determine the length
required and cut the ends square.
The form must be sanded smooth of surface imperfections, dried
thoroughly, and if PVC is used, it must be sealed. A good sealer
is polyurethane, another is two part epoxy paint. By sealing the
surface of the PVC before you wind on wire you can negate the
excessive losses in PVC plastic coil forms. If necessary the coil
form may be sanded again after the sealer had dried.
The coil should be wound with good quality magnet wire. I use
double Formvar enamel coated magnet wire. Magnet wire gives you
maximum inductance. A coil should have over 900 turns, but not
too much over 1000 turns. There is a little leeway here. Select a
gauge of wire which will allow the aspect ratio and number of
turns to fall within this range.
I dug that up as it pretty much explains things, and you may have
missed the post.
DH> What determines a certain plastics being good?
As I omitted in the other message, the dielectric constant is not
the factor to go by when choosing a coil form. It is really
preferable to use a plastic with the lowest dielectric constant.
The reason for this is you want the distributed capacity of the
coil to be as low as possible. Capacitance in a coil stores
energy, and we want the throughput to be as rapid as possible.
The distributed capacitance in a coil retards the current peak
that follows the VSWR (resonate rise). Coils have enough problems
with distributed capacity from the length of wire, the closeness
of turns, and the number of windings. No need to make things
worse by choosing a plastic with a high dielectric constant.
What is most important in choosing a coil form material is the
dissipation factor. The dissipation factor of all commercial
plastics has been calculated, and somewhere in this mess I have
those figures. If my memory serves me correctly, the standard
RF dissipation factors are based on a frequency of 1 Mhz, close
enough to judge if the plastic is suitable for coil work.
The next important factor to look at is the dielectric strength.
This should take second place to dissipation factors if your goal
is to build the most efficient coil possible. Proper con-
struction, more than anything, prevents electrical breakdown.
Even if the dissipation factor is very low (good efficiency) it
is best to use the thinnest wall coil form possible, even if the
wall thickness is not able to retain a circular cross section
when mechanically stressed. Just treat the coil gently.
As far as the electrical strength of a coil wound on a very thin
walled plastic tube, it should not break down internally if the
WIRE IS NEVER ALLOWED INSIDE THE COIL FORM. Do not drill holes
or introduce the wire into the coil. A hole anywhere on the coil
sidewall will cause a failure regardless of the dielectric
strength of the coil form plastic. My coils are capped top and
bottom with plexiglass plates that are approximately the same
thickness as the coil form wall. I use two-part epoxy cement, and
I seal them airtight. It is OK to drill one small hole in the
bottom plexiglas plate to equalize air pressure, but I do not.
The air terminal capacitance is connected by lead wire (I just
use the magnet wire and avoid splicing) from the top of the coil.
The lead wire is "air wound" up to the terminal, with the turns
about the same diameter as the coil, or a little smaller. You
will see me doing this in the video when I set up for a low power
test in the garage.
The terminal capacitance must have a diameter greater than the
coil form, or spark will break out; either from the top of coil,
or from the air wound turns connecting the coil to the terminal.
The other construction secret not covered in the video is the
ground connection. Once the coil is wound and sealed I take the
base wire and pull it up out of the sealant until it is free all
the way to the beginning of the first turn. I clip off the excess
wire, leaving about a 2" tail. I lay the tail on a metal block,
and using a small ballpeen hammer, flatten it out as best I can.
A strip of copper sheet about 3/4" by 2" is then cut from stock
and bent slightly to match the curvature of the coil form. Solder
the flattened tail to the back of the copper strip. Position the
strip on the coil form just below the bottom turn of wire, and
scribe a rectangle through the sealant all the way to the coil
form plastic. Remove the sealer from the scribed area, then score
and clean the bared plastic. I then use epoxy to bed the copper
strip. This forms a high current grounding plate without
drilling. Ground wire or strap (preferred) can be held in firm
connection to the plate with tape or a large rubber band.
... And if all else fails... Put another megavolt through it
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Msg#: 898 Date: 11-10-93 22:10
From: David Tiefenbrunn
To: Richard Quick
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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On 11-05-93 Richard Quick wrote to David Tiefenbrunn...
RQ> Well Dave,
RQ>
RQ> I talked with the architect again today. Things are firming up
RQ> for a real lab.
RQ>
RQ> The building so far is looking like this:
RQ>
RQ> 50' x 60' with 8' masonry walls and 8' sheet metal walls on top.
RQ> This gives a total wall height of 16 feet, with a slope up to the
RQ> center of the roof for a 20' peak.
I'm in a similar situation. We recently purchased a
2.75 acre lot, and are designing our new home and
lab / shop. So far, I'm planning a 26x56 ranch
with full basement 8-9ft clearance, and since I
plan to use trusses for the floor joists, the
basement will be free of support poles. We will
also have a 3 bay garage (2 for cars, 1 for projects),
with switchable heat. Eventually build a shed
for the 45KW generator.
RQ> The half masonry, half sheet metal wall was a compromise for
RQ> security, cost, and you'll never guess what else... My testing
RQ> shows an all metal walled building will induct, and large
RQ> currents will cruise through the structure. So masonry for the
RQ> first 8' feet seems a good compromise.
Sounds good to me. I was flipping through a friend's
book about some of Tesla's work, and saw some pictures
of his labs. Apperently he had an opening in the roof
with a long pole & ball sticking out. Must have been
something to see at night.
RQ> For electrical service I'm getting 480 volt 3 phase, 400 amps,
RQ> and 110/220 single phase 200 amps.
YIKES! when your'e done with the 10KVA, are you going for 100KVA? <g>
Iv'e got a video tape & etc. ready to mail out,
just have to get to the post office.
I put a few minutes of the first run of the 45KW generator
on it, since you were interested and the tape is going
your way anyhow.
Dave
___
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Msg#: 910 Date: 11-16-93 15:37
From: Dave Halliday
To: Richard Quick
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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RQ> -=> SEZ Dave Halliday to Richard Quick <=-
RQ> RQ> Larry J. Rebman
> > The Transformer Bank, Inc.
He was out hunting until today - haven't called yet but will,
probably tomorrow - I have these pesky clients who actually
want me to do something for them... :)
RQ> RQ>My pole pig ran $303.00, including shipping, and was
> >delivered to me ten days from the date I dropped the
> >certified check in the mail.
RQ>Your shipping rate may be higher since you are all the way cross
>country, and your delivery time will most likely take longer.
>Still, where else are you going to go?
So true - one of the ( few ) down sides of living out here. Looking
on the bright side though, I could have settled in Nome or Honolulu...
Actually the interstate trucking is pretty reasonable - I-90 goes
straight into town and that is one of the major East / West
routes.
>educated me on the EPA requirements. Do not accept a pig, even a
>free one, if it does not have PCB certification papers. Some pigs
RQ>It is not the PCBs that bother me. The problem occurs if youwant
>to sell or dispose of the unit. With current regulations, and
>lack of certification, you have a legal hot potato that can cause
Gotcha! That thought occurred to me too - getting one might be easy
but the eventual disposal would be a nightmare...
RQ>Another type of xfrmr excellent for coil work is the potential
>type xfrmr. These are potted in plastic, not tar, and are not
>shunted like neons. They carry the HV ratings required, and/or
>can be placed in series (two 7500 volt units for a total of
>15KV). Since the cores are NOT shell wound, they will saturate,
RQ>These xfrmrs are used to step down a kilowatt or two for cooling
>fans, and for line voltage sensors in substations; so they are
>not manufactured in the quantities that pigs are. They are much
I will have to call on that one - I spoke to the person who handles
surplus disposal for Seattle City Light and he seemed to be enthusiastic
about helping but his hands were tied by EPA regs. They do have a
mechanism for public sale of surplus items so it shouldn't be too
hard.
RQ>Yeah, neons are not built very solid. The secondaries are
>el'cheapo, as the thinnest wire possible is used. The failure
>rate is pretty high even in their rated service. Since the copper
>content is low, they are not commonly recycled, and the cores
I guess because they are built by the thousand and considered a field
replaceable unit and not repairable... Just pass the "savings" on to
the sign owner...
>pile up quickly. The higher the output current rating, the better
>they are built. Once the tar potting is removed, they last much
>longer in Tesla use. Tar is a very poor RF insulator. To a Tesla
>discharge, the tar looks more like an impedance! Pick up dead
We will go that route - again, I got the neon xformer post so we will
start there!
RQ>capacitors if you want more than a few hours of heavy duty
>service from a bank of neons.
I located a good source for 600 volt AC caps in the 1 to 6 mFd
range - I will use the formula ( corrected version ) that you
posted when we get going. Also, will have to send photos - looking
forward to this!
RQ>As far as RF choking is concerned, the HV filter board I designed
>and built in the video is the best I have ever used. I have not
>had a single xfrmr failure since I built it. Bypass capacitors on
>neon power supplies must be center tap grounded, so I switch
>to using a different capacitor setup. As the secondaries on neons
>are center tap ground, so must the bypass capacitors. I use two
>stacks of caps; each stack has a connection to a HV bushing, and
>to the system ground.
Great! Like I said, I already have some large ferrite torroids, I'll
use them and the spark gap and get some caps. Another person ( used to
be my tech person 'till they went into business for themselves ) has
built a few - he always complained about transformers blowing up - I'll
have to pass this info on if he is still involved. ALso, he was
building coils a *lot* longer than 1/4 wave - still got some respectable
sparks though...
Anyway, got to go back and print some more xmass cards - graphic
artist is having us do 500 of them as a trial run - nice design and
we played with some good paper / ink combo. Got to do the insides now.
TTYL - Dave ë:-)
RQ>... And if all else fails... Put another megavolt through it
>___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12
RQ>--- WM v3.01/93-0100
> ! Origin: St. Louis Users Group BBS (314) 878-7614
(1:100/4.0) (1:100/4.0
-!-
b QMPro 1.51 b Reality is a crutch for those who can't handle
homebrew
-!- WM v3.10/92-0434
! Origin: Advanced Software Concepts-WC3.90P-15.8,301-794-6496
(1:109/546)
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Msg#: 2729 Date: 11-10-93 22:16
From: Richard Quick
To: Dave Halliday
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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><Imported from Archives, 10/10/93 message to Dave Bearrow><
DB> How did you go about winding your coil? What are the specs?
The first step in winding a coil is to select a coil form. The
coil form should be a low loss material (we are talking RF
losses) like polyethylene, polystyrene, or polypropylene: but the
most common material is PVC plastic drain pipe (thinnest wall is
best) which is high loss. I used a section of PVC thin wall flume
duct.
Ratios of coil height to width are important. Small coils work
best with aspect ratios (height to width) around 5:1 - 4:1,
larger coils (over 8" diam.) have aspect ratios around 3:1. Now
we are talking about the actual winding length here, so allow an
extra inch or so of coil form on each end. Determine the length
required and cut the ends square.
The form must be sanded smooth of surface imperfections, dried
thoroughly, and if PVC is used, it must be sealed. A good sealer
is polyurethane, another is two part epoxy paint. By sealing the
surface of the PVC before you wind on wire you can negate the
excessive losses in PVC plastic coil forms. If necessary the coil
form may be sanded again after the sealer had dried.
The coil should be wound with good quality magnet wire. I use
double Formvar enamel coated magnet wire. Magnet wire gives you
maximum inductance. A coil should have over 900 turns, but not
too much over 1000 turns. There is a little leeway here. Select a
gauge of wire which will allow the aspect ratio and number of
turns to fall within this range.
I dug that up as it pretty much explains things, and you may have
missed the post.
DH> What determines a certain plastics being good?
As I omitted in the other message, the dielectric constant is not
the factor to go by when choosing a coil form. It is really
preferable to use a plastic with the lowest dielectric constant.
The reason for this is you want the distributed capacity of the
coil to be as low as possible. Capacitance in a coil stores
energy, and we want the throughput to be as rapid as possible.
The distributed capacitance in a coil retards the current peak
that follows the VSWR (resonate rise). Coils have enough problems
with distributed capacity from the length of wire, the closeness
of turns, and the number of windings. No need to make things
worse by choosing a plastic with a high dielectric constant.
What is most important in choosing a coil form material is the
dissipation factor. The dissipation factor of all commercial
plastics has been calculated, and somewhere in this mess I have
those figures. If my memory serves me correctly, the standard
RF dissipation factors are based on a frequency of 1 Mhz, close
enough to judge if the plastic is suitable for coil work.
The next important factor to look at is the dielectric strength.
This should take second place to dissipation factors if your goal
is to build the most efficient coil possible. Proper con-
struction, more than anything, prevents electrical breakdown.
Even if the dissipation factor is very low (good efficiency) it
is best to use the thinnest wall coil form possible. Turns of
wire, coats of sealer, and hard plastic end caps will stiffen the
coil some. Low density polyethylene forms (such as wastebaskets)
give coils with very high "Q" factors (a measure of efficiency)
but are difficult to work with, as this plastic is VERY flexible.
As far as the electrical strength of a coil wound on a very thin
walled plastic tube, it should not break down internally if THE
WIRE IS NEVER ALLOWED INSIDE THE COIL FORM. Do not drill holes
or introduce the wire into the side of the coil. A hole anywhere
on the coil sidewall will cause a failure regardless of the di-
electric strength of the coil form plastic. My coils are capped
top and bottom with plexiglass plates that are approximately the
same thickness as the coil form wall. I use two-part epoxy cement
and I seal them airtight. It is OK to drill one small hole in the
bottom plexiglas plate to equalize air pressure, but I do not.
The air terminal capacitance is connected by lead wire (I just
use the magnet wire and avoid splicing) from the top of the coil.
The lead wire is "air wound" up to the terminal, with the turns
about the same diameter as the coil, or a little smaller. You
will see me doing this in the video when I set up for a low power
test in the garage.
The terminal capacitance must have a diameter greater than the
coil form, or spark will break out; either from the top of coil,
or from the air wound turns connecting the coil to the terminal.
The other construction secret not covered in the video is the
ground connection. Once the coil is wound and sealed I take the
base wire and pull it up out of the sealant until it is free all
the way to the beginning of the first turn. I clip off the excess
wire, leaving about a 2" tail. I lay the tail on a metal block,
and using a small ballpeen hammer, flatten it out as best I can.
A strip of copper sheet about 3/4" by 2" is then cut from stock
and bent slightly to match the curvature of the coil form. Solder
the flattened tail to the back of the copper strip. Position the
strip on the coil form just below the bottom turn of wire, and
scribe a rectangle through the sealant all the way to the coil
form plastic. Remove the sealer from the scribed area, then score
and clean the bared plastic. I then use epoxy to bed the copper
strip. This forms a high current grounding plate without
drilling. Ground wire or strap (preferred) can be held in firm
connection to the plate with tape or a large rubber band.
... And if all else fails... Put another megavolt through it
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Msg#: 2729 Date: 11-10-93 22:16
From: Richard Quick
To: Dave Halliday
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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DH> What determines a certain plastics being good?
(for winding coils)
As I omitted in the other message, the dielectric constant is not
the factor to go by when choosing a coil form. It is really
preferable to use a plastic with the lowest dielectric constant.
The reason for this is you want the distributed capacity of the
coil to be as low as possible. Capacitance in a coil stores
energy, and we want the throughput to be as rapid as possible.
The distributed capacitance in a coil retards the current peak
that follows the VSWR (resonate rise). Coils have enough problems
with distributed capacity from the length of wire, the closeness
of turns, and the number of windings. No need to make things
worse by choosing a plastic with a high dielectric constant.
What is most important in choosing a coil form material is the
dissipation factor. The dissipation factor of all commercial
plastics has been calculated, and somewhere in this mess I have
those figures. If my memory serves me correctly, the standard
RF dissipation factors are based on a frequency of 1 Mhz, close
enough to judge if the plastic is suitable for coil work.
The next important factor to look at is the dielectric strength.
This should take second place to dissipation factors if your goal
is to build the most efficient coil possible. Proper con-
struction, more than anything, prevents electrical breakdown.
Even if the dissipation factor is very low (good efficiency) it
is best to use the thinnest wall coil form possible. Turns of
wire, coats of sealer, and hard plastic end caps will stiffen the
coil some. Low density polyethylene forms (such as wastebaskets)
give coils with very high "Q" factors (a measure of efficiency)
but are difficult to work with, as this plastic is VERY flexible.
As far as the electrical strength of a coil wound on a very thin
walled plastic tube, it should not break down internally if THE
WIRE IS NEVER ALLOWED INSIDE THE COIL FORM. Do not drill holes
or introduce the wire into the side of the coil. A hole anywhere
on the coil sidewall will cause a failure regardless of the di-
electric strength of the coil form plastic. My coils are capped
top and bottom with plexiglass plates that are approximately the
same thickness as the coil form wall. I use two-part epoxy cement
and I seal them airtight. It is OK to drill one small hole in the
bottom plexiglas plate to equalize air pressure, but I do not.
The air terminal capacitance is connected by lead wire (I just
use the magnet wire and avoid splicing) from the top of the coil.
The lead wire is "air wound" up to the terminal, with the turns
about the same diameter as the coil, or a little smaller. You
will see me doing this in the video when I set up for a low power
test in the garage.
The terminal capacitance must have a diameter greater than the
coil form for high powered work, or spark will break out; either
from the top of coil, or from the air wound turns connecting the
coil to the terminal.
The other construction secret not covered in the video is the
ground connection. Once the coil is wound and sealed I take the
base wire and pull it up out of the sealant until it is free all
the way to the beginning of the first turn. I clip off the excess
wire, leaving about a 2" tail. I lay the tail on a metal block,
and using a small ballpeen hammer, flatten it out as best I can.
A strip of copper sheet about 3/4" by 2" is then cut from stock
and bent slightly to match the curvature of the coil form. Solder
the flattened tail to the back of the copper strip. Position the
strip on the coil form just below the bottom turn of wire, and
scribe a rectangle through the sealant all the way to the coil
form plastic. Remove the sealer from the scribed area, then score
and clean the bared plastic. I then use epoxy to bed the copper
strip. This forms a high current grounding plate without
drilling. Ground wire or strap (preferred) can be held in firm
connection to the plate with tape or a large rubber band.
... And if all else fails... Put another megavolt through it
... If all else fails... Put another megavolt through it.
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12
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Msg#: 683 Date: 11-11-93 11:05
From: Dave Halliday
To: Mark Lawton @ 930/20
Subj: 10kva tesla coil
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ML>RQ> GD> Well I have a Jacob's ladder on an old theatre marquis neon
>RQ> GD> transformer. Really makes the kitty stop and pay attention.
>RQ> GD> Worries people who see it, too. My inner Beavis loves it.
>RQ>
>RQ>Yeah, I have some videos of the pole pig settin on the garage
>RQ>floor with 3/8" copper pipe rails. Pulls arcs clear to the
ML>Love it... Pole Pig = Jacob's Ladder
ML>PS Does anyone need some neon transformers? I've got 3 collecting
dust.
>(2) 7500V & (1) 15000V
Hi Mark - I just got a copy of Richards video ( well worth the $10 ) and
the Jacobs ladder is fantastic! He is using 1/2" copper pipe for the
electrodes and getting about a foot-long arc at the end of it.
Has a wonderful "fat" sound to it too - not the bzzzzzt of a sign
transformer - more of a deep growl...
I saw in your previous ms. that you also are into coil building.
I built a few a while ago and will be working with two other
people to do a couple of them - small one ( 3' or so ) for now and
maybe a >big< one down the road.
TTYL - Dave ë:-)
b QMPro 1.51 b (r)bb<——— Š££££££ "Hmm, the force is strong with
this one"
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! Origin: Advanced Software Concepts-WC3.90P-15.8,301-794-6496
(1:109/546)
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Msg#: 672 Date: 11-11-93 16:35
From: Brian Mcmurry
To: Richard Quick
Subj: Re: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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On Sun 7-Nov-1993 4:14p, Richard Quick wrote:
RQ> These units must be run with a heavy
RQ> current limiter or they will pull the entire neighborhood into
RQ> your experiment. You should be able to energize them without
RQ> dimming the lights.
I've been following all the Tesla threads and wonder what your
monthly electric bill runs. :)
BTW, keep it coming.
-!-
! Origin: *AACHEN* 818-972-9440 Burbank, CA FIDONET
(1:102/844)
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Msg#: 2755 Date: 11-11-93 17:08
From: Richard Quick
To: Robert Taylor
Subj: Re: 10KVA TESLA COIL
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-=> SEZ Robert Taylor to George Powell <=-
> using neon xformers..
GP> Do you have any probs with the xformers heating up after a
GP> while?
RT> To be honest--has been a while since I've had my xformers to
RT> play with. But as I remember, the Jacob's Ladder hook-up
RT> didn't cause any unusual overheat. You might check the size
RT> of your initiating gap at the bottom of the ladder. If it's
RT> too close--it will put extra strain on the xformer.
Nope, it will not make any difference. The gap at the bottom of
the rails can be closed and the xfrmr will not be subject to any
extra strain. If the rails are properly set, the gap will be
pretty close.
RT> One thought--if your xformer is in a small case, the
RT> overheat may be natural.
Even in a big case the heating is normal. A bigger case means it
takes longer for the heat to get to the point where you feel it.
RT> The ones that I used were fairly big monsters that weighed
RT> in at about 20 lbs. If yours is in a case about 5" high by
RT> about 10" long--then yours may be prone to overheating.
It's not "overheating", it's normal heating. Unless the tar is
melting, or output is diminished, there is no problem.
RT> However, if you have any questions as to your coil's
RT> integrity try using a VOM or continuity tester on both the
RT> secondary & primary & the case to make sure that there are
RT> no obvious shorts. A serious overheat can really test your
RT> fire insurance.
Doubtful, the secondaries can be shorted without any harm, and no
overheating will result. Shorts through the tar potting form
carbon tracks which are high in resistance and may not be
detectable with a VOM. And since these xfrmrs are magnetic
leakage shunted in the core, a short in a HV winding will basicly
cut the secondary out of the field flux generated by the primary.
The best way to test these suckers is to grap some HV rated wire
and draw an arc from each HV bushing to the case. If the arc
sputters, is weak, nonexistant, or intermittent then the core
should be unpotted and the winding replaced or restored. As I
mentioned in another post, about half the time unpotting alone
will cure a carbon track short.
RT> You might also want to hook your VOM up on the primary side
RT> & monitor your current draw (should be some specs on the
RT> case as to 120 VAC draw). If you see way-out draws or if
RT> the draw starts up w/time--then you may have a problem w/
RT> the windings.
If you go by this then every unit tested will show a problem
unless they were power factor corrected at the factory. The
plate specs give the OUTPUT wattage, output voltage, and output
current in miliamps. If you measure the input power vs. the
output specs you will find 50% of your input energy missing. The
unit gets hot....
You will lead Mr. Powell to believe there is a problem in the
core when that may not be the case. Due to the design of the core
this is completely normal. Fully one half of the input power is
converted to heat eventually, as energy is bypassed through
the core shunts to limit the output. Unless the xfrmr is getting
hot enough to melt the potting, or the output is markedly
diminished, there is no problem. If tar is melting, then the most
common problem is a shorted primary winding.
I have unpotted dozens of these transformers, and my experience
covers every major manufacturer. I have seen nearly every problem
that can cause failure, as I only rebuild failed units. I have
experimented with the effects of altering the core shunts for
greater output, and I have experimented with power factor
correcting in these units. I have done testing to measure the
efficiencies, and have developed proceedures to improve these
efficiencies. In other words I know these cores backwards and
forwards.
Mr. Powell may not have much experience with magnetic leakage
controlled xfrmrs. He is most likely interperting the normal
heat production as a problem. A normal step up xfrmr weighing
10 lbs, with a throughput under a kilowatt, would not get warm.
The normal step up xfrmr is not shunted, and wastes very little
energy. Yet the neon gets quite warm with throughputs of only a
third of a kilowatt. The neon is a different breed, and produces
as much heat as output.
I hope I have set the record straight. If you doubt my analysis,
please unpott a neon core, and look at the physical placement of
the shunts. You will wonder how any magnetic flux at all can get
to the secondary windings. The shunts are positioned so as to
place a direct magnetic bypass that completely surrounds the
primary. It is in effect, a built in magnetic short circuit. The
field flux passed through these shunts is wasted energy, and the
wasted energy heats the iron core. If you have a 360 watt neon
core, no power factor correction, and no core modifications, you
will get about 360 watts of heat if you put a Jacob' Ladder or
Tesla coil on it. 360 watts of heat will bring the core temp up
quickly and it will stay quite warm to the touch. Yet everything
is working fine, except for your efficiencies.
... If all else fails... Put another megavolt through it.
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12
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Msg#: 2792 Date: 11-12-93 14:56
From: Richard Quick
To: Dave Halliday
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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-=> SEZ Dave Halliday to Richard Quick <=-
DH> Hi Richard - again, thanks for the fantastic video!
RQ> Larry J. Rebman
> The Transformer Bank, Inc.
> University Technology Center
> 1313 Fifth St. SE
> Minneapolis, MN 55415
RQ> Tel: (612) 379-3958, Fax: (612) 379-5962
DH> GREAT!!!!!
>The retail cost is a little over $1.00 a pound, so figure a 230
>pound, 10 KVA xfrmr, will run about $250.00.
RQ>The Transformer Bank has a shipping contract with
RQ>Consolidated Frieghtways
RQ>My pole pig ran $303.00, including shipping, and was
>delivered to me ten days from the date I dropped the
>certified check in the mail.
Your shipping rate may be higher since you are all the way cross
country, and your delivery time will most likely take longer.
Still, where else are you going to go?
RQ>The unit came with certification papers that match the serial
>number on the plate, showing it to be PCB free.
DH> This is exactly the info I have been looking for!
Having been there I pretty much know the score. I looked for over
a year for a supplier for these units, while the utilities
educated me on the EPA requirements. Do not accept a pig, even a
free one, if it does not have PCB certification papers. Some pigs
I have seen will carry a PCB free cert. number on the plate, and
that too is OK. You can then write the manufacturer and they will
mail the papers if you provide them with the number.
It is not the PCBs that bother me. The problem occurs if you want
to sell or dispose of the unit. With current regulations, and
lack of certification, you have a legal hot potato that can cause
you problems. I have not seen the letter of the law, but the
utilities have informed me the legal implications are rather
severe, and place serious liablities on the owners of pigs
containing PCB.
There are a few transfer yards that have clean room holding
facilities. They are expensive to own, maintain, and operate,
but they are licensed to drain the old oil, rinse the cores, and
scrap them. Cores can be purchased for a few bucks ($5-$20).
The problem is that the cores are old, frequently damaged, or
contaminated with water (from sitting in the rain) and won't hold
up unless they are dried, repaired, and resubmerged in xfrmr oil.
Better off to pay a little more and buy a surplus new unit.
Another type of xfrmr excellent for coil work is the potential
type xfrmr. These are potted in plastic, not tar, and are not
shunted like neons. They carry the HV ratings required, and/or
can be placed in series (two 7500 volt units for a total of
15KV). Since the cores are NOT shell wound, they will saturate,
and so they are safer and require little or no current limiting.
These xfrmrs may be obtained from utilities without the problem
of EPA regs. The normal ratings on potential xfrmrs runs from
about 1-3 KVA, and so are ideal for the middle area between neons
and pole pigs. The surplus cost on these runs from $25.00 -
$50.00 each, but they will be used, not new, surplus.
These xfrmrs are used to step down a kilowatt or two for cooling
fans, and for line voltage sensors in substations; so they are
not manufactured in the quantities that pigs are. They are much
harder to find in the surplus market, but definately worth
grabbing if you come across one. If you developed any contacts at
the local utilities while searching for a pig, you might call
them back and ask them about potential transformers.
DH> I also got your postings on neon sign transformers yesterday
DH> - the idea of getting the reject units from a sign company
DH> is obvious - should have thought of that one... <WHACK!>
DH> ( sound of head hitting desk )
Yeah, neons are not built very solid. The secondaries are
el'cheapo, as the thinnest wire possible is used. The failure
rate is pretty high even in their rated service. Since the copper
content is low, they are not commonly recycled, and the cores
pile up quickly. The higher the output current rating, the better
they are built. Once the tar potting is removed, they last much
longer in Tesla use. Tar is a very poor RF insulator. To a Tesla
discharge, the tar looks more like an impedance! Pick up dead
units for nothing, remove the tar, modify the core slightly, and
use pfc capacitance; then they will serve cheaply and effi-
ciently. You must use heavy RF choking, safety gaps, and bypass
capacitors if you want more than a few hours of heavy duty
service from a bank of neons.
As far as RF choking is concerned, the HV filter board I designed
and built in the video is the best I have ever used. I have not
had a single xfrmr failure since I built it. Bypass capacitors on
neon power supplies must be center tap grounded, so I switch
to using a different capacitor setup. As the secondaries on neons
are center tap ground, so must the bypass capacitors. I use two
stacks of caps; each stack has a connection to a HV bushing, and
to the system ground.
... And if all else fails... Put another megavolt through it
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12
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Msg#: 654 Date: 11-12-93 16:57
From: Richard Quick
To: Guy Daugherty
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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RQ>a real lab.
RQ>The building so far is looking like this:
RQ>50' x 60' with 8' masonry walls and 8' sheet metal walls on
RQ>top. This gives a total wall height of 16 feet, with a slope
RQ>up to the center of the roof for a 20' peak.
GD> This is geting out of hand, Richard.
Well Guy, I need a place to put all of my stuff where it won't
get rained on. Any other bright ideas?
I have about $5000.00 worth of Tesla equip. ($15,000 replacement
cost), about $5000.00 worth of chemistry equip, not to mention
boxes of homemade pyrotechinics equipment (ball mill, star
presses, rocket ramming table, drying racks, rolls of paper and
tubing, mixing containers, sieves, etc.) I also buy, sell, and
build/rebuild/repair Vespa scooters; own three now, plus parts of
a forth, plus a workbench of special tools for engines, frames,
wheels, etc.
I would like to mess around with some hard vacuum equipment,
and do some bulb blowing/tube bending... and I need a place to
put my shop tools (band saw, drill press, belt sander, table saw,
air compressor, etc.)
Then I need an office (some place other than my bedroom), where I
can put my $5000.00 worth of computer equipt., desk, and library,
and what do I do with my 55 gallon fish tank? The AV equipment?
Where do you suggest I go with all of my toys? I would like to
house everything somewhere where I don't disturb people, I can
work day or night at will; blow things up, burn things out, and
set up and fire some big coils, and all will be safe.
... Do you need a roomate? Is it OK if I experiment nextdoor?
My "eccentricities" core my very being. I have a temporary "block
house" out in the back drive where I mill powders, but I worry
about vandals having their tables turned on them, or some
innocent kids investigating the grinding noise and accidently
blowing themselves off the property. I retained a shipping/
receiving agent some years ago, and he will tell you that I get
the most bizzare packages he has ever seen...
BTW I don't think I require professional advice on how to spend
money, I learned just fine, and I know exactly why I get up and
go to work every day. My priorities are different than most
people, and so are my needs. This building is not an extra-
vagance. It is already filled, and I will probably have to add an
additional storage building within the first couple of years or
so, then I imagine I will have to add another building to move
out my shop equipment to keep the floor space clear in the main
lab area. What would you do?
... And if all else fails... Put another megavolt through it
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Msg#: 1 Date: 12 Nov 93 22:49:34
From: Richard Quick
To: All
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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* Originally By: Richard Quick
* Originally To: Guy Daugherty
* Originally Re: 10KVA Tesla Coil
* Original Area: FIDOElectr
* Forwarded by : Blue Wave v2.12
RQ>a real lab.
RQ>The building so far is looking like this:
RQ>50' x 60' with 8' masonry walls and 8' sheet metal walls on
RQ>top. This gives a total wall height of 16 feet, with a slope
RQ>up to the center of the roof for a 20' peak.
GD> This is geting out of hand, Richard.
Well Guy, I need a place to put all of my stuff where it won't
get rained on. Any other bright ideas?
I have about $5000.00 worth of Tesla equip. ($15,000 replacement
cost), about $5000.00 worth of chemistry equip, not to mention
boxes of homemade pyrotechinics equipment (ball mill, star
presses, rocket ramming table, drying racks, rolls of paper and
tubing, mixing containers, sieves, etc.) I also buy, sell, and
build/rebuild/repair Vespa scooters; own three now, plus parts of
a forth, plus a workbench of special tools for engines, frames,
wheels, etc.
I would like to mess around with some hard vacuum equipment,
and do some bulb blowing/tube bending... and I need a place to
put my shop tools (band saw, drill press, belt sander, table saw,
air compressor, etc.)
Then I need an office (some place other than my bedroom), where I
can put my $5000.00 worth of computer equipt., desk, and library,
and what do I do with my 55 gallon fish tank? The AV equipment?
Where do you suggest I go with all of my toys? I would like to
house everything somewhere where I don't disturb people, I can
work day or night at will; blow things up, burn things out, and
set up and fire some big coils, and all will be safe.
... Do you need a roomate? Is it OK if I experiment nextdoor?
My "eccentricities" core my very being. I have a temporary "block
house" out in the back drive where I mill powders, but I worry
about vandals having their tables turned on them, or some
innocent kids investigating the grinding noise and accidently
blowing themselves off the property. I retained a shipping/
receiving agent some years ago, and he will tell you that I get
the most bizzare packages he has ever seen...
BTW I don't think I require professional advice on how to spend
money, I learned just fine, and I know exactly why I get up and
go to work every day. My priorities are different than most
people, and so are my needs. This building is not an extra-
vagance. It is already filled, and I will probably have to add an
additional storage building within the first couple of years or
so, then I imagine I will have to add another building to move
out my shop equipment to keep the floor space clear in the main
lab area. What would you do?
... And if all else fails... Put another megavolt through it
ŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽ
Msg#: 1 Date: 13 Nov 93 00:42:00
From: Richard Quick
To: All
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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Looking over my last post, I can anticipate a few questions.
I described a very poor grounding system. What then makes a
good RF ground?
Well a small coil can fire off a radiating counterpoise (insul-
ated metal plate) a few feet square. But when you overload a
counterpoise, you get a really wicked corona display, and the
coil will produce no additional spark. Having set up various
experiments to study this effect, including tracing the ground
current, and using a current transformer to measure the RMS amps
coming from the base of a Tesla secondary, I can tell you this.
There is no such thing as a RF "system" ground that is too heavy.
Not in Tesla coils.
This is another thing that Tesla went on and on about. But my
follow up experiments in this area, which have been quite
extensive, show that he knew what he was talking about.
I got extremely lucky in that we have a hydraulic car lift in our
back driveway. There is a 5' steel cylinder that is 14" in diam..
In addition to the giant piston, there are buried oil and air
tanks with all of the associated plumbing. The lift controls are
sunk right where the house foundation drains, and it is in the
lowest spot in rear of the house. There are no electrical
connections made to this lift, air being supplied when needed by
a hose. This is my Tesla ground.
A good Tesla RF ground is usually developed, not happened upon.
It will require some digging and post driving. It needs to be
kept moist. Drive deep with copper pipe, or copper clad rod, and
keep adding to it. Metal culverts, metal sewer drain pipe should
be connected if available. Spread out! Do not drive rod or pipe
close together. Four or five 8' rods driven in a long row, 8'
apart will work. A ground that you are absolutely sure will
ground a bolt of natural lightning, will be heavy enough to
ground most coils. DON'T CHINCH!
People have asked me if I get complaints about RFI. The answer is
no. The reason is that I isolate my coil (system) ground from the
copper water pipe and from the utility ground (which in my house
are the same). Here is a basic list of things that you DO NOT
CONNECT to the system RF ground: WATER PIPE, GAS PIPE, UTILITY
GROUND, ANYTHING THAT STICKS UP IN THE AIR (fences, gutters,
downspouts) TELEPHONE GROUNDS, & CABLE GROUNDS. Most anything
else is fair game, but use common sense.
You build or find a heavy ground and you ground your coil system
to it. The connections made to this RF ground are as follows:
SECONDARY COIL, SAFETY GAP, STEP UP XFRMR CORE, BYPASS CAPACITORS
(if using a center tap grnd xfrmr), SPARK GAP MOTOR HOUSINGS,
SPARK SHIELDS, AND ANY OBJECT SUBJECT TO BE STRUCK WITH DISCHARGE
I don't usually use my caps lock, but this is important. This
technique prevents RFI complaints, and will save valuable
electronic equipment in your area from destruction. It may save
you from the last shock of your life.
You ground your variac housing to your neutral wire. All other
coil controls, relay housings, control xfrmr cores, line RFI
filters (run backwards) are grounded to the variac housing. Strap
is taken from the variac housing to a well grounded water pipe.
This protects the coil operator and the control circuits from
kickback that may come down the line from the step up xfrmr.
Two 60 cycle cables are run from the variac, through reversed
line filters, out to the step up xfrmr. No ground connection is
made anywhere between the 60 cycle cabinet ground and the RF
system ground. Hot wires only are given to the primary of the
step up xfrmr, as well as any gap motors or other utility for the
coil tank circuit.
This is called the "two ground system" and it is highly recom-
mended. The idea of the two ground system is to send all of the
RF to a dedicated ground, and prevent bleedover into your house
wiring, control cabinet and/or water pipe. It also protects the
operator with two low potential grounds from the lethal possi-
bilities of a coil misfire or similar "incident".
People have told me I am crazy for messing with all of this HV.
I take NO CHANCES with my ground. The ground strap is literally
the "bottom line" in coil safety or any other HV apparatus. If an
accident occurs; a core shorts out, a capacitor blows, or the
secondary decides to dump a 10' spark back to the tank circuit;
I know my safety gap - RF ground will handle the load. My 60
cycle cabinet ground is my backup. With tank circuit energies in
the megawatt range you can't afford to have a weak point.
Keep the physical distance between the base of the secondary coil
and the system RF ground as short as possible. I try never to go
further than 20 feet for low power stuff, and 15' or less for the
high powered work. Use the heaviest strap possible. I run two
heavy straps; one from the base of the secondary directly to
system ground, the second snakes around and grounds everything
else. This is a high Q Tesla grounding system. It gives the best
coil performance, the most safety for the coil operator,
and guess what?
People in my house, and the neighbors next door, can watch TV or
listen to the radio, with no snow or static! Even during high
power operation! I never get spark from my coil controls. All of
the RF currents that are not expended in spark are directly,
positively, grounded through a high Q ground path to a high Q
ground that is electrically isolated from all other equipment.
-!-
... And if all else fails... Put another megavolt through it
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12
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Msg#: 2932 Date: 11-13-93 10:43
From: Dave Halliday
To: Richard Quick
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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RQ> RQ>The building so far is looking like this:
RQ> RQ>50' x 60' with 8' masonry walls and 8' sheet metal wallson
> RQ>top. This gives a total wall height of 16 feet, with a slope
RQ> DH> WOW! Do you plan to do shows? You could charge admission.
RQ> DH> Sounds fantastic!
RQ>The thought has crossed my mind. The primary use of the structure
>would be of course R&D of the Magnifier on a medium scale, but
>rest assured it will see other uses as well. With room for
>storage, permanent set-ups, etc. Shows would be a snap to do.
>Not many people have seen the old Million Volts Through The Body
>trick, and it is a thrill to do, as well as to see.
I grew up in Pittsburgh PA and the local Planetarium there had a coil
that they gave public demos on - I do not know any of the actual data on
it save that it was about 7-10 feet tall, large solenoid primary of
about 10 turns with a tap on it and that it really caught my attention
every time it was set off <grin>
Anyway, I just got a bunch of material from you so I will print it out
and read through it. I did get your post on Neon Sign transformers and
the other people are also interested in starting small but I also got
the info about that place that sells GE surplus pole pigs too so we
should be ready for that too!
Thanks for the clarification re: the Schedule 40 pipe - I had always
looked at it as being heavier so therefore "better" - never thought of
the actual material as being a liability. What about ABS - is there any
difference with that?
Anyway, we will probably do a couple capacitors in the next week or so.
Like I said, I have an OK vacuum pump ( I do graphic arts and printing
)
and can pump it out so that should improve things.
Anyway, many many thanks for your time and help!
TTYL - Dave ë:-)
b QMPro 1.51 b "Oxymoron": A really, really, dumb baby ox...
-!- WM v3.10/92-0434
! Origin: Advanced Software Concepts-WC3.90P-15.8,301-794-6496
(1:109/546)
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Msg#: 852 Date: 11-13-93 12:34
From: Guy Daugherty
To: Richard Quick
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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RQ> RQ>50' x 60' with 8' masonry walls and 8' sheet metal walls on
RQ> GD> This is geting out of hand, Richard.
RQ>Well Guy, I need a place to put all of my stuff where it won't
RQ>get rained on. Any other bright ideas?
Yeah, but the perpetual motion thing with the generator driving
the motor driving the generator isn't working the way I thought it
would.
RQ>I have about $5000.00 worth of Tesla equip. ($15,000 replacement
RQ>cost), about $5000.00 worth of chemistry equip, not to mention
RQ>boxes of homemade pyrotechinics equipment (ball mill, star
RQ>presses, rocket ramming table, drying racks, rolls of paper and
RQ>tubing, mixing containers, sieves, etc.) I also buy, sell, and
No. Richard, you're NOT building fireworks, too? STOP IT!!
RQ>build/rebuild/repair Vespa scooters; own three now, plus parts of
RQ>a forth, plus a workbench of special tools for engines, frames,
RQ>wheels, etc.
Not much surprise there, really.....
RQ>I would like to mess around with some hard vacuum equipment,
RQ>and do some bulb blowing/tube bending... and I need a place to
RQ>put my shop tools (band saw, drill press, belt sander, table saw,
RQ>air compressor, etc.)
RQ>Then I need an office (some place other than my bedroom), where I
RQ>can put my $5000.00 worth of computer equipt., desk, and library,
RQ>and what do I do with my 55 gallon fish tank? The AV equipment?
RQ>Where do you suggest I go with all of my toys? I would like to
Oh, no, Richard. Don't EVER leave the door open like that.
RQ>house everything somewhere where I don't disturb people, I can
I'm kinda worried about how you're disturbing yourself....
RQ>work day or night at will; blow things up, burn things out, and
RQ>set up and fire some big coils, and all will be safe.
You need a concrete-lined pit.
RQ>My "eccentricities" core my very being. I have a temporary "block
Not me. Completely nnnnormal, here. Honest. My neighbor's dog
will attest to this in court.
RQ>house" out in the back drive where I mill powders, but I worry
RQ>about vandals having their tables turned on them, or some
RQ>innocent kids investigating the grinding noise and accidently
RQ>blowing themselves off the property. I retained a shipping/
Just desserts.
RQ>receiving agent some years ago, and he will tell you that I get
RQ>the most bizzare packages he has ever seen...
We take your word for it.....
RQ>BTW I don't think I require professional advice on how to spend
Oh, I'm just amateur. Haven't made a cent at it, yet....
RQ>money, I learned just fine, and I know exactly why I get up and
RQ>go to work every day. My priorities are different than most
RQ>people, and so are my needs. This building is not an extra-
RQ>vagance. It is already filled, and I will probably have to add an
RQ>additional storage building within the first couple of years or
RQ>so, then I imagine I will have to add another building to move
RQ>out my shop equipment to keep the floor space clear in the main
RQ>lab area. What would you do?
Ummm.... place a palm against each temple and repeat "Oh, no!" a
dozen times?
-!-
SLMR 2.1a But when the first shot hit the dock, I started
runnin'
-!- GEcho 1.00
! Origin: The Silhouetter bbs (209)472-0843 USR DS 16.8K
(1:208/216)
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Msg#: 2826 Date: 11-13-93 13:26
From: Richard Quick
To: Brian Mcmurry
Subj: Re: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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BM> On Sun 7-Nov-1993 4:14p, Richard Quick wrote:
RQ> These units must be run with a heavy current limiter or they
RQ> will pull the entire neighborhood into your experiment. You
RQ> should be able to energize them without dimming the lights.
BM> I've been following all the Tesla threads and wonder what
BM> your monthly electric bill runs. :)
BM> BTW, keep it coming.
Thanks, another vote of confidence. Much appreciated.
Well it's not as bad as it sounds. Tesla had one god: EFFICIENCY!
If you follow his work, you will find that efficiency is what
makes his systems beautiful, they don't waste much.
At one time I hooked a standard electric company wattmeter up to
the 240 V 100 A single phase supply circuit that I am using at
this time. Over a period of a month or so I used about $20.00
worth of electricity to actually fire coils.
There are other circuits that I tap to provide utilities to the
coils. Some of my spark gaps use compressed air to quench, others
use 240 volt vacuum motors, yet another uses muffin fans, I also
run a rotary gap motor in combination with a static gap on all my
bigger stuff for better efficiency and performance. These
utilities might use 25% of the energy I put into the coil, so add
another $5.00. I would feel comfortable saying $25-$30 a month.
Even when I run a big coil at 8-10 KVA I don't leave it running
all night. Five or six runs of between 3-8 minutes each is enough
to satisfy me, give me the data I need to improve, and get some
good video.
I don't fire every night. It is much more fun to have company
over and have a friend video tape the coils in action. The big
stuff has to be fired outdoors since I don't have the ceiling
height or floor space to fire anything bigger than an 8" coil
indoors. Outdoor firing is weather and neighbor dependant. I have
had some bad luck firing coils in windy conditions, and the
neighbors have threaten to get their torches and burn me out
if I fire too late at night (spark gaps sound like unmuffled
chainsaws at this power level).
The pole pigs used in heavy work are over 95% efficient, but
current limiting, depending on type, can waste 50% of your input
energy in the form of heat. In every area of my work I have
pushed the edges of my efficiencies, just as Tesla would have.
I use efficient step up power supplies to drive the oscillators,
with efficient: current limiters, tank circuits, capacitors,
spark gaps, etc.. With neons power factor correction helps a lot.
The goal in 1/4 wave coils is to turn every watt possible into
discharge, and waste as little as possible between the wall and
the discharge terminal. I am very good at it, and I believe I am
holding record spark lengths for input powers. If I do not hold
records, then I am very very close, but I have not seen any
system outperform mine up to 10KVA. And there is still room to do
better with my 1/4 wave coils.
To give you an idea, my power processing efficiencies range from
460 to 1100 watts (power drawn from the wall), per foot of spark
generated on my large coil. These figures are not linear, as I am
not using a sychronous rotary spark gap. The average strike from
the coil will reach anywhere from nine to eleven feet at 5-8 KVA.
But have seen more than a few 15' strikes at powers under 10 KVA.
... And if all else fails... Put another megavolt through it
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Msg#: 2933 Date: 11-13-93 15:17
From: Dave Halliday
To: Richard Quick
Subj: tesla coils
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Hi Richard - I have had time to go through and read the stuff you
posted - thanks again for the time you are spending here - this info
will be not only a great help but also a great motivator.
I had thought about getting back into Tesla coils for some time and
it took seeing what some one else out there was doing it to get me
started <grin>
DH> Very interesting that so much of the energy from it could be
DH> so closely coupled to the second coil... This will be a fun
DH> winter project!!!
The "extra coil" is completely uncoupled from the driver system.
Current from the driver is being fed into the base of the free
standing "extra" coil by transmission line. While you are not
able to see in the video... The transmission line glows with
corona from the heavy current.
I figured that it was not part of the primary / secondary circuit
but got it's power through the wire off of the Tesla secondary.
Amazing stuff and definitely the next thing to try after building the
first coil.
DH> I was talking with one of the people and they agreed to
DH> start on a smaller coil - I was thinking in the order of 4"
DH> diameter and about 3' long.
The aspect ratio (height to width ratio) is important. The
planned coil has an aspect ratio of 9:1 (36" long, 4" diam.)
this should be reduced to no more than 5:1 on a 4" diam. coil.
6" coils work best with 4:1 aspect ratio, anything larger 3:1.
******(cut from another part of a post)*******
The coil should be wound with good quality magnet wire. I use
double Formvar enamel coated magnet wire. Magnet wire gives you
maximum inductance. A coil should have over 900 turns, but not
too much over 1000 turns. There is a little leeway here. Select a
gauge of wire which will allow the aspect ratio and number of
turns to fall within this range.
**********************************************
OK - I made an "editorial decision" today to go for a 6" diameter form
and make it 24" long. I just was out running errands and got 1,500'
of 22 gauge Heavy Formvar insulated magnet wire so with a diameter of
0.0253, this works out to 948 turns - right in the ballpark that you
suggested in another part of this post.
I think the other people were thinking in the realm of the normal
misconception of Tesla coils as being long and skinny but I guess that
would make them longer than 1/4 wave...
We'll see what happens!
Vacuum Spark Gap
the video, but once it was working, it worked great. It has
trouble at power levels over 5 kVA. After an evening on the big
coil at 8 to 10 kVA I had some pitting and melting of the
electrode faces. This was reduced as I cut back on the number of
electrodes, increased the size (both length and diam.) of the
electrodes, and allowed for a larger gap between electrodes.
OK - I wonder if it would be feasible to make it with continuously
variable gap size - something with threaded plastic rods...
I think that since we are starting with neon sign x-formers, we can
just use the standard 6" PVC gap you showed - aren't going to be
running too much power through it <yet>
These homemade capacitors are high Q, reliable, and relatively
easy to build. Pumping them down will really help.
As I said - I do printing as well as the electronics and computers and
every piece of equipment here ( almost ) has some kind of vacuum pump
associated with it. These are all rotary-vane types so not really
high Torr but should be OK for "potting" the caps in oil.
DH> You mention that PVC is better but you also say not to use
DH> Schedule 40 - both kinds of pipe are rated as being Schedule
PVC is the worst plastic for use in secondary coils. It is
"lossy" (high RF dissipation factor) and has a low dielectric
strength. But it is commonly used because, as you mentioned, it
is available. Coil forms, regardless of material, should be as
thin as possible. Schedule 40 is thick, and is rated for pressure
use. Try to locate the thinner "drain" pipe or "flume duct" PVC
or other thin wall plastic. If PVC is used, it MUST be dry (baked
is preferred) and well sealed with a low loss sealant like poly-
urethane or two part epoxy.
OK - there is some pretty thin wall stuff in our local "Home Center"
store - I was worried about mechanical strength though - I can deflect
this pipe with just moderate pressure - I will have to stop into the
Cadillac Plastics store and see what they have in their cut-off's
bin... Also, I have a small South Bend lathe and could probably get
Schedule 40 and then turn off a bunch of it until it got too thin...
Baking it and then sealing it is a good idea - I will probably use the
slow speed on the lathe to wind the coil so I could also turn it
slowly while I was applying the sealer - keep it drip-free...
A combination of dielectric strength, and the RF dissipation
factor. PVC fails this test, and requires drying and sealing to
make it suitable. Teflon is the best; good dielectric strength,
and the lowest RF dissipation factor; then comes polyethylene,
polystyrene, and polypropylene, all of which are good. The same
When I was getting the wire, I made the mistake of pricing teflon
insulated wire. That would be a coil that shocks people twice.
You spent ??HOW?? much... <grin>
You asked about power supplies: The pole pig info is on it's way.
See my two part post on obtaining neons for free, and rebuilding
them for high output, high efficiency, Tesla power supplies.
I got both sets of info - the guy you recommended was out hunting but
will be back on this Monday - they knew about Tesla coils though and
recognized your name...
Remember Tesla power supplies must be protected with extensive
RF choking, and safety gaps. This is especially important with
neons, which are much more delicate than pole pigs or potential
xfrmrs. I also use bypass capacitors. For bypass capacitance
across the power supply HV terminals you WANT a dielectric with a
high RF dissipation factor. Barium titanate capacitors with a DC
rating are ideal for this use. Use a 4x voltage safety factor.
Got it - the insulation of the neon is only meant to handle 15 KV, not
whatever the coil is putting out... I have a bunch of largish ferrite
torrids so I'll use them and a spark gap.
The other construction secret not covered in the video is the
ground connection. Once the coil is wound and sealed I take the
base wire and pull it up out of the sealant until it is free all
the way to the beginning of the first turn. I clip off the excess
wire, leaving about a 2" tail. I lay the tail on a metal block,
Great idea - high current, low impedance and quick connection.
Anyway, this message is kind of chopped up, I saved your posts and
then just went in with Q Edit and edited and added replies but you
should follow who is talking...
Again - thanks for your time and info - I'll have to send you copies
of the pictures once we start building this puppy!
TTYL - Dave ë:-)
b QMPro 1.51 b True Multitasking - 3 PC's and a chair with
wheels...
-!- WM v3.10/92-0434
! Origin: Advanced Software Concepts-WC3.90P-15.8,301-794-6496
(1:109/546)
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Msg#: 1 Date: 13 Nov 93 19:17:00
From: Richard Quick
To: All
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
ŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽ
Tesla "Q" Factors
Since some people are saving these posts to disk, and at least
one other person (Dave Halliday) is going to embark on some coil
building. I thought I would take a moment and discuss some Tesla
theory that directly relates to coil efficiencies. The subject
is the "Q" factor.
Q is literally the "Quality" factor. There is no real way to
calculate Q in a subassembly, assembly, connection, or component
in a Tesla coil. But Q exists. Q in a secondary coil can be calc-
ulated from the physical coil data after it is wound, but with
most coil parts it is more like a "god". Some people dedicate
their lives in search of god, coilers dedicate their lives in
search of higher Qs.
The Q factor of any Tesla component is a combination of material,
design, and construction. A coiler never reaches near theoretical
Q factors. We don't wind our coils out of high temperature super-
conductors and fire them submerged in liquid nitrogen. Indeed
people hardly ever submerge their coils in oil like in good old
days. Oil submersion is probably the single greatest thing you
can do to raise the overall Q factor in any Tesla coil system. In
the old days they almost had to submerge the coils in oil to
regain Q that was lost in the use of "classic" materials such as
wood or cardboard coil forms, rubber or tar insulators, silk or
cotton covered wire. These "classic" construction materials are
inherently low Q and result in designs and construction techni-
ques that are also low Q. Builders tolerated oil leaking wooden
boxes and greasy cabinets in many cases to get a good spark.
We live in an age of high Q materials and construction techni-
ques. I have mentioned some of the most commonly used materials
in several posts, but I will list a few again. Teflon, polyethy-
lene, polystyrene, polypropylene, acrylics, epoxy, hot glue,
enamel and polyurethane sealers. As well as the all time classic
high Q corona suppressant, mineral oil.
Modern coils had to be redesigned in order to take advantage of
these new materials. These modern designs differ in many ways
from a coil using "classic" low Q materials. Secondary coils can
be close wound with magnet wire rather than space wound with
insulated wire. Primary coils can be tighter, placing higher
inductance into a smaller area. Coupling can be increased
dramatically, even in 1/4 wave systems, by using corona sup-
pressing sealers and toroid discharge terminals. The coils get
smaller, more powerful, and more efficient.
Building high Q systems means we can live without things like oil
submersion, and still get better spark. With these higher Q
systems it is more economical to put additional capacitance and
heavier power supplies on line to increase spark than it is to
struggle getting the system Q closer to ultimate theoretical.
Theoretical Q can go to infinity.
So when you are designing, hunting materials, and building;
always keep an eye on the Q factor. Attention paid to many little
areas adds up to substantially higher overall system Q. A solid
ground, tight clean connections, close wound and sealed
secondary, primary coil of high Q material wound on a high Q
plastic form, well aligned gaps that quench, plastic film HV
pulse discharging capacitance, and toroid dischargers are some of
the major factors in the overall system Q.
Experiments in a variety of Tesla systems shows that the overall
Q of the system is limited by the lowest Q component used. The
old expression "The chain is as strong as its' weakest link"
applies.
One area that is frequently neglected by Tesla coilers is the Q
of the system RF ground and the ground path. Since coil systems
are built from the "ground" up, this is the first thing a good
coiler will look at when he goes to set up and fire a coil. I
know a guy in New York who fires at about the same power levels
as I do. My coil systems are much higher Q and I get much better
spark using less energy with a smaller coil. When I took a close
look at his coil setup, I noticed he was grounding his coil
system to the neutral wire in the breaker box. Walking outside, I
traced the ground path to a single 3' copper plated rod driven in
by the utility company to ground the supply xfrmr to the
building. This is completely inadequate for high powered Tesla
work, and is quite unsafe.
I also noticed that this guy had a newly constructed all wood
power control cabinet. Now there is nothing wrong with that as
long as it is well wired with ground strap, which it wasn't. But
out back I could see a nice metal control cabinet that had been
recently gutted. When I inquired, he stated he had to switch to
an ungrounded, wooden, control cabinet because he was drawing
sparks to fingers when he touched the controls...
The paced distance from the base of his secondary to the 3'
copper clad ground rod was slightly over 75'. Most of the
distance was traversed with #10 wire. No wonder when he grounded
the cabinet and touched to controls he drew spark, his ground
path had a high RF impedance, and was backing up like a clogged
toilet. I tactfully offered some advice, which was refused.
Obviously he had spent a lot of effort compounding his mistakes,
and had no desire to let someone else point them out.
Don't make the same mistake. Be efficient and safe. Ground
properly from the very start. Think Q!
-!-
... And if all else fails... Put another megavolt through it
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12
ŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽ
Msg#: 839 Date: 11-14-93 20:22
From: Joseph Worthington
To: Guy Daugherty
Subj: 10kva Tesla Coil
ŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽ
The thread on the Tesla project is very interesting!
If you are the moderator, please let it go on for a while.
Joseph
-!-
! Origin: The Bunker---Eugene, OR (503) 345-2429 (1:152/11)
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Msg#: 886 Date: 11-15-93 22:45
From: David Tiefenbrunn
To: Richard Quick
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
ŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽ
Hello, Richard.
I have sent you a video tape. I hope the
offer is still good. I included a few
minutes of the first run of the 45KW generator.
The new lab sounds great.
Of course, you will probably get the tape before
this message. :)
Dave
___
* OFFLINE 1.54 * I love the smell of ozone in the morning.
-!- Maximus 2.01wb
! Origin: =Abbey Road BBS= Higganum, Ct. (203)345-7635
(1:320/5967)
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Msg#: 1 Date: 15 Nov 93 22:51:20
From: Richard Quick
To: All
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
ŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽ
Spark Gap Technology
I recently explained the definition of "Q", and the requirements
and functions of high Q grounding systems in Tesla coils. Another
area that needs attention is spark gap technologies.
Spark gaps are the "brain" of the Tesla Coil. They are high the
voltage switches that allow the tank circuit capacitance to
charge and discharge. As performance of the spark gap switch is
improved, peak powers in the tank circuit grow without requiring
additional input power. When a good coiler sets up and fires a
system, the first thing he looks at is his ground. The second
thing he looks at is his spark gap system.
Before I cover the main points on spark gaps, I want to talk for
a moment about their more modern replacements, the vacuum tube,
and the solid state transistor (FET etc.). Both modern day
replacements can be made to function in Tesla type oscillators
in several modes. A single resonating coil may be base fed RF
current from solid state and tube drivers, or primary coils may
be driven with amplifier circuits. Class C amplifiers are
preferred. Both of these modes work well within the power
handling abilities of the switch (tube or solid state device),
but when it comes to handling raw power, nothing delivers the
megawatts like the old fashion spark gap. The spark gap gives
the biggest bang for the buck.
No discussion of spark gaps is complete without at least a rough
definition of "quenching". This term is commonly thrown around
when talking about spark gaps. When I began coiling, I saw the
term frequently, but never could find a good definition.
Quenching refers, more than anything else, to the art of extin-
guishing an established arc in the gap. The term points to the
fact that it is much easier to start a gap firing than it is to
put one out. In Tesla coils, putting out the arc is imperative to
good tank circuit performance.
A cold, non-firing, spark gap is "clean". It contains no plasma,
or hot ions. On applying voltage to the gap, a tension is esta-
blished, and electromagnetic lines of force form. The physical
shape of the electrodes determines to a large degree the shape of
the field, or lines of force, and the resultant breakdown voltage
of the gap at any given distance. In other words, electrodes of
different shapes will break down at different voltages, even with
identical distances between them.
Once the voltage punctures the air (or other dielectric gas)
the gap resistance drops. The breakdown ionizes the gas between
electrodes, and the arc begins to ablate and ionize the metal
electrodes themselves. This mixture of ions forms a highly cond-
uctive plasma between the gap electrodes. Without this highly
conductive channel through the gap, efficient tank circuit
oscillation would be impossible. But the plasma also shorts the
gap out. A gap choked with hot ions does not want to open and
allow the capacitors to recharge for the next pulse. The gap is
gets "dirty" with hot ionized gases, and must be quenched.
Quenching typically relies on one or more techniques. The most
common method used is expending the arc out over a series of
gaps. Gaps of this type are know as "series static gaps".
"Static" in this use refers to the fact that the gap is not
actively quenched. The plasma is formed in several locations,
and the voltage at each gap is lowered as more electrodes are
placed in series. Heat, hot ions, and voltage are distributed. As
the tank circuit loses energy to the secondary coil, the voltage
and current in the tank circuit, and likewise across the series
of gaps, drops to the point where the arc is no longer self
sustaining. The arc breaks, and the capacitors are allowed to
recharge for the next pulse.
The second type of quenching technique involves using an air
blast. A high speed air stream is introduced into one or more
gaps. The air stream does not alter the magnetic lines of force
that cause a dielectric breakdown in the gap, so gap distance
remains unchanged. But once an arc is established, the air stream
removes hot ions from between electrodes and physically disrupts
the established arc. The gap is swept clean of hot ions, the arc
breaks, and the capacitors are allowed to recharge.
A third type of quenching used is the magnetically quenched gap.
A strong magnetic field is placed between the electrodes. Since
this field alters the field formed by the high voltage prior to
breakdown of the dielectric in the gap, it may affect the break-
down voltage of a given set of electrodes. Once the gap breaks
down however, the field shape changes. The high current flowing
through the gap generates a field shape associated with the
current. By placing a strong magnetic field in right angles to
the current flow, the arc is disrupted. This disruption tears at
the magnetic lines of force formed by the high current channel
flowing through the gap. The arc is twisted, and broken, without
having to remove ions.
Another type of spark gap called the "quench gap" is used on
coils designed for CW output. This gap was discussed in a
previous post and will not be covered here.
The next stage employed in spark gap technologies is placing a
rotary gap in the circuit. The rotary gap is a mechanical spark
gap usually consisting of revolving disk with electrodes mounted
on the rim. The rotor is spun and the electrodes move in relation
to a set of stationary electrodes nearby. As a moving electrode
comes near a stationary electrode, the gap fires. As is moves
away the arc is stretched and broken. The rotary gap offers the
sophisticated coiler the opportunity to control the pulse in the
tank circuit. A properly designed rotary gap can control the
break rate (bps) and the dwell time.
Rotary gaps are run in two modes, synchronous and asynchronous.
A synchronous gap runs at a fixed speed and is constructed so
that the gap fires in direct relation to the 60 cycle waveform of
the line feed to the capacitors. The point in the waveform where
the gaps are closest can be changed by rotating the synchronous
motor housing or by altering the disk position on the motor
shaft. By carefully matching the output of the supply transformer
to the value of capacitance in the tank circuit, then running
a properly set up synchronous gap, it is possible to have the gap
fire only at the voltage peaks of the 60 cycle input current.
This technique allows the tank circuit to fire only on the
maximum voltage peaks and delivers the pulse from a fully charged
capacitor each time the gap fires. If properly engineered,
synchronous spark gap systems will deliver the largest EMFs to
the secondary coil. They are however, the most finicky, and
difficult to engineer of any spark gap, and require sophisticated
test equipment to set up.
Asynchronous gaps are more common. They work quite well and are
much easier to run. Fixed or variable speed motors may be used,
though variable speed gaps give the builder the most experimental
leeway. Break rates need to be in excess of 400 bps, and I have
found that breaks rates around 450-480 bps give the best
discharge. Since the gap is firing more often than the 60 cycle
waveform switches polarity, more power can be fed into the tank
circuit, as the capacitors can be charged and discharged more
rapidly. Though this system will increase the amount of spark
from the secondary, sparks are generally not as long as with
synchronous gaps.
At higher powers (over 5 kVA) even a rotary gap will not deliver
the quench times required for excellent performance unless it is
very large. If the arc in the spark gap hangs too long (NOT
quenched), it leaves the tank circuit electrically closed. With
the gap still firing energy will backflow from the secondary into
the primary and create continued oscillation in the tank circuit.
The secondary is then suppling energy to maintain the arc in the
spark gap. As power levels build, so does the pressure on the
spark gap. Engineering more sophisticated gap systems is the only
solution in large 1/4 wave coils and Magnifiers.
The easiest solution at 5 kVA is to add a static gap in series
with the rotary. By messing with the gap settings it is not
difficult to develop a gap system that fires smoothly and
quenches well. As power levels increase though static gaps will
be overwhelmed. More sophisticated gaps are required to replace
the static series gaps. Magnetic or airblast gaps must be used in
conjunction with the rotary gap to remove the strain on the
rotary and get the quench times back down.
Somewhere in here I need to cover the Q of spark gaps. Not all
spark gaps have the same Q. I have found that using large series
static gaps with lots of electrodes; the Q of the gap system
decreases as the quench time decreases! Try to avoid static gap
designs with more than 6 - 8 electrodes in series.
As my power levels went up, and my spark gap Qs went down, I
experimented with options to regain performance. I found that by
running static gaps in a combination of series/parallel gave me
good quench times and I regained some lost Q from the arc having
to make so many series jumps. The idea was to split the arc down
into two or three equal paths, reducing the current traveling
each set of series gaps. In this fashion I was able to achieve
excellent quench times with a small rotary running around 5 kVA.
The lesson learned was too many gaps in series kills the Q of a
spark gap. By adding gaps in parallel, and reducing the number of
gaps in series, some Q was regained while power levels increased.
This is a valuable hint in spark gap designs.
Another factor that should be brought into this discussion is the
effects of cooling the electrodes. To start with, I have never
run even a simple static gap without some airflow. My first few
really good static gaps were constructed inside of PVC pipe
sections with a 5" muffin fan on top. The fan did not supply
sufficient air to disrupt the arc, but did assist in removing hot
ions, and cooling the electrodes down. This allows for longer run
times. As my work progressed I realized that reducing the
electrode temperature, while not actually quenching the gap,
reduces the amount of metal ions introduced into the arc, and
makes the gap easier to quench with an airblast or magnets.
I am going to cut this off here. I feel I have covered most of
the basics, and thrown a few ideas out into the cyberspace. I
would be more than happy to expand on spark gap technologies at
any time should somebody have any specific questions, comments,
problems, or corrections. Remember, armchair debate is no
substitute for actually going out an experimenting with a few
live systems, and I am always hoping someone will tell me a
better way to do it!
One final safety note. Spark gaps are loud, and emit a lot
of hard UV radiation. Wear hearing protection as required, and
never stare at an operating spark gap without welding goggles.
To examine the arc on large coils, a sun observation filter
on a small telescope will tell you if your gaps are quenching.
... And if all else fails... Put another megavolt through it
ŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽ
Msg#: 773 Date: 11-15-93 22:57
From: Richard Quick
To: All
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
ŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽ
Rotary gaps are run in two modes, synchronous and asynchronous.
A synchronous gap runs at a fixed speed and is constructed so
that the gap fires in direct relation to the 60 cycle waveform of
the line feed to the capacitors. The point in the waveform where
the gaps are closest can be changed by rotating the synchronous
motor housing or by altering the disk position on the motor
shaft. By carefully matching the output of the supply transformer
to the value of capacitance in the tank circuit, then running
a properly set up synchronous gap, it is possible to have the gap
fire only at the voltage peaks of the 60 cycle input current.
This technique allows the tank circuit to fire only on the
maximum voltage peaks and delivers the pulse from a fully charged
capacitor each time the gap fires. If properly engineered,
synchronous spark gap systems will deliver the largest EMFs to
the secondary coil. They are however, the most finicky, and
difficult to engineer of any spark gap, and require sophisticated
test equipment to set up.
Asynchronous gaps are more common. They work quite well and are
much easier to run. Fixed or variable speed motors may be used,
though variable speed gaps give the builder the most experimental
leeway. Break rates need to be in excess of 400 bps, and I have
found that breaks rates around 450-480 bps give the best
discharge. Since the gap is firing more often than the 60 cycle
waveform switches polarity, more power can be fed into the tank
circuit, as the capacitors can be charged and discharged more
rapidly. Though this system will increase the amount of spark
from the secondary, sparks are generally not as long as with
synchronous gaps.
At higher powers (over 5 kVA) even a rotary gap will not deliver
the quench times required for excellent performance unless it is
very large. If the arc in the spark gap hangs too long (NOT
quenched), it leaves the tank circuit electrically closed. With
the gap still firing energy will backflow from the secondary into
the primary and create continued oscillation in the tank circuit.
The secondary is then suppling energy to maintain the arc in the
spark gap. As power levels build, so does the pressure on the
spark gap. Engineering more sophisticated gap systems is the only
solution in large 1/4 wave coils and Magnifiers.
The easiest solution at 5 kVA is to add a static gap in series
with the rotary. By messing with the gap settings it is not
difficult to develop a gap system that fires smoothly and
quenches well. As power levels increase though static gaps will
be overwhelmed. More sophisticated gaps are required to replace
the static series gaps. Magnetic or airblast gaps must be used in
conjunction with the rotary gap to remove the strain on the
rotary and get the quench times back down.
Somewhere in here I need to cover the Q of spark gaps. Not all
spark gaps have the same Q. I have found that using large series
static gaps with lots of electrodes; the Q of the gap system
decreases as the quench time decreases! Try to avoid static gap
designs with more than 6 - 8 electrodes in series.
As my power levels went up, and my spark gap Qs went down, I
experimented with options to regain performance. I found that by
running static gaps in a combination of series/parallel gave me
good quench times and I regained some lost Q from the arc having
to make so many series jumps. The idea was to split the arc down
into two or three equal paths, reducing the current traveling
each set of series gaps. In this fashion I was able to achieve
excellent quench times with a small rotary running around 5 kVA.
The lesson learned was too many gaps in series kills the Q of a
spark gap. By adding gaps in parallel, and reducing the number of
gaps in series, some Q was regained while power levels increased.
This is a valuable hint in spark gap designs.
Another factor that should be brought into this discussion is the
effects of cooling the electrodes. To start with, I have never
run even a simple static gap without some airflow. My first few
really good static gaps were constructed inside of PVC pipe
sections with a 5" muffin fan on top. The fan did not supply
sufficient air to disrupt the arc, but did assist in removing hot
ions, and cooling the electrodes down. This allows for longer run
times. As my work progressed I realized that reducing the
electrode temperature, while not actually quenching the gap,
reduces the amount of metal ions introduced into the arc, and
makes the gap easier to quench with an airblast or magnets.
I am going to cut this off here. I feel I have covered most of
the basics, and thrown a few ideas out into the cyberspace. I
would be more than happy to expand on spark gap technologies at
any time should somebody have any specific questions, comments,
problems, or corrections. Remember, armchair debate is no
substitute for actually going out an experimenting with a few
live systems, and I am always hoping someone will tell me a
better way to do it!
One final safety note. Spark gaps are loud, and emit a lot
of hard UV radiation. Wear hearing protection as required, and
never stare at an operating spark gap without welding goggles.
To examine the arc on large coils, a sun observation filter
on a small telescope will tell you if your gaps are quenching.
... And if all else fails... Put another megavolt through it
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12
ŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽ
Msg#: 774 Date: 11-16-93 02:40
From: Richard Quick
To: Dave Halliday
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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I hope you find some of the information that I posted on spark
gaps useful. In the TESLA.ZIP file that I included with the copy
of the video tape there are GIF files that I made up showing
two of the spark gaps designs that I use, with related text files
on each. My airblast gap design on that disk is down and dirty
simple, ultra high Q, and gives incredible quench times. If you
are running neons up to 4 kVA and want to squeeze every inch of
spark out of the coil, this is a gap you might want to look at.
The air can be supplied cheaply with an old diaphragm type com-
pressor. I have seen reconditioned compressors of this type for
around $40-$50 in the surplus catalogs (Surplus Center 1-800-488-
3407). What I did to obtain a long blast to quench the gap was
get an old propane tank and install a ball valve in the line to
the gap. It takes about 5 min to charge the tank with the
diaphragm type compressor, and you get about 90 seconds of
quenching. I used a RV trailer type tank, but you can gang them
up, or use a larger stationary type tank for longer run times.
You will see the same basic gap shown in the video (stripped of
the air injection nozzle) as the safety gap for the pole pig.
I have two extra electrodes that I machined that are identical
to the two shown in the video. If you are interested I will let
you have them for $10.00. The material is machine grade brass,
and the electrodes weigh 1/4 lb. each, so they sink a lot of
heat. Run with the air blast they don't even warm up.
-!-
... And if all else fails... Put another megavolt through it
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12
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Msg#: 2937 Date: 11-16-93 10:49
From: Richard Quick
To: Dave Halliday
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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DH> Thanks for the clarification re: the Schedule 40 pipe - I
DH> had always looked at it as being heavier so therefore
DH> "better" - never thought of the actual material as being a
DH> liability. What about ABS - is there any difference with
DH> that?
I don't have any experience with ABS plastic secondaries. I have
seen some, but had nothing that I could compare to. Look up the
RF dissipation factor and that should give you some idea. Off the
top of my head, I would GUESS that ABS would work better than
PVC; not because I think ABS is any better, but because I know
PVC just couldn't be much worse. If I were using ABS I would dry
and seal the plastic like PVC.
DH> Anyway, we will probably do a couple capacitors in the next
DH> week or so. Like I said, I have an OK vacuum pump ( I do
DH> graphic arts and printing ) and can pump it out so that
DH> should improve things.
Good luck on the rolled caps, and look for some different
capacitor designs in the next few days.
DH> Anyway, many many thanks for your time and help!
No problem, glad to be of assistance.
... If all else fails... Put another megavolt through it.
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12
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Msg#: 799 Date: 11-16-93 14:05
From: Richard Quick
To: Dave Halliday
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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DH> I was talking with one of the people and they agreed to
DH> start on a smaller coil - I was thinking in the order of 4"
DH> diameter and about 3' long.
The aspect ratio (height to width ratio) is important. The
planned coil has an aspect ratio of 9:1 (36" long, 4" diam.)
this should be reduced to no more than 5:1 on a 4" diam. coil.
6" coils work best with 4:1 aspect ratio, anything larger 3:1.
******(cut from another part of a post)*******
The coil should be wound with good quality magnet wire. I use
double Formvar enamel coated magnet wire. Magnet wire gives you
maximum inductance. A coil should have over 900 turns, but not
too much over 1000 turns. There is a little leeway here. Select a
gauge of wire which will allow the aspect ratio and number of
turns to fall within this range.
**********************************************
DH> OK - I made an "editorial decision" today to go for a 6"
DH> diameter form and make it 24" long. I just was out running
DH> errands and got 1,500' of 22 gauge Heavy Formvar insulated
DH> magnet wire so with a diameter of 0.0253, this works out to
DH> 948 turns - right in the ballpark that you suggested in
DH> another part of this post.
Perfect!
DH> I think the other people were thinking in the realm of the
DH> normal misconception of Tesla coils as being long and skinny
DH> but I guess that would make them longer than 1/4 wave...
Long skinny coils do not couple well with the primary. What ends
up happening is that the primary excites only the bottom half of
the secondary, and the top half of the windings are just pushed
along by the bottom turns. Long skinny coils get hot at the base,
a sign of poor Q. Also they are more subject to splitting and
breakdown. By keeping the secondary coil within the given specs,
you get a nice low frequency coil, and the field flux from the
primary will sweep the entire secondary coil from the bottom turn
to the top turn. This way the energy exchange to the secondary is
distributed through the entire length of the wire, not just
forced into the bottom 300 or so turns. Your decision to go to a
slightly larger diam. coil form, and keep the aspect ratio within
the specs I recommend, is a good one. Use a large primary coil.
BTW 1/4 wave resonate frequency is much more dependant on the
length of wire than the dimensions of the coil form. A form that
is long & skinny, or short and fat, makes no difference to the
1/4 wavelength of wire. But it makes all of the difference in the
world when that wire is intended to be a high Q Tesla coil. Long
skinny coils have lower Q, higher corona loss, lower breakdown
voltage, and poor coupling coefficients; but will have about the
same 1/4 wave frequency as the same length of wire wound on a
shorter, fatter coil form. The coil form with aspect ratios and
number of turns that fall into the design specs I gave are
reliably better performers.
DH> OK - I wonder if it would be feasible to make it with
DK> continuously variable gap size - something with threaded
DK> plastic rods...
Experiment away, and get some photos or video if you can. I would
be happy to trade tapes or photos even (one for one), and see
something new. As much as I do, I never tire of seeing more.
DH> I think that since we are starting with neon sign x-formers,
DH> we can just use the standard 6" PVC gap you showed - aren't
DH> going to be running too much power through it <yet>
All of the gaps that I showed, and use, are good ones. The
cylinder static gap is a solid performer. I sent along a GIF
diagram of this gap showing the internal construction, and a
related text file. This project can be built in a few hours with
a minimum of shop equipment for around $30.00 if you buy all the
parts new. Set the gaps between electrodes at about .035 of an
inch, or a little more, for 12 kv neons power supplies. The one
disadvantage of this gap is that the electrodes are fixed and
cannot be adjusted once bedded in epoxy, but you can jump to any
terminal on the gap with ease, changing the number of gaps used
in the circuit. Properly constructed, I have gotten 5' discharges
from a coil powered with neons using just a single cylinder
static gap unit, and the gap electrodes did not melt or pit.
Coil forms, regardless of material, should be as thin as
possible. Schedule 40 is thick, and is rated for pressure
use. Try to locate the thinner "drain" pipe or "flume duct" PVC
or other thin wall plastic. If PVC is used, it MUST be dry (baked
is preferred) and well sealed with a low loss sealant like poly-
urethane or two part epoxy. (RQ previous post)
DH> OK - there is some pretty thin wall stuff in our local "Home
DH> Center" store - I was worried about mechanical strength
DH> though - I can deflect it with little pressure.
You'll have to trust me on this one. Handle the secondary with
some care, just don't drop or sit on it. <Grin>. If it is built
properly with stiff plastic end caps, tightly wound, and well
sealed, it will be plenty strong enough to handle casually.
Couple of other notes. I have a lathe too. After spending hours
setting up wire guides and tensioners, I decided it is much
easier and faster to wind coils by hand. The coils turn out
better too. It may take a little practice, but it is well worth
the time sitting in front of the coil form and laying down the
turns by hand, even with thin wire. I can wind a 6" coil in about
45 minutes or less. A first time winder should figure no more
than a couple hours. You will spend about the same amount of time
figuring out wire guides and tensioners for the lathe set up, and
the coil won't be any better quality.
DO use the lathe to apply sealer. I set up a couple of heat lamps
and a small fan to speed up the dry time, and can get 8 coats
down in four hours. By constantly rotating the coil form you get
a nice smooth finish that looks and works great!
My first "performing" coil was built to nearly the exact specs
for the 6" coil you described as being on the drawing board. The
coil has held up and still holds a key place in my arsenal. It
has survived massive overloads, been used in transmission
experiments, as an end resonator on the magnifier, and as a pick
up coil to detect RF currents in my house wiring while
experimenting with Tesla grounds. You can't hardly go wrong with
one, or even two, coils like this.
You also mentioned you priced teflon covered wire. This stuff
makes killer secondaries, but like you said, "You paid HOW
MUCH???". Shop local HAMfests, this wire shows up by the spool at
greatly reduced prices in these flea markets.
And again, if you have any problems, questions, or need
additional advice, feel free to ask. I look forward to hearing
about your progress and results.
... And if all else fails... Put another megavolt through it
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Msg#: 800 Date: 11-16-93 14:56
From: Richard Quick
To: All
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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Last week I posted on recovering and unpotting "dead" neon
transformer cores for use in high voltage power supplies.
It ocurred to me that those people in warmer parts of the country
will not have days cold enough to freeze the tar potting solid
enough to chip away cleanly. The tar has to be at least 20
degrees F or colder to chip cleanly and separate away from the
warmed core.
I hope you thought of the obvious solution if the weather does
not cooperate in your area. Put the tar block in the freezer
overnight, then proceed with unpotting.
Also I tracked down the problem with my system as far as the
ASCII characters in the pfc capacitance formula is concerned.
My PKZIP is repeatedly stripping out selective ASCII characters
when I test it. The divisor of that particular formula is
supposed to contain the greek letter pi in it. If you have saved
the post, and the formula has the letter pi stripped from the
divisor (which I believe is the case) please make a note of it.
Without pi in this formula the capacitance given by the equation
gets rather large... I sent up a correction, and the problem was
repeated.
... And if all else fails... Put another megavolt through it
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12
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Msg#: 912 Date: 11-16-93 15:54
From: Dave Halliday
To: Richard Quick
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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RQ> Tesla "Q" Factors
RQ>Since some people are saving these posts to disk, and at least
>one other person (Dave Halliday) is going to embark on some coil
>building. I thought I would take a moment and discuss some Tesla
>theory that directly relates to coil efficiencies. The subject
>is the "Q" factor.
Thanks again for the info!
>recently gutted. When I inquired, he stated he had to switch to
>an ungrounded, wooden, control cabinet because he was drawing
>sparks to fingers when he touched the controls...
I also recall stories about ham radio shacks having this problem.
Used to work for the public aquarium in Boston and we had grounding
problems like you wouldn't believe - I was responsible for all of the
non-living exhibits ( PA and AV stuff ) and the ground at every single
outlet was at a different potential than any other outlet. I once found
50 volts difference between two located 20' apart... A guide was
setting up a temporary exhibit and used both outlets for their
equipment. They got a bit of a rude awakening that day <grin>
TTYL - Dave ë:-)
b QMPro 1.51 b Every time I ATDT her, she ATH0's on me...
-!- WM v3.10/92-0434
! Origin: Advanced Software Concepts-WC3.90P-15.8,301-794-6496
(1:109/546)
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Msg#: 913 Date: 11-16-93 17:08
From: Dave Halliday
To: Richard Quick
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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RQ> GD> This is geting out of hand, Richard.
RQ>Well Guy, I need a place to put all of my stuff where it won't
>get rained on. Any other bright ideas?
RQ>I have about $5000.00 worth of Tesla equip. ($15,000
replacement
>cost), about $5000.00 worth of chemistry equip, not to mention
>boxes of homemade pyrotechinics equipment (ball mill, star
>presses, rocket ramming table, drying racks, rolls of paper and
>tubing, mixing containers, sieves, etc.) I also buy, sell, and
>build/rebuild/repair Vespa scooters; own three now, plus parts of
>a forth, plus a workbench of special tools for engines, frames,
>wheels, etc.
RQ>I would like to mess around with some hard vacuum equipment,
>and do some bulb blowing/tube bending... and I need a place to
>put my shop tools (band saw, drill press, belt sander, table saw,
>air compressor, etc.)
Geeez Richard - and I thought *I* had too much going on at once what
with my boat, woodworking shop, metal shop ( lathe, wirewelder and
torches ), music studio, homebrewing, BBS, computers and printing...
This takes the cake <grin>
b QMPro 1.51 b Tagline Lite: Not funny, but better for you...
-!- WM v3.10/92-0434
! Origin: Advanced Software Concepts-WC3.90P-15.8,301-794-6496
(1:109/546)
< CONTINUE HERE - KU >
111983 1438
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Msg#: 927 Date: 11-19-93 14:38
From: Richard Quick
To: All
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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Toroid Discharge Terminals
Another feature of the "classic" Tesla coil design is the sphere
or ball discharge terminal. Tesla clearly was using spheres while
he was developing the Colorado Springs oscillator, but during his
work there he made the discovery of toroids. Photographs of the
Colorado Springs machine clearly shows a brass toroid as part of
the antenna mast to prevent corona leakage and premature breakout
from the top of the extra coil.
As we examine photos of the Wardenclyff machine he built on Long
Island, it is clear that the entire tower was constructed to
carry the giant toroid terminal. I do not have verifiable infor-
mation as to the exact size of this terminal, but it is easily
over 50' in diameter. Probably closer to 75-100'. Toroids perform
several functions as discharge terminals on Tesla coils.
They provide a large top capacitance. This top capacitance helps
"cancel" the high inductance in the secondary coil, and increase
throughput in the system.
They break down at much higher voltages than other shapes. The
donut shaped field distributes the charge density. Higher
voltages must reached before electrical breakdown occurs. To the
coiler this means longer, higher voltage spark. For those of you
that have my video, you can see a 30% increase in spark lenghts
with no change to input power, the only thing I did was add a
larger toroid and retune the system.
Toroids sever the coupling. This may be a controversial statement
on my part. But from what I have seen, appears to be true. A
sphere discharge terminal does not want to separate from the
field flux interactions between the primary and secondary. The
primary field flux wants to couple the sphere discharger into the
system as if it were another turn of the secondary. The spark
from the discharger will frequently follow these lines of force,
and seek to strike back to the primary. The spark discharge bends
back down, and aligns itself with the magnetic lines of force.
While this may be useful if you wish to visualize the size and
shape of the field, it does nothing to increase your spark
lengths. A large toroid on the other hand will establish a field
identity that interacts destructively with the primary/secondary
field interaction. Since this destructive interaction occurs
above the top turns of the secondary is does not affect the coil
performance or ability to process energy. It does however allow
the spark to leave the system unaffected by the primary/secondary
lines of force. This has the effect of allowing a clean getaway
for the discharge and promotes those long strikes to the ground
or other more distant objects.
Toriods also have the beneficial effect of lowering the frequency
of the secondary coil dramatically. By loading a large toriod on
a relatively small coil, a very low secondary frequency is
reached. Low frequency in Tesla systems means long spark. This
way a small coil can give big coil performance. Because of this
ability of the toriod to drop the frequency of the secondary to
such low frequencies, it is important to have a very large
primary available that can be tapped out to over 10-12 turns in
order to regain the system tune. Larger capacitors may be added,
but my experience shows that no additional power or capacitance
is required to get big increases in spark production.
Clearly the toriod is the ultimate in high Q dischargers and
radiators in Tesla systems. Now go out and buy one. I can hear
Dave Halliday now..... "You Paid _HOW MUCH?_"!!!
Yup, spun aluminum toroids are available commercially, and they
run hundreds, even thousands of dollars each. My 20" wide by 5"
high commercial toriod ran me over 350 clams. My ten inch
secondary needs a toroid at least twice as big to achieve optimum
performance, and as commercial toroids get larger, the price
increases exponentially. I priced a 40" toroid for my coil at
$2000.00 not including shipping, and they gave me a six month
deliverly time...
So I built one for $35.00, and it works GREAT! I will never spend
another penny on commercial spun aluminum toroids. Here are the
brief instructions:
I buy the 4" or 6" diam. polyproplyene flexible black plastic
drain piping. This is made out of ridged plastic, so it does not
have a smooth surface, but it easy to bend to form circles of
varying diameters.
I cut the flange off with a sharp knife, match the ends, and tape
them together with wide plastic tape. Once a large ring is
formed, I cover the entire surface with wide plastic tape to
smooth out the ridges in the material. The goal is to have an
even, smooth, surface. The tape choice helps with this con-
struction, Mylar and other tapes have no stretch, and are
difficult to work with as they wrinkle. I shopped several stores
before I found a stretchy material similar to electrical tape.
Tape is applied in overlapping strips, or bands, around the drain
pipe 4" or 6" cross section. Some surface irregularities are OK.
Once the ring is smoothed with a layer of plastic tape, I retape
the entire ring with aluminum plumbers tape. This tape comes in
two standard widths, I bought a large roll of each. Apply strips
of plumbers tape over the prepared surface, make sure the entire
surface is covered, and press out any wrinkles with a fingernail
or tool. You should now have an aluminized ring. Cut out a circle
of thin masonite, wood paneling, or thin plastic so that it will
friction fit in the center of the alumunized ring. Place some
blocks up under this panel, set the ring in place, and tape the
edges all around on both sides with aluminum tape to hold it in
place. Spray adhesive and heavy duty foil are used to cover both
sides if the center plate. Roll out all wrinkles with a socket or
a wood dowel. Works great, about 1/100th the cost.
... And if all else fails... Put another megavolt through it
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Msg#: 2 Date: 16 Nov 93 20:33:44
From: Richard Quick
To: All
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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Well, lets see; I covered basic spark gaps yesterday, next on
the list would have to be pulse capacitance. I posted a two part
message last month sometime detailing construction of a rolled
type pulse discharge capacitor. Since the detail of this partic-
ular unit was pretty well covered, I will focus on other homemade
types; the flat stacked plate type capacitor, a little on the
salt water cap, and a little on capacitor theory as it applies to
Tesla coils.
I have seen several types of homemade stacked plate capacitors.
The two types differ as to the orientation of the plate stacks.
Some are stacked vertically, others are stacked horizontally.
Before I go into construction details I should cover some of the
advantages of flat stacked plate caps for use in Tesla coils and
other high voltage applications.
Flat plate caps have no inductance. Rolled caps contain two or
more plates which are tightly rolled up. Rolled plates exhibit
some properties of coils, they contain a certain degree of self
inductance. This limits the size of the rolled cap in Tesla
applications. As plates grow in size, the self inductance grows,
and the caps exhibit self-resonance that will interfere destruct-
ively with the oscillation of the Tesla tank circuit. The rolled
cap that I posted about previously, is about as large as you can
get in a single unit without having self-resonance drop below 1
megahertz.
Flat plate caps are better adapted for pulse applications. Rolled
caps have to discharge a long plate. The further away the free
end of the plate is from the high current terminal, the longer it
takes for the cap to discharge. In essence this distance is also
an extension of the tank circuit wiring, as the plate gets longer
losses increase. Again the rolled capacitor I posted previously
is pushing the design limits of efficiency in this area. As the
rolled cap gets larger, efficiency of pulsing drops off.
Flat plate caps can be constructed to handle higher voltages.
Rolled caps have efficiency limits in individual units as to the
breakdown voltage. A single dielectric is used per plate. If
dielectrics are made thicker, efficiency drops off, if made
thinner efficiency increases, but they break down. Using standard
materials, the rolled cap I posted about is at the edge of this
design limit as well.
Flat plate caps can be built for larger capacitance. The rolled
cap, because of the design constraints listed above, won't give
you much additional capacitance without increases in losses,
problems with self-resonance, and lowering of the capacitor Q.
The rolled cap that I posted is a good unit. I have built nearly
20 of these caps, and I use them a lot. But do not look to expand
much on this design. It has passed through several improvements
and I really think it is pushing the design limits in all of the
important areas. Next we need to look at the flat plate cap, as
there is much to be done yet, but first look at the dielectric.
The best Tesla capacitor dielectric is low density polyethylene
plastic. Whether you build rolled, stacked plate, or salt water
caps you should look hard at this plastic before settling on
anything else. It has an extraordinarily low RF dissipation
factor for the cost. The actual "in use" dielectric constant on
homemade caps using this plastic is right around 2. This is a
little lower than the book value, but homemade applications of
this dielectric rarely have the close plate bonding that are
achieved commercially with clean room vacuum presses.
This dielectric melts at 100 deg. C. But because of the very low
dissipation factor the plastic is subject to very little in-
ductive heating. There is little loss, therefore little heating.
When using this plastic however, it is imperative to cover in
mineral oil to distribute any heat that is formed, suppress
corona and displace air. Plastic caps not covered in oil are
guaranteed to fail in seconds. Plates, dielectric, and oil MUST
BE CLEAN!... BTW The cheapest and most common plate material is
aluminum. In the rolled cap, aluminum flashing is available
precut in a perfect plate width, and there are other widths
available. Flat plate caps can use flashing, but it is frequently
more cost effective to use foil.
Now that we have established a few basics, lets talk plate cap
design. The first type of flat stacked plate requires the cap be
pumped down to a pretty hard vacuum to remove air. This is the
horizontal stacked plate capacitor. Typically these are built in
a Tupperware type storage box. Plastic, plate, plastic, plate
etc. are stacked one atop the other to build up the value. The
breakdown voltage is directly related to the dielectric thick-
ness used. 60 mil poly sheet is recommended and will have a
breakdown voltage in the Tesla tank circuit between 11-17 kv
rms input voltage depending on the quality of material, and the
cleanliness of the construction.
Once the box is filled, and all parallel plate connections are
made, high current busses are brought through the lid of the
container and sealed airtight with hot glue. Then the lid is
snapped on, and it too is sealed with a bead of hot glue around
the edges. The next part is important: A single hole is made in
the lid for the vacuum connection. A fitting is hot glued into
the hole and a hose is attached to the vacuum pump. The cap is
pumped down, then the hose is clamped off and disconnected with-
out allowing air back into the cap. Submerge the hose in a bucket
of clean mineral oil and release the clamp. This allows the oil
to backfill the capacitor, and displaces the air that was
removed. Once backfilled to normal pressure, I pump them down a
second time, and repeat the procedure to make sure that all
trapped air between the plates is removed. Air bubbles will form
corona hot spots that will cause dielectric failure.
The vertical stacked plate capacitor is much like the cap I just
covered. But the vertical cap does not require pumpdown. A tank
is used to hold the veritcally stacked plates and dielectrics.
The unit I examined was built in a glass fishtank that employed
no metal in construction. Foam padding was layed in the bottom of
the tank, and wedged in around the sides of the vertical
capacitor stack to cushion it and wedge it in place. The foam
padding also reduced the mineral oil required to cover the stack.
The reason these caps do not require pumpdown is that eventually
the oil will displace the air trapped in the unit. A break in
period of low voltage operation assists the removal of trapped
air, as the pulsing of the cap vibrates the plates and agitates
the air bubbles. The disadvantage of the unit I examined was the
glass fishtank. I have seen plastic waste cans that could be cut
down for use as a tank in this construction.
Higher Qs, higher voltage, and additional capacitance in stacked
plate capacitors can be easily obtained. The trick is to use
thinner dielectric.
Now the dielectric strength of polyethylene is given as
1000 volts per mil, but this is not the case in Tesla coils.
The standard breakdown voltages of a dielectric are calculated
using DC voltage. When you run AC across the dielectric, the
breakdown voltage must be divided by two. Then you must figure
that the peak voltage from a AC sine wave is higher than the
rms voltage most people go by. You meter won't see it, but your
dielectric will. Then you have resonate rise in the Tesla tank
circuit. To give you an idea of resonate rise in a tank, think
about the tidal forces that can be created with timed pushes in a
bathtub. It don't take much energy to push water over the side.
The same principal operates in the tank circuit in a coil,
especially with a synchronous gap system. The current pulsing
back and forth from capacitor plate to capacitor plate causes a
voltage rise that appears on the dielectric in the capacitors.
The standard 60 mil poly is supposed to hold up to 60,000 volts
per the book. I have blown holes through 60 mil poly with a 12 kv
neon sign xfrmr in a Tesla tank circuit and my gap wide open. My
pinky finger fit inside the hole.
One of the neatest homemade stack plate caps I have seen was
built by Bill Richards of T.C.B.O.R., the cost was pretty low,
the materials came from his laundry room, the grocery store, and
the drugstore. The only thing required was 56 hours of time in
arranging the plates according to Bill. But he did end up with
.03 uf 15 kv pulse capacitor in a five gallon bucket. It was
quite a performer on his coil at 3600 watts!
He shopped around for one gallon ziplock freezer bags with a 3
mil thickness. With a sharp scissors he cut the ziplocks off of
the tops of the bags. Then he cut aluminum foil squares that fit
inside the bag leaving a 1/2" of space around all four sides of
the plate. So the plate had dielectric borders 1/2" on all sides.
When two bags were stacked on top of one another, there were two
layers of dielectric, for a total of 6 mils. Being practical,
Bill figured correctly that the stacked bags would hold up to at
least 1000 volts rms input in the Tesla tank. He built up stacks
that had a value of about .45 uf each, with each stack rated at
1000 volts. Then he wired stacks in series.
By squeezing fifteen stacks vertically into a bucket, and
covering the whole thing in about three gallons of mineral oil,
he got the required capacitance at the required voltage. Since
the electrical forces are so well distributed among hundreds of
dielectrics, he had plenty of breakdown safety margin. He gave
the unit a couple of days to rest after construction, topping it
up with oil as required, and gave her the works at 15 kv on a big
coil. The heavy buss wiring never even got warm, and even though
it bubbled out enough air to displace a few more pints of oil, it
did not break down.
It turns out that this is a homemade version of commercial pulse
discharging capacitors. Stacked capacitor sections of very high
value are placed in series until the proper voltage requirement
is met. The cap has a very high Q because all of the plates are
very close together, with a minimum of connections and bussing
required. They deliver a very sharp pulse discharge.
Bill's cap was pretty cramped in the bucket. Because of the
square shape of the bags, a rectangular tank would have made
things easier to fit and wire. But he ran his buss bars through
the side of the bucket (sealed with hot glue) and by snapping on
the lid, he could pick it up by the handle and move it around
with ease.
The novice coiler should think about the capacitor requirements
and experiment some before beginning large scale homemade caps.
Shop for materials; frequently a wholesaler can be found where
bulk products (like mineral oil in 5 gallon pails) can be
purchased for a fraction of the retail cost. But just because
you don't have some big bang pulse caps on line does not mean
that you should wait to begin firing a small coil. Nearly every
beginner gets hir feet wet in salt water capacitors.
Tesla used salt water tanks in Colorado Springs. A tribute to the
genius of the man was his ability to develop his huge peak
powers using low Q saltwater/glass caps. I do not recommend glass
as a dielectric for coiling work. The dielectric constant is much
better than plastic, but the RF dissipation factor is so great
that they can rupture from dielectric heating (even in salt water
the trapped water under the bottles does not circulate) and they
always give a spindly, violet colored spark. Polyethylene again
is the material of choice, and bottles and buckets can be
assembled in a couple of hours that will fire small stuff. I
mentioned he before that I have a friend who is firing 5 kVA
coils, and still using banks of salt water caps to keep his
investment down. As with any homemade capacitor, the salt water
must be covered in oil to suppress surface corona. But the
quality of oil need not be high, and the capacitors need not be
exceptionally clean. A saturated solution of rock salt is all
that is needed for the plates.
I think I have accomplished what I intended to say on this
subject. As always, I am happy to respond on any unclear areas,
the need for additional information, or to note corrections.
... And if all else fails... Put another megavolt through it
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Msg#: 864 Date: 11-16-93 20:41
From: Mark Lawton
To: Richard Quick
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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RQ>I have about $5000.00 worth of Tesla equip. ($15,000 replacement
RQ>cost), about $5000.00 worth of chemistry equip, not to mention
RQ>boxes of homemade pyrotechinics equipment (ball mill, star
RQ>presses, rocket ramming table, drying racks, rolls of paper and
RQ>tubing, mixing containers, sieves, etc.) I also buy, sell, and
RQ>build/rebuild/repair Vespa scooters; own three now, plus parts of
RQ>a forth, plus a workbench of special tools for engines, frames,
RQ>wheels, etc.
Sounds just like my stuff! Change the Vespas to dirt bikes and
you've got it. I haven't built a coil in a few years, but I'd
like to send you a blank VHS to get a copy of your work. Write
me back with detailson where to send the tape and the dough.
ML, San Diego Fireworks Pyro
WinQwk 1.30 #279
-!- WM v3.10/92-0250
! Origin: Dragnet BBS Oceanside,CA. 619-940-1985 (1:202/401)
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Msg#: 973 Date: 11-17-93 23:52
From: Dave Halliday
To: Richard Quick
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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RQ>never stare at an operating spark gap without welding goggles.
>To examine the arc on large coils, a sun observation filter
>on a small telescope will tell you if your gaps are quenching.
RQ>... And if all else fails... Put another megavolt through it
>___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12
I got your whole post on Spark Gaps - Once again - Thanks!
I had an experience with hard UV light - purchased a small Lincoln Wire
Welder and proceeded to ignore the instructions about covering all parts
of the body - I was thinking about metal splatters but I never thought
about the UV light - wearing sandals at the time and got a bad sunburn
on my feet...
Status report:
Got the wire for the secondary as well as the basic design.
I got the 50' of AL flashing for the capacitor as well as all of the PVC
pipe and already had the nuts and bolts...
Also, found a *wonderful* three terminal plus ground RF filter for
240 volt @ 60 Hz rated at 60 amps! $20 - couldn't resist! I will be
able to keep the rest of the electronics in my house ( as well as the
neighbors houses ) somewhat happy :)
Still looking for a source of the form for the secondary - will be
checking prices at local plastics stores when I go to get the
60 mil. Polyethylene sheet - if not, I will use thin-wall PVC but the
stuff I saw at a local Home Depot was poorly out of round...
Maybe some plexiglass disks glued inside to maintain shape.
The local Boeing Aircraft Co. has an interesting "surplus" store
that is a little toooo well known but might have something there.
Have a bunch of 3/8" refrigeration tubing that I can use for the
primary - also into home brewing and this stuff comes in handy...
Still need to get the step-up transformer - already have a 12kV 30mA
neon but the "potential" transformers you mentioned that were used in
power substations sound very good too - will check locally.
Pole pig will probably be somewhat later although the demonstration you
did on your video - using it - were pretty impressive - the simple
Jacobs Ladder was way beyond what a 15kV neon can do - had a really nice
sound to it!
Anyway - work progresses - I will be busy during this "holiday" season,
also the people that were interested in working with me are still very
very much interested - showed the primary person your video and their
jaw dropped <grin>
p.s. - an idea for the gap - you could have a rotary system that also
had a valving plate ( circular plate with holes drilled into it ) where
the output of the valves could be forced over the spark gaps - pulsed
air quenching of a rotary gap - I have a small metal lathe and
this might be something to do...
As always - Dave
b QMPro 1.51 b Klein Bottle for sale - enquire within...
-!- WM v3.10/92-0434
! Origin: Advanced Software Concepts-WC3.90P-15.8,301-794-6496
(1:109/546)
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Msg#: 3090 Date: 11-18-93 00:19
From: Brian Carling
To: All
Subj: Mega-list parts & kit 1/
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Names and addresses of companies that supply parts and kits for
amateur radio construction: (Updated 17 November, 1993)
Here it is folks, the incredible new MEGA-LIST!
"624 Kits" No phone listed
171 Springlake Drive
Spartanburg, SC 29302 (QRP kits & accessories)
A & A Engineering (714) 952-2114
2521 W. La Palma #K
Anaheim, CA 92801 Battery charger kits etc.
Active Electronics (800) 677-8899 FAX: (514) 697-8112
11 Cummings Park (INT.) (514) 630-7410
Woburn, MA 01801 New electronic parts
ADI Co. (800) 233-6261
180 Michael Drive
Syosset, NY 11791 Power supplies, batteries etc.
Advanced Computer Products Inc. (800) FONE-ACP FAX: (714)
558-8849
1310 E. Edinger (714) 558-8813 Voice Sales
Santa Ana, CA 92705 Chips, semiconductors
All Electronics (800) 826-5432 (orders) FAX: (818)
781-2653
P.O. Box 567 Voice: (818) 904-0524 INFO
Van Nuys, CA 91408 Misc. surplus parts etc. catalog
Alltronics (408) 943-9773
2300 Zanker Road
San Jose, CA 95131 Components, grab bags etc. Min $15
American Science and Surplus (formerly JerryCo)
P.O. Box 48838
Niles IL 60714-0838 ### New address.
+1-708-475-8440
+1-708-864-1589 FAX
Surplus. *The* surplus place. Lots and lots of surplus. WWII
gun cameras, velcro, laser disk chassis, 6 volt VW wipers motors,
LEDs, rubber brains, you name it, they've had it. Catalogs are a
really good time. $12.50 minimum order (which includes the $4 shipping
charge).
Amidon Associates (213) 763-5770
12033 Otsego Street
North Hollywood, CA 91607 (toroid cores, ferrite beads etc.)
Antennas West (800) 926-7373
Box 50062S
Provo, UT 84605 Wide variety of antenna kits, loops etc.
Antique Audio (512) 467-0304
5555 N. Lamar, Bldg. H-105
Austin, TX 78751 Tubes, parts, books, kits
Antique Electronic Supply Co. (602) 820-5411
6221 S. Maple Avenue
Tempe, AZ 85283 (Tubes & other components)
Antique Radio Classified (508) 371-0512 Write for free
sample.
P.O. Box 802 Magazine. You'll find almost ANYTHING here
Carlisle, MA 01741 for older radios, obscure parts,
tubes etc.
Appleseed Electronics Inc. (219) 489-9802
P.O. Box 8228
Fort Wayne, IN 46898 Parts
ARE Communications Ltd. 44-081-997-4476
6 Royal Parade
Hanger Lane, Ealing HF kit for ICOM R-7100 to 200 kHz !
London W5A 1ET & SSB kits for Icom R-100 and R1.
Arrow Electronics Inc. (800) 93-ARROW
1860 Smithtown Avenue Catalogs C/O 25 Hub Drive
Ronkonkoma, NY 11779 Melville, NY 11747
Minimum $25.00 Components distributor.
ARRL
225 Main Stret
Newington, CT 06111 (QRP Books, QST Magazine etc.)
BCD Electro (214) 343-1770
P.O. Box 830119
Richardson, TX 75083 Catalog, parts, etc.
Bigelow Electronics No number listed
P.O. Box 125
Bluffton, OH 45817 Parts, Catalog $2. Flyer 1 stamp
Brigar Electronics (607) 723-3111 FAX: (607) 723-5202
7-9 Alice Street
Binghampton, NY 13904 Parts, gadgets $30 min.
C & N Electronics (800) 421-9397 / (612) 429-9397
6104 Egg Lake Road FAX # (612) 429-0292
Hugo, MN 55038 Buy & sell tubes
C & S Electronics (203) 866-3208
P.O. Box 2142
Norwalk, CT 06852-2142 Specialty RF chips etc.
CeCo Communications (212) 646-6300
2115 Avenue X
Brooklyn, NY 11235 (Vacuum tubes)
Circuit Board Specialists June 1993 Mailed returned, no forwarding
address
P.O. Box 969
Pueblo, CO 81002 (Various kits & projects, P.C. boards)
Circuit Specialists Inc. (800) 528-1417
Box 3047
Scottsdale, AZ 85271 Electronic components incl. RF
parts
Circuitwerkes Co. (904) 331-5999
No address FAX: (904) 331-6999
DTMF decoders etc.
>>> Continued to next message
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Msg#: 3005 Date: 11-18-93 11:45
From: Richard Quick
To: Mark Lawton
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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ML> Sounds just like my stuff! Change the Vespas to dirt bikes
ML> and you've got it. I haven't built a coil in a few years,
ML> but I'd like to send you a blank VHS to get a copy of your
ML> work. Write me back with details on where to send the tape
ML> and the dough.
Richard T. Quick II
10028 Manchester Rd.
Suite 253
Glendale, MO 63122
Send a two hour blank VHS high quality tape. $10.00 and a self
addressed postage pre-paid mailer. The tape will be return mailed
the morning after I get your package. I have sent out three in
the last three weeks, so don't worry about me getting rich off
this.
BTW I will trade video even, tape for tape, for coil, rail gun,
high powered laser, and other high voltage stuff. My tapes are
one off masters, recorded on SP for highest quality, and a full
two hours long.
... And if all else fails... Put another megavolt through it
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12
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Msg#: 867 Date: 11-18-93 15:06
From: Richard Quick
To: Joseph Worthington
Subj: 10kva Tesla Coil
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JW> The thread on the Tesla project is very interesting!
JW> If you are the moderator, please let it go on for a while.
JW> Joseph
Now don't you worry about my friend Guy attempting to snuff my
feed. The votes are 100% in my favor, request for the video keep
comming in, and even Guy enjoys reading about and thinking up
sarcasitc comments (probably jealous with too much time on his
hands). Guy gets a little upitty by nature, but he doesn't mean
any harm, and if you don't let him get under your skin he can be
quite funny at times.
And if he does get under your skin, he can take it as well as
dish it out. I kind of (almost) look forward to his replies.
... And if all else fails... Put another megavolt through it
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12
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Msg#: 3004 Date: 11-18-93 15:22
From: Richard Quick
To: All
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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Primary coils
In order to move towards a complete presentation we need to talk
primary coils. This will take me one step closer to coverage of
of the major componets in the basic 1/4 wave oscillator.
The primary coil is a low resistance, heavy coil, through which
the currents produced by the pulse capacitance travel. In
discussing primaries we need to cover the "skin effect". Both
high voltage and high frequency currents exhibit a property
called skin effect. Skin effect describes a situation where the
current does not penetrate the conductor, but instead flows on
the surface of the conductor. This effect is very pronounced in
Tesla tank circuits where both high voltage and high frequency
are componets of the capacitor pulse.
Studies of the Tesla tank circuit current show that the RF
current ringing through the tank has very little penetration of
the tank circuit conductors. This should be reflected in the
choice of the conductors used to wire the tank circuit, and to
wind the primary coil.
I have had very good luck with conductors that offer a lot of
surface area, as opposed to a large solid cross section. The
preferred material for winding primary coils is thin wall soft
copper water pipe or refrigerator tubing, wide sheet copper
strap, or heavy braided copper ground strap. These matrials offer
a low RF impedance, high Q, and large radiating surface areas.
For wiring the Tesla tank circuit, such areas as buss connectors
to capacitors, tap leads, and spak gap connectors, any of the
materials above may be used, but I prefer heavy DC transmission
wire. The DC transmission wire (like battery cable or welding
cable) offers flexibility and a high grade insulation which helps
prevent breakdown. The cables and connections should be carefully
examined for areas where Q can be gained. Sharp edges or points
should be removed to prevent corona losses, connections should be
tight to reduce impedance, and sharp turns should be eliminated
to reduce "off axis" inductance. The tank circuit wiring should
be as short and straight as possible.
The primary coil itself should be wound on a high Q insulator.
For a coil form or coil supports, high density poly, plexiglas,
lexan, acrylic, or other high Q hard plastic is ideal. The
primary coil should be large. I have seen lots of holdovers from
the classic age of coil building who insist on 2-3 turn primaries
and HUGE capacitors to achieve the proper frequency of operation
in the tank circuit.
This is wrong.
A tank circuit with a small capacitor, and a large primary
inductance, will reach down to the same frequencies of operation.
A tank circuit of this design will use less power, and therefore
require a smaller step up xfrmr. The capacitor will be smaller,
which further reduces the cost of the system.
A large primary coil offers a much greater surface area for
radiation and distributed energy transfer to the secondary. It
couples better with a properly designed secondary. Due to these
design advantages, an equal or greater amount of power is
actually delivered to the secondary, despite the much smaller
capacitance and input power. Using a large primary will allow you
to reduce the value of your capacitor and your input power by 50%
or more (frequently much more) without a reduction in output.
Primaries designed to be operated with 9-15 turns will obtain
power processing energies that are at least 50% greater than 2-3
turn primaries, provided that the secondaries are constructed to
take advantage of the design. Secondary coils with the aspect
ratios and numbers of turns that I have recommended here before,
work best with large primaries tapped at 9-15 turns.
So to give some advice to my friend Dave Halliday, who is
building a 6" secondary coil sometime in the near future,
plan on winding a primary coil from a conductor material that I
have listed above, and use a conductor length of around 75 feet.
Your primary should end up about as wide as, or wider, than your
secondary is tall.
This way the secondary will nest in the large primary. The field
flux from the primary will couple the entire length of the
secondary winding for a distributed, high efficiency, energy
transfer. More energy can be forced into the secondary, with
lower input power, and reduced chance of breakdown and loss.
Primary coils take several forms depending on the type secondary
used with them. Modern secondaries, with high inductance and low
aspect ratios, need primaries that are flat pancakes, or "saucer"
(rising upwards as the turns move out) shaped spirals. Because
this design is so efficient in energy transfers, critical
coupling coefficients are achieved without using the old fashion
vertical helix type primary coil.
When designing primary coils, it is generally a good idea to test
a particular coil shape before committing to a time consuming and
expensive permanent coil. This is especially true for those who
have not had much experience with primary coils of different
shapes and sizes. Some cheap low Q wire can be picked up and used
to make a temporary primary coil for testing. I set the secondary
up on an insulated platform equipped with a good ground, then
wind the test primary. To achieve the desired shape I use tire
tubes (to build up "saucers") plastic wedges, tape, etc.
... If all else fails... Put another megavolt through it.
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Msg#: 869 Date: 11-18-93 21:18
From: Richard Quick
To: Dave Tiefenbrunn
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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Dave!
Got your tape out this morning. Let me know that you got it and
what you think of the spark. I was checking the tape for a minute
as it was recording... Even I forget sometimes how awesome a 10"
secondary looks with a proper discharger and 10 KVA pumped
cleanly through it. I think you will agree, get back with me.
-!-
... If all else fails... Put another megavolt through it.
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12
ŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽ
Msg#: 1 Date: 19 Nov 93 14:38:00
From: Richard Quick
To: All
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
ŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽ
Toroid Discharge Terminals
Another feature of the "classic" Tesla coil design is the sphere
or ball discharge terminal. Tesla clearly was using spheres while
he was developing the Colorado Springs oscillator, but during his
work there he made the discovery of toroids. Photographs of the
Colorado Springs machine clearly shows a brass toroid as part of
the antenna mast to prevent corona leakage and premature breakout
from the top of the extra coil.
As we examine photos of the Wardenclyff machine he built on Long
Island, it is clear that the entire tower was constructed to
carry the giant toroid terminal. I do not have verifiable infor-
mation as to the exact size of this terminal, but it is easily
over 50' in diameter. Probably closer to 75-100'. Toroids perform
several functions as discharge terminals on Tesla coils.
They provide a large top capacitance. This top capacitance helps
"cancel" the high inductance in the secondary coil, and increase
throughput in the system.
They break down at much higher voltages than other shapes. The
donut shaped field distributes the charge density. Higher
voltages must reached before electrical breakdown occurs. To the
coiler this means longer, higher voltage spark. For those of you
that have my video, you can see a 30% increase in spark lenghts
with no change to input power, the only thing I did was add a
larger toroid and retune the system.
Toroids sever the coupling. This may be a controversial statement
on my part. But from what I have seen, appears to be true. A
sphere discharge terminal does not want to separate from the
field flux interactions between the primary and secondary. The
primary field flux wants to couple the sphere discharger into the
system as if it were another turn of the secondary. The spark
from the discharger will frequently follow these lines of force,
and seek to strike back to the primary. The spark discharge bends
back down, and aligns itself with the magnetic lines of force.
While this may be useful if you wish to visualize the size and
shape of the field, it does nothing to increase your spark
lengths. A large toroid on the other hand will establish a field
identity that interacts destructively with the primary/secondary
field interaction. Since this destructive interaction occurs
above the top turns of the secondary is does not affect the coil
performance or ability to process energy. It does however allow
the spark to leave the system unaffected by the primary/secondary
lines of force. This has the effect of allowing a clean getaway
for the discharge and promotes those long strikes to the ground
or other more distant objects.
Toriods also have the beneficial effect of lowering the frequency
of the secondary coil dramatically. By loading a large toriod on
a relatively small coil, a very low secondary frequency is
reached. Low frequency in Tesla systems means long spark. This
way a small coil can give big coil performance. Because of this
ability of the toriod to drop the frequency of the secondary to
such low frequencies, it is important to have a very large
primary available that can be tapped out to over 10-12 turns in
order to regain the system tune. Larger capacitors may be added,
but my experience shows that no additional power or capacitance
is required to get big increases in spark production.
Clearly the toriod is the ultimate in high Q dischargers and
radiators in Tesla systems. Now go out and buy one. I can hear
Dave Halliday now..... "You Paid _HOW MUCH?_"!!!
Yup, spun aluminum toroids are available commercially, and they
run hundreds, even thousands of dollars each. My 20" wide by 5"
high commercial toriod ran me over 350 clams. My ten inch
secondary needs a toroid at least twice as big to achieve optimum
performance, and as commercial toroids get larger, the price
increases exponentially. I priced a 40" toroid for my coil at
$2000.00 not including shipping, and they gave me a six month
deliverly time...
So I built one for $35.00, and it works GREAT! I will never spend
another penny on commercial spun aluminum toroids. Here are the
brief instructions:
I buy the 4" or 6" diam. polyproplyene flexible black plastic
drain piping. This is made out of ridged plastic, so it does not
have a smooth surface, but it easy to bend to form circles of
varying diameters.
I cut the flange off with a sharp knife, match the ends, and tape
them together with wide plastic tape. Once a large ring is
formed, I cover the entire surface with wide plastic tape to
smooth out the ridges in the material. The goal is to have an
even, smooth, surface. The tape choice helps with this con-
struction, Mylar and other tapes have no stretch, and are
difficult to work with as they wrinkle. I shopped several stores
before I found a stretchy material similar to electrical tape.
Tape is applied in overlapping strips, or bands, around the drain
pipe 4" or 6" cross section. Some surface irregularities are OK.
Once the ring is smoothed with a layer of plastic tape, I retape
the entire ring with aluminum plumbers tape. This tape comes in
two standard widths, I bought a large roll of each. Apply strips
of plumbers tape over the prepared surface, make sure the entire
surface is covered, and press out any wrinkles with a fingernail
or tool. You should now have an aluminized ring. Cut out a circle
of thin masonite, wood paneling, or thin plastic so that it will
friction fit in the center of the alumunized ring. Place some
blocks up under this panel, set the ring in place, and tape the
edges all around on both sides with aluminum tape to hold it in
place. Spray adhesive and heavy duty foil are used to cover both
sides if the center plate. Roll out all wrinkles with a socket or
a wood dowel. Works great, about 1/100th the cost.
... And if all else fails... Put another megavolt through it
ŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽ
Msg#: 3066 Date: 11-19-93 14:38
From: Richard Quick
To: All
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
ŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽ
Toroid Discharge Terminals
Another feature of the "classic" Tesla coil design is the sphere
or ball discharge terminal. Tesla clearly was using spheres while
he was developing the Colorado Springs oscillator, but during his
work there he made the discovery of toroids. Photographs of the
Colorado Springs machine clearly shows a brass toroid as part of
the antenna mast to prevent corona leakage and premature breakout
from the top of the extra coil.
As we examine photos of the Wardenclyff machine he built on Long
Island, it is clear that the entire tower was constructed to
carry the giant toroid terminal. I do not have verifiable infor-
mation as to the exact size of this terminal, but it is easily
over 50' in diameter. Probably closer to 75-100'. Toroids perform
several functions as discharge terminals on Tesla coils.
They provide a large top capacitance. This top capacitance helps
"cancel" the high inductance in the secondary coil, and increase
throughput in the system.
They break down at much higher voltages than other shapes. The
donut shaped field distributes the charge density. Higher
voltages must reached before electrical breakdown occurs. To the
coiler this means longer, higher voltage spark. For those of you
that have my video, you can see a 30% increase in spark lenghts
with no change to input power, the only thing I did was add a
larger toroid and retune the system.
Toroids sever the coupling. This may be a controversial statement
on my part. But from what I have seen, appears to be true. A
sphere discharge terminal does not want to separate from the
field flux interactions between the primary and secondary. The
primary field flux wants to couple the sphere discharger into the
system as if it were another turn of the secondary. The spark
from the discharger will frequently follow these lines of force,
and seek to strike back to the primary. The spark discharge bends
back down, and aligns itself with the magnetic lines of force.
While this may be useful if you wish to visualize the size and
shape of the field, it does nothing to increase your spark
lengths. A large toroid on the other hand will establish a field
identity that interacts destructively with the primary/secondary
field interaction. Since this destructive interaction occurs
above the top turns of the secondary is does not affect the coil
performance or ability to process energy. It does however allow
the spark to leave the system unaffected by the primary/secondary
lines of force. This has the effect of allowing a clean getaway
for the discharge and promotes those long strikes to the ground
or other more distant objects.
Toriods also have the beneficial effect of lowering the frequency
of the secondary coil dramatically. By loading a large toriod on
a relatively small coil, a very low secondary frequency is
reached. Low frequency in Tesla systems means long spark. This
way a small coil can give big coil performance. Because of this
ability of the toriod to drop the frequency of the secondary to
such low frequencies, it is important to have a very large
primary available that can be tapped out to over 10-12 turns in
order to regain the system tune. Larger capacitors may be added,
but my experience shows that no additional power or capacitance
is required to get big increases in spark production.
Clearly the toriod is the ultimate in high Q dischargers and
radiators in Tesla systems. Now go out and buy one. I can hear
Dave Halliday now..... "You Paid _HOW MUCH?_"!!!
Yup, spun aluminum toroids are available commercially, and they
run hundreds, even thousands of dollars each. My 20" wide by 5"
high commercial toriod ran me over 350 clams. My ten inch
secondary needs a toroid at least twice as big to achieve optimum
performance, and as commercial toroids get larger, the price
increases exponentially. I priced a 40" toroid for my coil at
$2000.00 not including shipping, and they gave me a six month
deliverly time...
So I built one for $35.00, and it works GREAT! I will never spend
another penny on commercial spun aluminum toroids. Here are the
brief instructions:
I buy the 4" or 6" diam. polyproplyene flexible black plastic
drain piping. This is made out of ridged plastic, so it does not
have a smooth surface, but it easy to bend to form circles of
varying diameters.
I cut the flange off with a sharp knife, match the ends, and tape
them together with wide plastic tape. Once a large ring is
formed, I cover the entire surface with wide plastic tape to
smooth out the ridges in the material. The goal is to have an
even, smooth, surface. The tape choice helps with this con-
struction, Mylar and other tapes have no stretch, and are
difficult to work with as they wrinkle. I shopped several stores
before I found a stretchy material similar to electrical tape.
Tape is applied in overlapping strips, or bands, around the drain
pipe 4" or 6" cross section. Some surface irregularities are OK.
Once the ring is smoothed with a layer of plastic tape, I retape
the entire ring with aluminum plumbers tape. This tape comes in
two standard widths, I bought a large roll of each. Apply strips
of plumbers tape over the prepared surface, make sure the entire
surface is covered, and press out any wrinkles with a fingernail
or tool. You should now have an aluminized ring. Cut out a circle
of thin masonite, wood paneling, or thin plastic so that it will
friction fit in the center of the alumunized ring. Place some
blocks up under this panel, set the ring in place, and tape the
edges all around on both sides with aluminum tape to hold it in
place. Spray adhesive and heavy duty foil are used to cover both
sides if the center plate. Roll out all wrinkles with a socket or
a wood dowel. Works great, about 1/100th the cost.
... And if all else fails... Put another megavolt through it
ŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽ
Msg#: 928 Date: 11-19-93 16:31
From: Richard Quick
To: Dave Halliday
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
ŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽ
DH> Geeez Richard - and I thought *I* had too much going on at
DH> once what with my boat, woodworking shop, metal shop (
DH> lathe, wirewelder and torches ), music studio, homebrewing,
DH> BBS, computers and printing...
DH> This takes the cake <grin>
Isn't it funny how intelligence and imagination breeds havoc?
Mark Lawton (spel) sent me a post about all of his concurrent
projects too. It seems we landed in a nice spot to exchange a few
ideas and interests. This conference is not too crowded, yet
several people end up with similar sets of hobbies and interests.
BTW to keep somewhat on topic, I really hope your coiling efforts
are moving along. I have tried to dump as much as possible in the
last few days, and have spent several hours per day in organizing
my thoughts and getting them out.
Between the video tape and the posts you should have sufficient
information to be able to build a really hot coil system or two.
I wish you the best of luck, and if you need any clarification,
further explaination, or any such, drop me a post.
... And if all else fails... Put another megavolt through it
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12
ŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽ
Msg#: 929 Date: 11-19-93 16:49
From: Richard Quick
To: Dave Halliday
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
ŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽ
>recently gutted. When I inquired, he stated he had to switch to
>an ungrounded, wooden, control cabinet because he was drawing
>sparks to fingers when he touched the controls...
DH> I also recall stories about ham radio shacks having this
DH> problem.
DH> Used to work for the public aquarium in Boston and we had
DH> grounding problems like you wouldn't believe - I was
DH> responsible for all of the non-living exhibits ( PA and AV
DH> stuff ) and the ground at every single outlet was at a
DH> different potential than any other outlet. I once found 50
DH> volts difference between two located 20' apart... A guide
DH> was setting up a temporary exhibit and used both outlets for
DH> their equipment. They got a bit of a rude awakening that
DH> day <grin>
A few months back when our local sysop first added this
conference, there was an thread on grounds and grounding that you
just would not believe (well maybe you would), anyway, the
misunderstandings and misconceptions about grounds and grounding,
and the bizzare things that happen when equipment and systems are
not properly grounded...
I have threatened to write a book on the subject and post it
chapter by chapter!
Tesla was the first person to apply ground to a tuned circuit.
His studies of grounds, and grounding practices was extremely
extensive, but unfortunately little was documented or survived.
By reading the Colorado Springs Notes it is quite clear that
Tesla struggled to get a good ground on site for his system and
cited the local geology (sand & rock) as the source of his
problem. He eventually had to run water 24 hours a day over his
ground.
He used a two ground system in his CS lab, and documents the
resistance, and electrical distance between the two. The system
ground was a 3' square copper plate dropped in the bottom of a
12' hole with a couple of wheelbarrows of coke dumped on top.
The hole was backfilled and watered as I mentioned.
His control, or line frequency, ground was the water pipe. Tesla
was capable of producing serious ground currents from the
machine. Some of the effects were reported many miles away;
sparks comming off the the shoes of horses which caused the
animals to spook, clouds of insects covered in St.Elmos fire,
in addition to the locals getting sparks from their water taps.
When he went on to Wardenclyff, he spent half of the tower
construction cost on the well with 18" copper plated steel pipe
driven into bedrock 50' below the water table. He did not intend
to mess around.
... If all else fails... Put another megavolt through it.
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12
111993 1704
ŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽ
Msg#: 930 Date: 11-19-93 17:04
From: Richard Quick
To: David Tiefenbrunn
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
ŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽ
DT> I have sent you a video tape. I hope the
DT> offer is still good. I included a few
DT> minutes of the first run of the 45KW generator.
DT> The new lab sounds great.
DT> Of course, you will probably get the tape before
DT> this message. :)
Yeah I did! And you will probably get the tape back before you
get this message. It went out yesterday. Yes the offer is still
good, and so is the tape. You will really enjoy watching it.
New lab so far is looking good. Expensive, contractor wants
$32.50 per square foot.
Read my letter in with the tape about the generator video. I am
still kicking myself (I recorded over it before I read your
letter)
BTW I will trade tapes happily if anyone has goodies I would be
interested in. Video tape is an excellent way to archive our
little projects; not only are they useful as a personal
reference, but they are amazingly effective teaching tools.
Nothing explains something like a coil project as well as the
designer/operator pointing to, and talking about, the operational
working equipment.
... And if all else fails... Put another megavolt through it
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12
ŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽ
Msg#: 930 Date: 11-19-93 17:04
From: Richard Quick
To: David Tiefenbrunn
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
ŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽ
DT> I have sent you a video tape. I hope the
DT> offer is still good. I included a few
DT> minutes of the first run of the 45KW generator.
DT> The new lab sounds great.
DT> Of course, you will probably get the tape before
DT> this message. :)
Yeah I did! And you will probably get the tape back before you
get this message. It went out yesterday. Yes the offer is still
good, and so is the tape. You will really enjoy watching it.
New lab so far is looking good. Expensive, contractor wants
$32.50 per square foot.
Read my letter in with the tape about the generator video. I am
still kicking myself (I recorded over it before I read your
letter)
BTW I will trade tapes happily if anyone has goodies I would be
interested in. Video tape is an excellent way to archive our
little projects; not only are they useful as a personal
reference, but they are amazingly effective teaching tools.
Nothing explains something like a coil project as well as the
designer/operator pointing to, and talking about, the operational
working equipment.
... And if all else fails... Put another megavolt through it
ŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽ
Msg#: 931 Date: 11-20-93 00:42
From: Richard Quick
To: All
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
ŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽ
Tesla Coil Builders Association
I posted this address a few months back, but many people dropped
in recently so I will post it back up again. The organization is
called TCBA for short and is run by one, Harry Goldman, retired
high school science teacher. He publishes a quarterly news letter
called _NEWS_
The news letter has articles submitted by members on a regular
basis, new coil designs, sparks gaps (my first submission was
published here), spark photos, articles on "classic" coils
gleened from age old science magazines, questions and answers
sections, as well as a "trading post" buy and sell section for
new and used HV caps, xfrmrs, coils, coil forms, etc., and a list
of the best commercial parts suppliers.
Subscriptions and membership is $24.00 U.S., $30 CAN., and
includes a framable certificate.
Harry has been publishing the NEWS since 1982 and all back issues
are available as well a a comprehensive index of all articles in
those back issues. If you are interested write to:
Harry Goldman
TCBA
3 Amy Lane
Queensbury, NY 12804
Tel: (518) 792-1003
Tell him I sent you!!!
-!-
... And if all else fails... Put another megavolt through it
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12
ŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽ
Msg#: 1339 Date: 11-20-93 18:24
From: Joseph Freivald
To: Richard Quick
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
ŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽ
For those of us who are wanna bees, What's a tesla coil, and why
does it get at least 10 posts per day?
Just trying to catch up,
Joe
! Origin: Advanced Software Concepts-WC3.90P-15.8,301-794-6496
(1:109/546)
ŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽ
Msg#: 1040 Date: 11-21-93 22:40
From: David Tiefenbrunn
To: Richard Quick
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
ŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽ
On 11-18-93 Richard Quick wrote to Dave Tiefenbrunn...
RQ> Got your tape out this morning. Let me know that you got it and
Tape recieved 11-20-93. As was the post quoted herein.
RQ> what you think of the spark. I was checking the tape for a minute
RQ> as it was recording... Even I forget sometimes how awesome a 10"
RQ> secondary looks with a proper discharger and 10 KVA pumped
RQ> cleanly through it. I think you will agree, get back with me.
*Quite* awsome... Previously the largest Tesla coil
I had seen was in a science museum in Boston, MA.
It's spark was maybe 1/2 of the >small< coil in your
video. I *used* to think it was a big one.
At what power level does it become dangerous to
draw spark with the pole?
The one I built when I was in college (over 10 years
ago) had 230W input, but I didn't have all the details
of how to optimize / tune it. It still threw sparks
a few inches long. It also had a nasty static charge
that would build up while it was running, and while
I drew sparks (with a rod) the static charge would
pop and I'd get a jolt. Your coils never displayed
that particular problem in the video, just nice
clean HV RF. I'm going to show a few friends
your tape. One of them has a small (by your standards)
coil. His coil's primary is wound like a regular coil,
not flat like yours (or for that matter, the others
I've seen. I will have to check with him to find out
why. I think he is useing flat glass / foil caps.
With a little luck & timing maybe I can get video
of it when we do the generator tape deal. (see other
post) I have been saving all of the "how to" stuff for
future reference.
TTYL,
Dave
___
* OFFLINE 1.54 * I love the smell of ozone in the morning.
-!- Maximus 2.01wb
! Origin: =Abbey Road BBS= Higganum, Ct. (203)345-7635
(1:320/5967)
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Msg#: 1102 Date: 11-21-93 23:01
From: Dave Halliday
To: Richard Quick
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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RQ> Primary coils
RQ>In order to move towards a complete presentation we need to
>talk primary coils. This will take me one step closer to
>coverage of of the major componets in the basic 1/4 wave
>oscillator.
Once again - THANKS!
Also, just had a bit of a "conceptual" breakthrough - was trying
to see why 1/4 wave was best and then saw that this is 1/4 wave
reflected over a ground plane...
Makes a lot of sense ( arcs too )
Again, this has been saved, will be printed tomorrow.
::Status report::
Got some PVC pipe - flimsy stuff but I will use wooden braces to
hold it circular while I wind it. Actually, will probably cut
out some plexi circles and glue them in... Got a bunch from some
old signs
Still have yet to get to the plastics store to get the material
for the capacitors but looking at this week - also probably
"have" to make a run to one of our distributors located near the
Boeing surplus store - check for teflon wire as well as "exotic"
6" tubes...
Question - there are some very cheap cutting boards available
made out of a high-density polyethylene plastic - was thinking of
using them for the "breadboard" for the transformer protection
stuff as well as the base of the coil - do you have any feedback
on the Q of this material
Thank you for your post on Primary coils - haven't read it
completely but I got the idea that the diameter was critical -
will check and get large tubing if that is true...
Again - TTYL - Dave
! Origin: Advanced Software Concepts-WC3.90P-15.8,301-794-6496
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Msg#: 3181 Date: 11-21-93 23:11
From: David Tiefenbrunn
To: Richard Quick
Subj: 45KVA generator
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Hello, Richard.
I know what you mean about the "wonderful" day. Send me a tape.
I have approximatly 30 minutes of cranking the generator for the
first run. Obviously, being the first attempt, I had no idea
how long or what it would take to get it running. After working
the crankshaft back & forth by "hand", and getting the starters
to turn the thing over, I found it had no compresion. So I took
the head off, and did a valve job. 2 new valves, and 5 springs.
Almost needed seats but there was enough left of them. I will
edit that down to a reasonable length, depending on the length of
the tape you send. I can also do a "tour" of the unit, if you
like.
And, for that matter, some of the other somewhat less than common
stuff / equiptment I have collected or constructed. I have some
shots of the internal parts of the engine, as after getting it
started, I discovered it needed an oil ring on cylinder #1.
I use an S-VHS camcorder, and make dubs to VHS HI-FI. The
sharpness of the picture w/S-VHS is a huge improvement over VHS.
It is very close to laser disc quality, so the dubs come out as
good as an original (not a copy) VHS tape would be.
I will let my sysop know about the double echos, and that I
apparently have been loosing replys. I am beginning to think
about setting up my own BBS, also.
Post a message about what to tape, and or send your blank, and I
will get it back ASAP.
TTYL,
Dave
* OFFLINE 1.54 * I love the smell of ozone in the morning.
Origin: =Abbey Road BBS= Higganum, Ct. (203)345-7635
(1:320/5967)
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Msg#: 1008 Date: 11-22-93 03:18
From: Richard Quick
To: Dave Halliday
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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DH> Status report:
DH> Got the wire for the secondary as well as the basic design.
OK, I got some soft figures for you. Given the specs of the
planned coil you gave me here's what your looking at:
Bare secondary frequency around ~260 kHz
Secondary top loaded with 18" diam, 4" cross section toriod will
resonate around ~180 kHz
Using the rolled capacitor as per my specs you should get .02 uf
capacitance, so to tune this secondary in on the tank circuit,
your tank will have to be: Saucer shaped sprial wound primary.
Angle of inclination from first turn to last turn will be right
around 30 degrees slope; this should give pretty close to critcal
coupling with this secondary. Diameter of the first turn (inside
diameter) will need to be ~9" giving you 1-1/2" space between the
coils. With the toroid discharge terminal on the secondary coil,
the tank should tune in when the primary is tapped right around 9
turns.
These numbers are going to off a little, but I tuned a guys coil
once over the telephone when he was six states away. I was
throwing stuff off the top of my head and set the coil up in my
mind from his verbal description. He claimed I had the coil in
it's best tune the first time he turned it on, said every time he
altered anything the spark decreased. It COULD have been dumb
luck... But I checked the numbers you gave me against my programs
and my documented systems in this size. You'll need at least 9
turns on a saucer primary to get that coil to fire with that cap.
DH> I got the 50' of AL flashing for the capacitor as well as
DH> all of the PVC pipe and already had the nuts and bolts...
Your looking good here.
DH> Also, found a *wonderful* three terminal plus ground RF
DH> filter for 240 volt @ 60 Hz rated at 60 amps! $20 -
DH> couldn't resist!
I would have picked it up too. This is looking good, be sure to
run the filter backwards. If your using only one filter, place it
between in the supply line before the variac. Ground the case to
your 60 cycle neutral.
DH> Still looking for a source of the form for the secondary -
DH> the stuff I saw at a local Home Depot was poorly out of
DH> round...
DH> Maybe some plexiglass disks glued inside to maintain shape.
I would avoid using baffels inside the coil form, they tend to
reduce the Q of the coil. Find a different supplier for some
rounder pipe before you go this route.
DH> Have a bunch of 3/8" refrigeration tubing that I can use for
DH> the primary -
Just fine for this sized primary coil, make sure it is long
enough, though you can braze in a splice for added length.
DH> Still need to get the step-up transformer - already have a
DH> 12kV 30mA neon but the "potential" transformers you
DH> mentioned that were used in power substations sound very
DH> good too - will check locally.
If you use 12 kv neons you will need about 120 ma total to drive
this coil to good spark. That's four 12,30s.
DH> Pole pig will probably be somewhat later although the
DH> demonstration you did on your video - using it - were
DH> pretty impressive - the simple Jacobs Ladder was way beyond
DH> what a 15kV neon can do - had a really nice sound to it!
I should hope so!!! I run the Jacobs Ladder between 5-7 kVA with
a rail voltage of 20,000 volts.
DH> Anyway - work progresses - I will be busy during this
DH> "holiday" season, also the people that were interested in
DH> working with me are still very very much interested - showed
DH> the primary person your video and their jaw dropped <grin>
His was not the first, and won't be the last!!! You should have
seen the look on MY face while I was running it! I was 20' away
and under cover and the sparks looked like they were going to
wipe my nose for me.
DH> p.s. - an idea for the gap - you could have a rotary system
DH> that also had a valving plate ( circular plate with holes
DH> drilled into it ) where the output of the valves could be
DH> forced over the spark gaps - pulsed air quenching of a
DH> rotary gap - I have a small metal lathe and this might be
DH> something to do...
I think I understand the idea, may be a good one. I can give you
specs for basic systems that will give excellent performance. But
for ideas like this, I encourage people to develop as far as
profitable.
-!-
... And if all else fails... Put another megavolt through it
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12
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Msg#: 1034 Date: 11-22-93 18:53
From: Richard Quick
To: All
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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Tuning The Tesla Tank Circuit
Once a Tesla coil is set up and ready to fire, certain steps
should be taken before power is applied. Don't expect to throw
the works on a newly built or newly re-arranged system. If you do
you may have to go back to the drawing board. The coil must be
brought into tune, and up to power gradually.
The use of a variac autotransformer is highly recommended for
controlling power on a system, even if the coil is eventually to
be used in on/off applications. Never throw full power to a coil
until you are sure the system is in proper tune.
Set the tank circuit up first. Double check all of your
connections. Run your grounds and double check those, never take
a solid connection for granted. Set the secondary into the
primary and ground it. Use a small discharge terminal at first if
available. The smaller terminal will break down and produce spark
at a lower voltage than a larger terminal, and new setups are not
the place to stress the secondary.
CLOSE YOUR SPARK GAPS DOWN! This is the numero uno step in
bringing a coil into tune, don't run a lot of gap. I set up a
static test with the power supply and no capacitors. Close down
the safety gap until it has reached the point where the
transformer will jump the gap 50% of the time when full voltage
is applied in the test. Measure this gap distance and record it.
When tuning a coil you will reduce this safety gap distance by
50% to provide kickback protection. It is a good idea to run a
static test on the main system spark gap and close it down by 75%
But on some gap systems this may not be practical, as series gaps
behave much differently that a single gap. These differences are
caused by the opposing lines of force in the single gap used for
the safety.
Apply a bit of power until the tank circuit fires. If no spark
breakout is seen from the discharge terminal don't worry. Use a
florescent bulb as an indicator. As the coil is closer to tune,
the farther and brighter the bulb will glow. Turn off the coil
and move the tap connection on the primary coil a half turn and
check the bulb brightness, then move it a full turn in the
opposite direction and note the brightness of the bulb again.
This way you can determine the direction the tap needs to be
moved to locate the tune spot.
Open the main and safety gaps up in steps. Apply the same voltage
input (low power) and check for discharge. Once spark has begun
to break out of the discharge terminal use it as a visual
indicator of tune as long as full power is not applied. With full
power into a system the spark frequently gets so wild and
distracting you cannot judge accurately. I have found that
recording the tuning on video, and watching the tape provides a
way to look at the system objectively.
A system in proper tune should not break down the safety gap. The
safety gap set at the full static test setting should not be too
acitive. Once the coil is in good tune the safety gap electrodes
may be opened to the point where the gap only fires perhaps once
every three or four seconds weakly.
Tuning is an art, and it takes a little practice. I recently came
across some information that will be quite helpful for the novice
(and even an expert on high powered systems) obtain better
tuning. Use an arc meter.
The arc meter is made by suspending a series of gaps on
monofiliment fishing line. One end of the arc meter is connected
to the toroid, the other end of the meter is strung across the
room and grounded.
By placing a series of air gaps on an insulated line, the arc
strength and voltage may be accurately gaged with the eye.
Discharge will follow the gap path (it looks like a ray gun
firing) and gaps may be counted as a reference.
... And if all else fails... Put another megavolt through it
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12
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Msg#: 1333 Date: 11-23-93 10:28
From: Dave Halliday
To: Richard Quick
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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RQ> DH> Geeez Richard - and I thought *I* had too much going on
> DH> at once what with my boat, woodworking shop, metal shop (
> DH> lathe, wirewelder and torches ), music studio,
> DH> homebrewing, BBS, computers and printing...
RQ> DH> This takes the cake <grin>
RQ>Isn't it funny how intelligence and imagination breeds havoc?
Havoc... Now *that's* a polite term for it <grin>
RQ>Mark Lawton (spel) sent me a post about all of his concurrent
>projects too. It seems we landed in a nice spot to exchange a
>few ideas and interests. This conference is not too crowded,
>yet several people end up with similar sets of hobbies and
>interests.
Great! I am looking to connect to a local source for FIDO just
for this conference...
RQ>BTW to keep somewhat on topic, I really hope your coiling
>efforts are moving along. I have tried to dump as much as
>possible in the last few days, and have spent several hours
>per day in organizing my thoughts and getting them out.
I sent you a status report a couple days ago - just getting stuff
together right now. I will be going to the Boeing surplus place
today and will see if they have anything of interest - they are
closed on Monday - they put all the new stuff out then so Tuesday
is the primo day to go there...
TTYL - Dave ë:-)
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(1:109/546)
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Msg#: 1334 Date: 11-23-93 10:36
From: Dave Halliday
To: Richard Quick
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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RQ> DH> Used to work for the public aquarium in Boston and we had
> DH> grounding problems like you wouldn't believe - I was
RQ>A few months back when our local sysop first added this
>conference, there was an thread on grounds and grounding that
>you just would not believe (well maybe you would), anyway, the
>misunderstandings and misconceptions about grounds and
>grounding, and the bizzare things that happen when equipment
>and systems are not properly grounded...
I can well imagine - I also did PA systems for bands for a while
and some of the perceptions about power and signal grounds were
amazing.
Not so much for their blind ignorance and lack of common sense
but for the fact that some of them were still alive <grin>
RQ>By reading the Colorado Springs Notes it is quite clear that
>Tesla struggled to get a good ground on site for his system
>and cited the local geology (sand & rock) as the source of his
>problem. He eventually had to run water 24 hours a day over
>his ground.
Interesting - the water table there is probably pretty low so
that would be a problem. In Seattle, the reverse is true - where
I live is fairly close to Lake Washington and the ground is
pretty wet all year round.
I will probably drive a couple lengths of coper pipe into the
earth for the coil ground - the ground for the house is a 6'
copper rod but from what you say, the more the merrier!
RQ>His control, or line frequency, ground was the water pipe.
>Teslawas capable of producing serious ground currents from the
>machine. Some of the effects were reported many miles away;
>sparks comming off the the shoes of horses which caused the
>animals to spook, clouds of insects covered in St.Elmos fire,
>in addition to the locals getting sparks from their water
>taps.
Must have been fun to live near there <grin>
RQ>When he went on to Wardenclyff, he spent half of the tower
>construction cost on the well with 18" copper plated steel
>pipe driven into bedrock 50' below the water table. He did not
>intend to mess around.
Jeeezzz! I guess not!!! That is getting a bit serious!
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(1:109/546)
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Msg#: 1335 Date: 11-23-93 10:38
From: Dave Halliday
To: Richard Quick
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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RQ> Harry Goldman
> TCBA
> 3 Amy Lane
> Queensbury, NY 12804
> Tel: (518) 792-1003
RQ>Tell him I sent you!!!
Thanks! Will do
! Origin: Advanced Software Concepts-WC3.90P-15.8,301-794-6496
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Msg#: 1337 Date: 11-23-93 11:16
From: Dave Halliday
To: Richard Quick
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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RQ> Primary coils
Me again... This is exactly the info I need! I was wondering
what would work best.
>primary coil should be large. I have seen lots of holdovers
>from the classic age of coil building who insist on 2-3 turn
>primaries and HUGE capacitors to achieve the proper frequency
>of operation in the tank circuit.
RQ>This is wrong.
RQ>A tank circuit with a small capacitor, and a large primary
>inductance, will reach down to the same frequencies of
>operation. A tank circuit of this design will use less power,
>and therefore require a smaller step up xfrmr. The capacitor
>will be smaller, which further reduces the cost of the system.
Makes a lot of sense! Also, because of the losses in the
capacitor, using a lower value will result in less loss...
RQ>So to give some advice to my friend Dave Halliday, who is
>building a 6" secondary coil sometime in the near future,
>plan on winding a primary coil from a conductor material that
>I have listed above, and use a conductor length of around 75
>feet. Your primary should end up about as wide as, or wider,
>than your secondary is tall.
Got it! I was thinking of using some 3/8ths refrigeration tubing
but since the surface area is important, I'll probably get a reel
of 3/4ths or 1/2" tubing ( gotta check on pricing first )
Also, I wasn't thinking about the length of the primary and I
only have about 20' of the small tubing.
I'll be going to Boeing today so they might have something there
too.
Again - many thanks for the info - I have a pretty good handle on
what is needed - like I said, probably building the capacitor
over the Thanksgiving weekend - I'll be closing the store then...
Trade some videos / photos once I get something to show.
b QMPro 1.51 b Neurotoxin Lite! Tastes great... Less drooling...
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Msg#: 3185 Date: 11-23-93 15:21
From: Richard Quick
To: David Tiefenbrunn
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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DT> Tape recieved 11-20-93. As was the post quoted herein.
RQ> what you think of the spark. I was checking the tape for a
RQ> minute as it was recording... Even I forget sometimes how
RQ> awesome a 10" secondary looks with a proper discharger and
RQ> 10 KVA pumped cleanly through it. I think you will agree,
DT> *Quite* awesome... Previously the largest Tesla coil
DT> I had seen was in a science museum in Boston, MA.
DT> It's spark was maybe 1/2 of the >small< coil in your
DT> video. I *used* to think it was a big one.
Yup, we have one in our science muesum too. Small system putting
out about 2' of spark. I decided I could do a little better if I
put my mind to it.
DT> At what power level does it become dangerous to
DT> draw spark with the pole?
This is a very good question. Very good. I routinely pull spark
off of my coils with a key, pipe, or other conductor. It is not
the power level of the spark that makes a difference, it is the
quality of insulation you are standing on and the distance you
place yourself from ground. I have had sparks coming off of my
shoes over a foot long while in direct contact with voltages of
at least a million volts. I can light 40 watt bulbs from the
CURRENT heating the filament, and my body in series with the
circuit.
Power arcs leaving the body and hitting the ground are very
dangerious, especially for those who are more shock sensitive
than myself. I do not experience "shocks" in these instances, but
do feel the RF burns. I have also had a few RF burns from change,
keys, etc. on my person, as well as having lost all the magnetic
strips on my bank and credit cards. My brother lost a nice
digital watch once.
But, if you know what you are doing, and the system is well set
up in proper tune, it is OK to take up to 5 kVA output through a
conductor to your person. But this is not recommended for
amateurs.
There IS a danger with certain tank circuits. I never ground the
tank circuit or the primary coil, nor do I connect the secondary
anywhere to the tank circuit or the primary. Coils with the
primary and secondary connected, or both grounded to system
ground can be LETHAL!!!! This allows an open pathway for deadly
60 cycle from the step up xformer to appear in the spark
discharge. I avoid this problem by never using these circuits. My
tank circuits and primary coils float ungrounded. Remember tank
circuits are always deadly. A person with a conductor in hir hand
and approaching a Tesla coil had better know the circuit, and
have a cool head. Accidental contact with a primary coil or tank
circuit has thought provoking possibilities.
Like I stated in my original post when offering video: I cannot
be responsible for people attempting to reproduce any of the
experiments that I perform on the tape. I know what I am doing.
DT> The one I built when I was in college (over 10 years
DT> ago) had 230W input, but I didn't have all the details
DT> of how to optimize / tune it.
You do now!
DT> It still threw sparks a few inches long. It also had a
DT> nasty static charge that would build up while it was
DT> running, and while I drew sparks (with a rod) the static
DT> charge would pop and I'd get a jolt. Your coils never
DT> displayed that particular problem in the video, just nice
DT> clean HV RF.
Yup, they do run clean. Very little RFI, high output, and
efficient. Even my little temporary test setups perform better
than most peoples end product. Having seen a lot of coils, and
talking with people that build them, I feel qualified to post
to "ALL". Nobody here has said any different. I know the circuits
and systems to the point where I literally dream about them
sometimes. I have set up and fired systems in my dreams several
times, and I find the data I get from there is as valid as
anything I do while awake.
DT> I'm going to show a few friends your tape.
Please do. All I ask is that you do not make copies without my
permission.
DT> One of them has a small (by your standards) coil. His
DT> coil's primary is wound like a regular coil, not flat like
DT> yours (or for that matter, the others I've seen. I will have
DT> to check with him to find out why.
Most likely his plan or design hails back to the "classic" era of
coil building where a vertical helix primnary (all primary turns
equally spaced from the secondary) was common. This type primary
is used to couple energy into systems using the "classic" style,
space wound or low inductance secondary coil. The design I
promote has been completely modernized and takes full advantage
of modern high Q construction materials. The very high inductance
secondary is so much more efficient that you have to reduce the
aspect ratio of the primary coil or it will force a breakdown of
the secondary from overloading. Then I use toroids to balance the
secondary right to the load limit. The result of this work on my
10" coil has yielded sparks to the strike rail protecting the
primary that are as fat as my leg, and up to 15' full current
strikes. The spark is fully five times the length of the
secondary winding which is only 32" high.
... If all else fails... Put another megavolt through it.
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12
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Msg#: 1340 Date: 11-23-93 17:49
From: Dave Halliday
To: Joseph Freivald
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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JF>For those of us who are wanna bees, What's a tesla coil, and
>why does it get at least 10 posts per day?
JF> Just trying to catch up,
> Joe
Hi Joe - the Tesla coil is basically a high-frequency resonant
air transformer - oscillator system. It was developed by a
wonderful genius / wildman Nikola Tesla ( 1856-1943 ) as a means
of generating very high voltage as well as power transmission.
Richard has a great two hour video tape of his work which he will
send to you for the following: ten bucks, a blank good quality
tape, and a postage paid mailer.
It is well worth it! His "big" coil is about 4' tall and fires
continuous bolts of lightning from nine to fifteen feet! This is
a point-to-point measure too so add in about 30% for the twists
of the arc!
I used to be into them when I was a teenager and had always
thought about getting back into it but the stuff he is working on
has convinced me! I will be working with a couple friends (
sharing work 'n money ) and we are starting work on parts of it
this thanksgiving holiday.
It is interesting too because the "classical" design for a tesla
coil is quite different from the actual best design. The
classical design goes for long thin coils ( maybe 30" by 3" dia )
and just two or three turns of wire for the primary whereas the
actual best design calls for much shorter / fatter coils and lots
of primary turns ( 10 - 15 )
My friends and I have arrived on a basic design - 6" diameter and
30" long, fixed spark gap, 12kV neon sign transformer and
homemade capacitor. Richard mentioned that he once built one
just like this and he was able to get 5' bolts!
Anyway, the posts are well worth saving, send away for the video
tape too - it makes for fantastic viewing!
b WOW!! *Nice* spark, Nick! Nick? NIKOLAI, WAKE UP!!
! Origin: Advanced Software Concepts-WC3.90P-15.8,301-794-6496
(1:109/546)
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Msg#: 1126 Date: 11-23-93 23:43
From: David Tiefenbrunn
To: Richard Quick
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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On 11-19-93 Richard Quick wrote to David Tiefenbrunn...
RQ> New lab so far is looking good. Expensive, contractor wants
RQ> $32.50 per square foot.
Have you "shopped" the local contractors much?
I would thing you could get a pretty good deal
with the terrible resession were in.:) In CT
things are still slow, anyway.
RQ> BTW I will trade tapes happily if anyone has goodies I would
RQ>be interested in. Video tape is an excellent way to archive
RQ>our little projects;
I agree. I still sometimes forget to get the dang thing before
"throwing the switch" though.
RQ> not only are they useful as a personal reference, but they
RQ> are amazingly effective teaching tools. Nothing explains
RQ> something like a coil project as well as the designer/
RQ> operator pointing to, and talking about, the operational
RQ> working equipment.
Of course, most of my projects haven't been as striking as the
10KVA Tesla coil, but it is nice to have them on record.
BTW, is that Tesla Coil Builders Association sticker on the big
control panel for real? I never in 1K years would have thought
there was such a thing.
Dave
! Origin: =Abbey Road BBS= Higganum, Ct. (203)345-7635
(1:320/5967)
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Msg#: 1143 Date: 11-24-93 01:29
From: George Powell
To: Richard Quick
Subj: Re: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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I bet tesla was a fun person to live by..made the locals life
real interesting..
;)
! Origin: Fruity Dog Support (1:2460/21)
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Msg#: 1125 Date: 11-25-93 11:59
From: Richard Quick
To: Dave Halliday
Subj: 1,000,000KVA Tesla Coil
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DH> Once again - THANKS!
No problem
DH> Also, just had a bit of a "conceptual" breakthrough - was
DH> trying to see why 1/4 wave was best and then saw that this
DH> is 1/4 wave reflected over a ground plane...
DH> Makes a lot of sense ( arcs too )
Yeah, It took me a few minutes of looking at sine, then a 1/4
wave antenna before I realized what was going on and was able to
conceptualize in my mind. Only then did Tesla's repeated use of
the terms "fundamental note" and "harmonic" make sense.
The length of wire vibrates electrically and is more or less the
perfect analogy of a musical string. When the length of wire is
wound to form a coil, it is simply compressed into a smaller
volume where it can be efficiently excited.
Now you can force that length of wire to accept SOME energy at
any frequency, but the wire has a natural "hot spot" of
resonance, just like a musical string has it's natural note.
A function of the coil, and it's natural resonance, is such that
it offers low impedance at the base for currents that match it's
natural resonate frequency. So if the coil has a natural
resonance of say 250 kHz, and current at 250 kHz is fed into the
base, the coil will take it up. Current will flow. Current of any
other frequency sees a very high impedance.
But at the top of the resonating coil you do not see current. The
coil "converts" the base current into a voltage at the other end.
Since this voltage rises as you go higher and higher up the coil,
and reaches it's peak at the top; Tesla was able to determine the
voltage at the top of the coil is the first 1/4 wave voltage peak
of the RF current fed into the bottom.
A good term to introduce here is VSWR, for Voltage Standing Wave
Ratio. The coil at resonance establishes a standing wave of the
resonate frequency. The bottom of the wave is a low potential,
such as your RF ground. From this low potential base, the
standing wave is established, and voltage increases as we move
higher up to the top of the coil.
In order to get a handle on the true resonate frequency of a coil
I use a signal generator, o'scope, and a frequency counter. The
signal generator produces about a 2 volt signal that can be
varied in frequency. I place a 1K resistor between the signal
generator output and the o'scope input. Now the o'scope measures
voltage. The higher the wave on the scope, the higher the voltage
present in the signal generator output.
The output of the frequency generator is fed to the base wire of
the coil, and the frequency of the output is varied while
watching the o'scope. When the frequency of the signal generator
matches that of the coil, the coil takes up the current. Because
current flows into the base of the coil at resonance, there is a
voltage drop in the signal generator output line. This voltage
drop is measured by the o'scope (across the 1K resistor) and is
know as a "grid dip". The wave on the scope drops to nearly a
flat line. When I see a grid dip I know I have matched the signal
generator output to the coils natural resonate frequency. By also
running a frequency counter connected to the signal generator, I
can tell precisely the frequency of the input current.
So in this little example, with a coil resonating at 250 kHz; the
coil is resonating at 250 kHz and accepts 250 kHz current at the
base. The current flow is high, the base impedance is low. As you
measure voltage up the coil, the voltage rises until you get to
the top of the coil. At the top of the coil you find the maximum
voltage peak. This is the first voltage peak of the RF current
fed into the base, and represents the 1/4 wave point of the
input frequency current. So you have a 250 kHz coil, with a 1/4
wave voltage output. 250 kHz input, 1/4 wave voltage output,
helical resonator; or 250 kHz 1/4 wave Tesla coil.
We know the coil does not require current fed to the base to
become excited. Oscillating magnetic field flux at the resonate
frequency will highly excite the coil. The coil also having the
property of inductance. So the coil can become highly excited by
placing it in close proximity to a high powered oscillator, which
is the Tesla tank circuit. Excitation by field flux produces
equal engery output from both ends of the coil. Current from the
bottom, and voltage from the top. It becomes clear now why such
heavy RF grounds are required for Tesla coil work, and why the RF
ground must be isolated from all other equipment.
DH> ::Status report::
DH> Got some PVC pipe - flimsy stuff but I will use wooden
DH> braces to hold it circular while I wind it. Actually, will
DH> probably cut out some plexi circles and glue them in...
Plug the ends of the coil form with something to hold it round
while it is wound. Once wound, the wire will stiffen the coil
form and hold the shape. When you glue the endcaps on the form,
it will be plenty sturdy.
DH> Question - there are some very cheap cutting boards
DH> available made out of a high-density polyethylene plastic -
DH> was thinking of using them for the "breadboard" for the
DH> transformer protection stuff as well as the base of the coil
DH> - do you have any feedback on the Q of this material?
Pretty good choice of material for for a filter board.
... And if all else fails... Put another megavolt through it
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Msg#: 1244 Date: 11-26-93 01:00
From: Guy Daugherty
To: George Powell
Subj: Re: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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GP>I bet tesla was a fun person to live by..made the locals life
GP>real interesting..
GP>;)
You might say it brightened up their lives. Brought a little
spark into them, so to speak.
! Origin: The Silhouetter bbs (209)472-0843 USR DS V32terbo
(1:208/216)
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Msg#: 1209 Date: 11-26-93 23:28
From: David Tiefenbrunn
To: Richard Quick
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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On 11-23-93 Richard Quick wrote to David Tiefenbrunn...
RQ> DT> *Quite* awesome... Previously the largest Tesla coil
RQ> DT> I had seen was in a science museum in Boston, MA.
RQ> DT> It's spark was maybe 1/2 of the >small< coil in your
RQ> DT> video. I *used* to think it was a big one.
RQ>
RQ> Yup, we have one in our science muesum too. Small system
RQ> putting out about 2' of spark. I decided I could do a little
RQ> better if I put my mind to it.
You shure did. :)
RQ> DT> At what power level does it become dangerous to
RQ> DT> draw spark with the pole?
RQ>
RQ> This is a very good question. Very good. I routinely pull
RQ> spark off of my coils with a key, pipe, or other conductor.
...
RQ> Power arcs leaving the body and hitting the ground are very
RQ> dangerious, especially for those who are more shock
RQ> sensitive than myself. I do not experience "shocks" in these
RQ> instances, but do feel the RF burns. I have also had a few
RQ> F burns from change, keys, etc. on my person, as well as
RQ> having lost all the magnetic strips on my bank and credit
RQ> cards. My brother lost a nice digital watch once.
RQ>
RQ> But, if you know what you are doing, and the system is well
RQ> set up in proper tune, it is OK to take up to 5 kVA output
RQ> through a conductor to your person. But this is not
R RQ> recommended for amateurs.
Reminds me of one of my dad's T shirts:
I am a professional. DON'T try this at home.
You should get one :)
It would seem that the important thing is to not allow a spark to
jump directly to or from the body.
The first coil I made (back in grade school days) only threw a
spark about 1/2 inch long. But I could let it jump directly to a
finger with no shock or burn. Not enough power to do damage.
I do feel shocks (and burns), so I would hesitate before trying
that with a large coil.
RQ> DT> I'm going to show a few friends your tape.
RQ>
RQ> Please do. All I ask is that you do not make copies without
RQ> my permission.
O.K.
! Origin: =Abbey Road BBS= Higganum, Ct. (203)345-7635
(1:320/5967)
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Msg#: 1150 Date: 11-27-93 00:52
From: Richard Quick
To: David Tiefenbrunn
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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DT> On 11-19-93 Richard Quick wrote to David Tiefenbrunn...
RQ> New lab so far is looking good. Expensive, contractor wants
RQ> $32.50 per square foot.
DT> Have you "shopped" the local contractors much?
DT> I would thing you could get a pretty good deal
DT> with the terrible resession were in.:) In CT
DT> things are still slow, anyway.
Yeah, I'm going to go "shopping" as soon as I can get motivated
to spend 100G. Right now I am catching my breath from the sticker
shock. The building should go up fast, and I don't plan to start
until spring or early summer. This will give me a chance to shop
around.
DT> BTW, is that Tesla Coil Builders Association sticker
DT> on the big control panel for real? I never in 1K years
DT> would have thought there was such a thing.
Yup It's for real.
Tesla Coil Builders Association
Harry Goldman
#3 Amy Lane
Queensbury, NY 12804
... And if all else fails... Put another megavolt through it
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Msg#: 1151 Date: 11-27-93 01:26
From: Richard Quick
To: George Powell
Subj: Re: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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GP> I bet Tesla was a fun person to live by..made the locals
GP> life real interesting..
There are several good (and true) stories about the local
disturbances Tesla created.
One of the best concerns an electromechanical steam powered
oscillator he constructed. Now the oscillator was built to
provide a constant frequency field current for a RF alternator
in his radio work. But he played around with the thing.
In New York he had a lab in the loft of a building for awhile, I
don't have the exact address, but I can easily reference it if
required. The building had a heavy iron center post in the
construction. The post came up through the center of the loft and
supported the roof peak. The base of the post was sunk into
bedrock, and carried a considerable portion of the building load.
Tesla bolted the oscillator output shaft to the post and fired it
up. As steam pressure in the boiler increased, so did the
frequency of oscillation. He sat in a chair and observed the
effects of the mechanical vibrations on objects at hand. Each
object having a resonate frequency would begin to vibrate and
move as the frequency of the oscillator matched it.
After about 30-40 minutes Tesla began to notice the building
itself begin to sway, and saw beams unseat. He went to shut down
the machine. To his dismay he found that his jury rigged steam
line was too hot to approach, and/or the valve was seized. He
looked around the lab for a minute or two and finally attacked
the problem with an axe, severing the steam line and blowing
clouds of live steam into the building.
As the steam cleared, he heard a knock at the door. Two of New
York's finest stood in the doorway. Now Tesla was apparently no
stranger to dealing with the authorities. He explained to the
cops that they had arrived too late for the demonstration, and
that an unfortunate problem prevented him from reproducing the
test while they waited. He invited them back later in the day,
and showed them out.
It seems the police had received frantic calls from people in a
radius of several blocks reporting an earthquake. Walls,
sidewalks, and foundations cracked, windows shattered, street
lamps tilted askew, and stuff was falling out of cabinets and
shelves. The police realized that the station itself was only
subjected to a slight tremor, but officers reporting to the scene
of the calls found the intensity increased as the drew near
Tesla's lab. It did not take them long to figure out where the
commotion was comming from. As I mentioned, Tesla was no stranger
in dealing with local authorities.
... And if all else fails... Put another megavolt through it
ŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽ
Msg#: 1266 Date: 11-30-93 12:15
From: Richard Quick
To: David Tiefenbrunn
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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RQ> DT> At what power level does it become dangerous to
RQ> DT> draw spark with the pole?
RQ> This is a very good question. Very good. I routinely pull
RQ> spark off of my coils with a key, pipe, or other conductor.
DT> ...
RQ> Power arcs leaving the body and hitting the ground are very
RQ> dangerious, especially for those who are more shock
RQ> sensitive than myself. I do not experience "shocks" in these
RQ> instances, but do feel the RF burns. I have also had a few
RQ> RF burns from change, keys, etc. on my person, as well as
RQ> having lost all the magnetic strips on my bank and credit
RQ> cards. My brother lost a nice digital watch once.
RQ> But, if you know what you are doing, and the system is well
RQ> set up in proper tune, it is OK to take up to 5 kVA output
RQ> through a conductor to your person. But this is not
RQ> recommended for amateurs.
DT> Reminds me of one of my dad's T shirts:
DT> I am a professional. DON'T try this at home.
DT> You should get one :)
DT> It would seem that the important thing is to not
DT> allow a spark to jump directly to or from the body.
Yes I would tend to agree with this, especially at higher powers.
The charge density and amount of power alone can be dangerious,
despite the output of the coil being clean RF. I don't know if
the resolution on the tape is good enough to see but in the shot
where I am pulling a few feet of spark off the coil with a copper
pipe, there are some 6" - 8" sparks comming off my feet. Since I
am standing on an insulated platform, and my shoes socks are
sweaty, I only get a tingling sensation.
Another thing to caution about is being in series with a power
arc from the discharge terminal, even if the actual arc leaves a
conductor such as a pipe or what not. Again the charge density is
just too high on a big coil to make this safe. I have been placed
in an uncomfortable position or two where this has happened, and
the operator of the coil needs to have a cool head and be very
familiar with the controls. I wish I had these incidents recorded
on video tape.
When doing the million volts through the body trick, or other HV
RF experiments when in physical contact to the output, discharge
must be radiated or arced through the air, not to ground. Power
arcs to ground while in series with the circuit is "eye opening"
to say the least, and can make your fillings really sing.
... And if all else fails... Put another megavolt through it
ŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽ
Msg#: 2224 Date: 12-01-93 00:01
From: Dave Lyle
To: Richard Quick
Subj: 1,000,000Kva Tesla Coil
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RQ>coil "converts" the base current into a voltage at the other
RQ>end. Since this voltage rises as you go higher and higher up
RQ>the coil, and reaches it's peak at the top; Tesla was able to
RQ>determine the voltage at the top of the coil is the first 1/4
RQ>wave voltage peak of the RF current fed into the bottom.
Richard, GREAT series of articles here. Just a quick question
here. First, I understand what is happening as far as the 1/4
wave length is concerned. I relate this to transmission line
theory, where the VSWR is approaching infinity. My question
though, is..how does the coil excite at other odd multiples of
1/4 wave, i.e. 3/4, 5/4 wave? I suspect it would be more lossy,
but what, if any, benefits might be derived by operating at the
higher frequency?
Dave
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Msg#: 1390 Date: 12-01-93 12:37
From: Dave Halliday
To: Richard Quick
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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RQ> DH> Status report:
RQ> DH> Got the wire for the secondary as well as the basic
RQ> DH> design.
RQ>OK, I got some soft figures for you. Given the specs of the
>planned coil you gave me here's what your looking at:
RQ>Bare secondary frequency around ~260 kHz
>Secondary top loaded with 18" diam, 4" cross section toriod
>will resonate around ~180 kHz
Great! I will be using a torrid so I will make it this size.
RQ>These numbers are going to off a little, but I tuned a guys
>coil once over the telephone when he was six states away. I
>was throwing stuff off the top of my head.
Stuff like that is so much fun when it happens <grin> I am
called to do computer diagnoses over the phone a lot and it
amazes people that I can just listen to them for a few minutes
and then rattle off a list of keys to hit...
RQ> DH> Also, found a *wonderful* three terminal plus ground RF
> DH> filter for 240 volt @ 60 Hz rated at 60 amps! $20 -
> DH> couldn't resist!
RQ>I would have picked it up too. This is looking good, be sure
>to run the filter backwards. If your using only one filter,
>place it between in the supply line before the variac. Ground
>the case to your 60 cycle neutral.
Great! I didn't think about hooking it up "backwards" but that
makes perfect sense! I will be just using that one filter so that
is where it will be connected.
RQ> DH> Still looking for a source of the form for the secondary
> DH> the stuff I saw at a local Home Depot was poorly out of
> DH> round...
> DH> Maybe some plexiglass disks glued inside to maintain
> DH> shape.
RQ>I would avoid using baffels inside the coil form, they tend to
>reduce the Q of the coil. Find a different supplier for some
>rounder pipe before you go this route.
That was my opinion too - it would give an electrical "bump" in
the tube, not something to have in a tuned system.
RQ> DH> Have a bunch of 3/8" refrigeration tubing that I can use
> DH> for the primary -
RQ>Just fine for this sized primary coil, make sure it is long
>enough, though you can braze in a splice for added length.
OK - I mentioned in another post that I just have about 30' of
it. I'll measure what the primary will take and then get some
more. Got an Oxy / Acetylene torch so brazing pieces together is
not a problem.
RQ> DH> Still need to get the step-up transformer - already have
> DH> a 12kV 30mA neon but the "potential" transformers you
RQ>If you use 12 kv neons you will need about 120 ma total to
>drive this coil to good spark. That's four 12,30s.
I will be checking with some neon sign places in the next day for
a couple more transformers. There is one fairly close by me that
does a lot of "art" signs and stuff.
RQ> DH> Anyway - work progresses - I will be busy during this
> DH> "holiday" season, also the people that were interested in
> DH> working with me are still very very much interested -
> DH> showed the primary person your video and their jaw
> DH> dropped <grin>
RQ>His was not the first, and won't be the last!!! You should
>have seen the look on MY face while I was running it! I was
>20' away and under cover and the sparks looked like they were
>going to wipe my nose for me.
I can well imagine! There is a local park that is situated on
Lake Washington near where I live, I have been toying with the
idea of firing the coil off there, maybe out on one of the boat
docks. Drop a bunch of Aluminum flashing over into the water for
the ground.
Could be kind of fun!
Anyway, I will talk with you later. Dave
b Did you put the cat out? I didn't know it was burning.
! Origin: Advanced Software Concepts-WC3.90P-15.8,301-794-6496
(1:109/546)
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Msg#: 1398 Date: 12-02-93 08:04
From: Brian Carling
To: Dave Halliday
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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DH>My friends and I have arrived on a basic design - 6" diameter
DH>and 30" long, fixed spark gap, 12kV neon sign transformer and
DH>homemade capacitor. Richard mentioned that he once built one
DH>just like this and he was able to get 5' bolts!
DH>Anyway, the posts are well worth saving, send away for the
DH>video tape too - it makes for fantastic viewing!
What is his address? ANy chance I could get the design details on
your smaller unit?
! Origin: _The_Attic_ [301-428-1970] 14.4K v.32b - (1:109/423)
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Msg#: 1420 Date: 12-03-93 08:25
From: James Woodruff
To: Dave Halliday
Subj: Re: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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-=> Quoting Dave Halliday to Richard Quick <=-
DH> I can well imagine - I also did PA systems for bands for a while and
DH> some of the perceptions about power and signal grounds were amazing.
DH> Not so much for their blind ignorance and lack of common sense but
for
DH> the fact that some of them were still alive <grin>
My church does not ground their amps. Is this to prevent ground
loops, save the expense of an extra wire,or blind ignorance? This
Is on their mobile equipment that they clip onto the service entry
panel.They also hook their stage lights to the same ungrounded
circuit. p r e t t y scary uh?
Please reply,so I can help them out. THANX
... A penny saved is ridiculous.......
-!- GEcho/386 1.01+
! Origin: Trinity ]I[ BBS -=[ Oklahoma City ]=- (405)691-2377
(1:147/2777)
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Msg#: 1575 Date: 12-04-93 15:52
From: Dave Halliday
To: Brian Carling
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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BC>DH>My friends and I have arrived on a basic design - 6" diameter
>and 30" long, fixed spark gap, 12kV neon sign transformer and
>homemade
BC>DH>Anyway, the posts are well worth saving, send away for the video
tape
>DH>too - it makes for fantastic viewing!
BC>What is his address? ANy chance I could get the design details on your
>smaller unit?
OK - here is his address excerpted from a message:
>a two hour video tape in exchange for: One blank (high quality)
>VHS tape, a postage pre-paid return mailer, $10.00 to pay for my
>time and effort in seeing that you get a high quality, two hour,
>recording of my work. Note this offer is not made on my behalf to
>make any money, and I am not resposible for anybody's safety
>should they decide to replicate any of the experiments I perform.
>I will send a glossy print for $1.00 and a SASE.
RQ>Richard T. Quick II, 10028 Manchester Rd., Suite 253, Glendale,
>Missouri, 63122, USA
You could scale down the design but I feel that the amount of time and
money involved would be about the same regardless of what size coil you
are building so why not go for a bigger one.
The one I am building is 6" diameter, 30" tall and is powered by a bank
of four neon sign transformers.
Richard says that a coil like this will be capable of consistent five
foot long arcs.
Down the road, I would like to experiment with a "pocket" coil or a
tabletop model but you do need a very very good ground regardless of the
size so this isn't something that you could take somewhere and casually
set it up and expect to get good results.
Anyway, keep tuned to this conference and I will be letting people know
how things are progressing!
TTYL - Dave ë:-)
b QMPro 1.51 b Never Wear Battery-Powered Clothing to a Formal Event.
-!- WM v3.10/92-0434
! Origin: Advanced Software Concepts-WC3.90P-15.8,301-794-6496
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Msg#: 2318 Date: 12-06-93 11:17
From: Richard Quick
To: Joseph Freivald
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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JF> For those of us who are wanna bees, What's a tesla coil, and
JF> why does it get at least 10 posts per day?
A Tesla Coil is an air core, RF resonate, transformer. It is a
very efficient source of very high voltage RF energy. If it
weren't for the problem I am having with my ASCII character set I
would give you a wiring diagram.
Basically you take a high voltage pulse discharging capacitor and
connect it to a large heavy coil. The cap is charged with a high
voltage power supply (neon sign xfrmr, potential xfrmr, or power
distribution xfrmr run backwards). The circuit consisting of the
cap and coil is excited by discharging the cap through a spark
gap. This way current of hundreds of amps at thousands of volts
oscillate through the coil. Frequency of oscillation is dependant
on the number of turns in the coil and the size of the cap.
This is the basis of the Tesla Tank circuit.
The secondary coil or "Tesla coil" is a hollow form with several
hundred turns of wire. This coil has a natural RF resonate
frequency based primarily on the length of wire used in the
winding. The tank circuit frequency is made to match the
secondary natural frequency by tuning, changing the number of
turns in the heavy primary coil or changing the value of the
pulse discharging capacitor. When the tank circuit frequency is
matched to the secondary frequency, and the coils are placed in
close proximity, energy is exchanged and transformed.
RF voltages in the megavolts can be achieved with very high
efficiency. The tank circuit literally converts line current into
a series of rapid pulse dicharges with peak powers in the
megawatt range. A simple coil setup is capable of producing more
or less continous spark discharges several feet in length, or
longer.
I cannot say why there are so many posts on the subject, except
that the topic is interesting and I have had more than a few
requests for information on these systems. I have sent out a few
video tapes with some of the work I have done, and it has greatly
accelerated the interest. My video features a coil system I built
operating with 10,000 watts input power, generating peak powers
of 22 megawatts, with a discharge voltage of between 3-5
megavolts (or more). The system is able to produce arcs of
synthetic lightning that strike out up to 15 feet.
I hope this answers your question. If you need any additional
information, or have other questions, please feel free to post on
this topic.
... If all else fails... Put another megavolt through it.
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12
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Msg#: 2319 Date: 12-06-93 11:33
From: Richard Quick
To: Dave Halliday
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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RQ>A tank circuit with a small capacitor, and a large primary
>inductance, will reach down to the lower frequencies of
>operation. A tank circuit of this design will use less power,
>and therefore require a smaller step up xfrmr. The capacitor
>will be smaller, which further reduces the cost of the
>system.
DH> Makes a lot of sense!
Efficiency, efficiency... Put every watt into the discharge!
RQ>So to give some advice to my friend Dave Halliday, who is
>building a 6" secondary coil sometime in the near future,
>plan on winding a primary coil from a conductor material that
>I have listed above, and use a conductor length of around 75
>feet. Your primary should end up about as wide as, or wider,
>than your secondary is tall.
DH> Got it! I was thinking of using some 3/8ths refrigeration
>tubing but since the surface area is important, I'll probably
>get a reel of 3/4ths or 1/2" tubing ( gotta check on pricing
>first )
With a 6" secondary coil that is 24" high, 3/8" soft copper water
pipe is perfect. My big coil uses 1/2" pipe and only gets
slightly warm on the first and second turns after a five minute
full power run. Balance the diameter of the pipe to the length of
the primary conductor. 50' conductor use 1/4" pipe, 75' conductor
use 3/8" pipe, 100' conductor use 1/2" pipe. When is doubt use
the next size up.
DH> Trade some videos / photos once I get something to show.
COOL!
... And if all else fails... Put another megavolt through it
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12
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Msg#: 4 Date: 06 Dec 93 12:45:00
From: Richard Quick
To: Dave Halliday
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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DH> There is a local park that is situated on Lake Washington
DH> near where I live, I have been toying with the idea of
DH> firing the coil off there, maybe out on one of the boat
DH> docks. Drop a bunch of Aluminum flashing over into the water
DH> for the ground.
DH> Could be kind of fun!
I have fired and grounded off of water grounds exactly as you are
thinking. They work great!
Good Luck! I hope to see a spark shot or two soon. Bring the
camcorder, and a 35 mm, and a few friends.
... And if all else fails... Put another megavolt through it
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Msg#: 2323 Date: 12-06-93 13:11
From: Richard Quick
To: All
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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OK, People who are interested in the TESLA VIDEO have not, are
not, and will not be dissapointed.
I will send a full 2 hour SP recorded, one off master, VHS tape
with sections showing my big coil literally burning up the back
driveway and striking everything within 11 feet (arcs as big
around as my leg on some strikes).
You must send $10.00, a self addressed postage pre-paid return
mailer, and a blank, high quality VHS tape.
Richard T. Quick II
10028 Manchester Rd.
Suite 253
Glendale, MO 63122 USA
Tapes are sent out within 48 hours from receipt of your package,
there is no monkey business. The video is instructive: it shows
several coil systems in operation, details on the power control
cabinet, wiring, tuning and firing as well as sections on spark
gaps, RF filter chokes, etc. I also fire my "pole pig" utility
power distribution transformer in a Jacob's Ladder at 8000 watts
with 20,000 volts across the rails.
This tape is my cutting edge 1/4 wave Tesla work, and involves
lots of high voltage set ups and demonstrations. Due to the
nature of the work covered on the video: I CANNOT BE RESPONSIBLE
FOR THE SAFETY OF ANYONE ATTEMPTING TO REPRODUCE ANY OF THE
SYSTEMS OR EXPERIMENTS FEATURED ON THE VIDEO!!!!
I am more than happy to answer any questions or respond to
comments in this area on anything covered on the video.
I will also trade tapes even with people who are engaged in
similar or other work of interest: Tesla coils or other high
voltage equipment in action, rail guns, laser setups, taser guns,
particle accelerators, capacitive discharge machines, etc.
... If all else fails... Put another megavolt through it.
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12
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Msg#: 2320 Date: 12-06-93 13:12
From: Richard Quick
To: Dave Lyle
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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DL> Richard,
DL> GREAT series of articles here.
Thanks! Another vote of confidence!
DL> Just a quick question here. First, I understand what is
DL> happening as far as the 1/4 wave length is concerned. I
DL> relate this to transmission line theory, where the VSWR is
DL> approaching infinity.
You are correct in this relation. Transmission line theory does
apply to Tesla secondaries.
DL> My question though, is.. how does the coil excite at other
DL> odd multiples of 1/4 wave, i.e. 3/4, 5/4 wave? I suspect it
DL> would be more lossy., but what, if any, benefits might be
DL> derived by operating at the higher frequency?
Coils that are excited or driven to higher harmonics (over 1/4
wave) break down prior to the top turns. For instance a coil
driven to 3/4 wave resonance would still break down at the 1/4
wave point of the winding. This problem is commonly seen on coils
that are overdriven or overcoupled, and I cannot imagine any way
to insulate against this breakdown. Higher harmonics CAN be
reached by using two or more coils driven from the same tank
circuit or by placing the primary in the center of a single coil.
For instance a 1/2 wave system could be built using two coils, or
driving one coil from the center producing two 1/4 wave peaks,
one at either end.
The trick to efficiency is to excite at a LOWER harmonic (below
1/4 wave), ie: 1/8th wave, 1/16 wave, or 1/32 wave. These lower
harmonics are high in current, and lower in voltage. Loss is
reduced because the lower voltage leaks less, and the energy of
the wave is a product of both current and voltage. The 1/8th wave
harmonic appears to be the most efficient.
Now remember that we have not changed the frequency. The system
frequency may remain the same, we are simply tapping the energy
further back in the wave form. Tesla was able to force the
secondary into these lower harmonics by the addition of the extra
coil to the system, then reducing the number of turns in the
secondary until it was 1/8th wave resonate. Current and voltage
were then fed to the base of the extra coil resonator.
The advantages of using the extra coil, and tapping the secondary
energy at a lower harmonic are many: Coupling between primary and
secondary may be tightend up considerably, driving more energy
through the system; the 1/8th wave output of the secondary
contains 70% of the wave energy as opposed to the 50% obtained in
1/4 wave output; there is much less voltage stress on the
secondary which reduces the incident of breakdown and "splitting"
(parasitic 1/4 wave peaks); current is removed from the secondary
by transmission line to the extra coil, unloading the secondary
for more input (allows higher break rates in the gap = greater
throughput) and placing the main system VSWR in the uncoupled end
resonator (extra coil); impedance, resistance, and distributed
capacitance are also reduced with proper design and construction.
This production of a lower harmonic from the secondary by adding
the extra coil to the system is a true breakthrough in Tesla
power processing. This is the three coil Tesla Magnifier as Tesla
developed to industrial porportions in Colorado Springs, and may
be scaled back for very efficient "basement" systems. I have seen
Magnifiers producing 100"+ arcs at 4100 watts input power, and
have myself hit 72" with inputs around 2500 watts. I see a real
gain of 40% in spark length for input power with this system.
Thank you for your input on transmission line theory and your
question. I hope I have given a resonable and satisfactory
response. If you have any other questions or coments I would be
more than happy to reply to them.
... And if all else fails... Put another megavolt through it
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12
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Msg#: 2324 Date: 12-06-93 13:25
From: Richard Quick
To: Brian Carling
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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-=> SEZ Brian Carling to Richard Quick <=-
BC> Richard - what is your address please?
BC> I'd like details on sending for your $10 video about Tesla
BC> generators. Thanks - Brian C.
You mispelled my name so this request did not come up in my
personal mail scan. See my post of today to "ALL" for details of
the Tesla Video.
As I have said before, and several regulars in the conference
will attest to, the video is first rate.
... And if all else fails... Put another megavolt through it
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12
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Msg#: 1471 Date: 12-06-93 13:26
From: Richard Quick
To: Dave Halliday
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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DH> Hi Richard - little note here - I don't know if you get a
DH> British magazine called "Electronics World + Wireless World"
DH> ( it used to be just Wireless World ) but the current issue
DH> - November 1993 - arrived today and it is one to look at.
RQ>Yes, since you offered, please copy the article and send it
>to me. I would be in your debt. This looks like an
>interesting system.
DH> In the mail this afternoon!
Thanks a lot. I just got back from a weekend in Chicago with my
new girlfriend (NICE!) and look forward to seeing it!
... 9 out of 10 men who try Camels prefer women
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12
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Msg#: 1655 Date: 12-07-93 11:29
From: Dave Halliday
To: Brian Carling
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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BC>DH>RQ> DH> Have a bunch of 3/8" refrigeration tubing that I
>DH> > DH> can use for the primary -
BC>DH>RQ>Just fine for this sized primary coil, make sure it is long
>DH> >enough, though you can braze in a splice for added length.
BC>DH>RQ>His was not the first, and won't be the last!!! You should have
>DH> >seen the look on MY face while I was running it! I was 20' away
>DH> >and under cover and the sparks looked like they were going to
>DH> >wipe my nose for me.
BC>I am a rank beginner, but have some good background education in
>electronics/electricity... Can you help me get started?
>I want to build a large Tesla coil. I'm also interested in Van de
Graaf
>generators etc. I don't want to build something puny! I like the idea
>of building with refrigeration coil type copper tubing - that sounds
>like serious high power. I've built my own linear amplifier before
>(not a kit!!) I'm watching the posts from you and Richard with great
>interest!
Hi Brian - best thing to do would be to jump right in! I hadn't touched
the stuff myself since high school but Richard's info is really clear and
his video tape is well worth getting.
The 6" dia / 30" long coil that my friends and I are building should be
capable of a 5' arc so although this doesn't quite qualify as "large" it
should be enough to make the neighbors *really* start to wonder about me
( not that they don't already )
There is a basic "learning curve" that needs to be accomplished and I
think that it would be best to do this on a medium sized coil such as
the one we are building - then progress to a monster <grin>
Also, the really large coils need a really large source of high voltage
to power them ( power company distribution transformer ) and they are
very very loud - I think that Richard's 10" dia coil is about the upper
limit to home built coils ( it throws 10 to 15 foot arcs )
I was also into Van de Graaf generators too in high school - used cake
pans for the dome and was able to get 4" sparks on a dry day. Didn't
have access to the tools to make a spun aluminum dome so the rolled
edges of the pans were the upper limiting factor for voltage.
Anyway, save all of the posts and send away for the video, get some
thin-wall PVC tubing and a couple thousand feet of magnet wire, some
neon-sign transformers, make one of the capacitors detailed in an
earlier post and fire away!
TTYL - Dave
b QMPro 1.51 b "Bother", said Pooh, and deleted his message
base...
-!- WM v3.10/92-0434
! Origin: Advanced Software Concepts-WC3.90P-15.8,301-794-6496
(1:109/546)
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Msg#: 1654 Date: 12-07-93 11:36
From: Dave Halliday
To: James Woodruff
Subj: Re: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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JW> DH> I can well imagine - I also did PA systems for bands for a
>while and some of the perceptions about power and signal
>grounds were amazing.
JW> DH> Not so much for their blind ignorance and lack of common
> DH> sense but for the fact that some of them were still alive <grin>
JW> My church does not ground their amps. Is this to prevent ground
> loops, save the expense of an extra wire,or blind ignorance? This
> Is on their mobile equipment that they clip onto the service
entry
> panel.They also hook hook their stage lights to the same ungroun-
ded
> circuit. p r e t t y scary uh?
Actually, if they are making a three wire connection directly to the
service panel, they should be OK. You might want to get an outlet
tester from your local radio shack or hardware store and verify a proper
connection. These testers are three-prong plugs with three lights in
them. The way the lights light up show how the socket is wired.
If they are just using two wires to power a mobile electronic setup,
they could be letting themselves in for quite a liability suit when a
performer touches something in contact with the earth at the same time
they are in contact with a metal part of the sound system.
A band I used to do sound for had such a bad wiring setup that the
guitar player could not get close to the microphone for fear of getting
shocked. They took it with a grain of salt but we are dealing with
a potentially lethal situation here. The first thing I did was to get
their electrical system in order - no more shocks!
It would be a very good idea to look into this - good luck! Dave
b QMPro 1.51 b "Call waiting", great if you HAVE two friends...
-!- WM v3.10/92-0434
! Origin: Advanced Software Concepts-WC3.90P-15.8,301-794-6496
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Msg#: 1 Date: 07 Dec 93 17:20:00
From: Richard Quick
To: Dave Lyle
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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I thought I would take a minute and expand a little more on the
subject of harmonics in Tesla systems. This should give you a
better idea of how these harmonics can be used, and help me to
better organize my thoughts on this very interesting subject.
I talked yesterday about theory. Today I would like to discuss a
little more practical application. Let me look at a system that I
have actually built and fired.
I have a normal Tesla secondary that resonates at about 200 kHz
with a discharge ternminal. When this coil is placed in a primary
and critically coupled, it will fire when the tank circuit is
tuned to 200 kHz. No problems here, this is a normal 1/4 wave
system. The tank circuit oscillates at 200 kHz, the secondary
coil with discharger resonates at 200 kHz, and the output from
the system is the 1/4 wave peak of a 200 kHz signal.
Now we remove the secondary from the primary and replace the
secondary with a coil that is 1/4 wave resonate at 400 kHz.
Take a heavy wire or pipe from the top of the 400 kHz coil and
make a connection to the bottom of the 200 kHz coil, now placed
some distance away. Leave the tank circuit alone.
When we fire the system, the secondary (or "driver" coil) is
still excited by, and resonating at, 200 kHz. The frequency of
the system has not changed. What has changed is the output of the
driver coil: It is no longer a 1/4 wave peak at 200 kHz, nor is
it a 1/4 wave peak at 400 kHz (the natural 1/4 wave resonate
freq. of this coil) it is 1/8 wave CURRENT at 200 kHz which
contains significant voltage. The frequency of the system has not
changed, nor has the natural frequency of any coil in the system.
What we have done is forced a shift in a 400 kHz 1/4 wave output
coil to a lower harmonic. In this case the coil is quite able to
resonate for 1/8th wave current output at 200 kHz. The natural
frequency of the coil does not change, nor does the tuned fre-
quency of the system change. The 200 kHz 1/4 wave coil at the end
of the system recieves high current 1/8th wave signal at 200 kHz.
Now we have set up a system that opens up many opportunities for
specialization and improvement. First thing that will be noticed
is that the transmission line is highly energized but runs at a
fairly low voltage by Tesla standards. We have removed the high
voltage 1/4 wave peak from the secondary in the system, and the
1/4 wave peak is now located on the discharge terminal of the end
resonator (the 200 kHz 1/4 wave "extra" coil).
Simply removing the 1/4 wave peak from the top of the secondary
has really reduced the stress on the system and allows for
substantial increases in throughput. One of the most important
factors here is that the 1/4 wave resonator (the extra coil) is
allowed unrestricted VSWR. In a normal 1/4 wave system, with the
1/4 wave peak located on top of the secondary, the VSWR in the
1/4 wave coil is restricted by the field flux interaction between
the primary and secondary. This field flux damps some of the VSWR
resonance. Now the resonator is able to "ring" freely, without
magnetic interferance.
The secondary in the system (driver coil) is still damped by
field flux, but we are no longer looking to this coil to perform
substantial VSWR voltage gains. What we want from this coil is
heavy 1/8th wave current. We are more than happy to get a simple
ratio of turns transformation from this coil, but as it turns out
we do get a significant VSWR voltage rise even on a coil forced
into 1/8th wave resonance. However since we want current and not
high voltage, we can couple this coil much much tighter to the
primary. Increases in coupling coefficients by a factor of four
may not be out of line in primary/secondary drivers fired under
oil. Even in air, coupling coefficients may be doubled or even
tripled. We may also use much heavier wire for higher Qs.
As coupling coefficients (magnetic interaction between coils) are
increased, energy transfer is increased. All of the sudden you
can squeeze in nearly twice as much power, without drawing a
single additional watt. In a normal 1/4 wave system, increasing
the coupling would force a destructive breakdown of the 1/4 wave
secondary, as all energy must be processed by the single
resonator. But, with an extra coil, and an 1/8th wave driver,
stress in the system is greatly reduced. The driver hands off
current to the extra coil as fast as energy is pumped in from the
primary, there is no high voltage 1/4 wave "pressure point" on
top of the driver coil to stress the windings, and the VSWR is
divided between two coils, not burdened on a single secondary.
Another gain is realized by the fact that the output of the 1/8
wave resonating driver contains 20% greater energies than a 1/4
wave output. Why? Well the total energy in a wave form at any
given point is a product of current and voltage. The 1/4 wave
output has voltage, but theoretically has 0 current, as it is a
peak on the wave form. The 1/8 wave harmonic however has voltage
and current both, and both are porportionally at their highest
value. In other words the 1/8 wave point is the location of the
greatest energy available anywhere on the wave form. Here you
find the highest value of voltage * current. It works out to 70%
of the wave energy as opposed to 50% available at the 1/4 wave
peak.
So lets look again at what we have gained. Greater coupling
between the primary and secondary for more efficent throughput.
Higher VSWR in the 1/4 wave resonator (extra coil) by removing
this coil from the damping effects of the magnetic field flux.
Higher energy transfer between the driver and extra coil by using
1/8th wave current in the transmission line. These gains are
easily realized before specific modifications are made to the
tank circuit and coils to take advantage of the setup. Improve-
ments can include higher break rates for more frequent excit-
ation; heavier wire, higher Q coils; higher input voltages;
and balanced capacitor tank circuits.
... And if all else fails... Put another megavolt through it
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12
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Msg#: 1649 Date: 12-07-93 21:50
From: Terry Smith
To: Richard Quick
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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RQ> the drugstore. The only thing required was 56 hours of time in
RQ> arranging the plates according to Bill. But he did end up with
RQ> .03 uf 15 kv pulse capacitor in a five gallon bucket. It was
RQ> quite a performer on his coil at 3600 watts!
RQ> The novice coiler should think about the capacitor requirements
RQ> and experiment some before beginning large scale homemade caps.
Why not use a G3 mica or, for more current, a vacuum cap? With the
time value and instability of what you're describing, it sounds like
a couple hundred $$$ for a readily available commercial cap would be
a good comparative value.
What is the design ESR goal?
Terry
-!- Maximus 2.01wb
! Origin: Methylene Chloride: Melts your CPU, & your hand!
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Msg#: 1701 Date: 12-08-93 07:46
From: Brian Carling
To: Dave Halliday
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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DH>BC>DH>My friends and I have arrived on a basic design - 6" diameter
DH> >DH>and 30" long, fixed spark gap, 12kV neon sign transformer and
DH> >DH>homemade
DH>RQ>Richard T. Quick II, 10028 Manchester Rd., Suite 253, Glendale,
DH> >Missouri, 63122, USA
thanks for the info. I am going to see what I can find at the
local library also.
DH>You could scale down the design but I feel that the amount of time and
DH>money involved would be about the same regardless of what size coil
you
DH>are building so why not go for a bigger one.
No, I want to build the BIG one!
DH>The one I am building is 6" diameter, 30" tall and is powered by a
bank
DH>of four neon sign transformers.
That doesn't sound too huge to construct...
Do you connect the neon sign transformers in series or what?
DH>Richard says that a coil like this will be capable of consistent five
DH>foot long arcs.
Cool!
DH>Down the road, I would like to experiment with a "pocket" coil or a
DH>tabletop model but you do need a very very good ground regardless of
the
DH>size so this isn't something that you could take somewhere and
casually
DH>set it up and expect to get good results.
Why can't the one you describe be a "table-top" model?
6" around by 30" tall would fit on most tables!
DH>Anyway, keep tuned to this conference and I will be letting people
know
DH>how things are progressing!
I'll watch eagerly!
DH>--- WM v3.10/92-0434
DH> ! Origin: Advanced Software
Concepts-WC3.90P-15.8,301-794-6496 (1:109/546)
* SLMR 2.1a * Environmental activists: Green on the outside/RED
inside!
-!- Maximus/2 2.01wb
! Origin: _The_Attic_ [301-428-1970] 14.4K v.32b - (1:109/423)
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Msg#: 2418 Date: 12-08-93 16:34
From: Richard Quick
To: Dave Halliday
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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Thank you Dave for sending the magazine with the article on the
spark gap transmitters. It was interesting, but full of mis-
crediting. The author chose in many instances to detail the worst
systems of the era.
Research, patents, articles, legal trials, and public demonstra-
tions produced by Nikola Tesla show conclusively that he was much
more advanced in wireless transmission, yet the article reads
"Marconi this... Marconi that... Marconi's work showed..."
The circuits, schematics, and techniques shown in the article are
quite primitive when compared to the circuits Tesla was using
two, even three, years earlier. Processing efficiencies of energy
in the circuits detailed in the article could only be considered
poor at best.
Tesla shows circuits published in 1891 that produce continuous
wave undamped oscillations. The circuits are efficient, powerful,
and frequency stable (no damping, drifting, or beating). Tesla's
spark gap transmitters of a few years later were ranged by the
U.S. Navy at over 1500 miles with 2.5 kVA input. His maritime
transmitter design was commercialized by Fritz Lowenstein (I
believe), and was a full head and shoulders above the units
designed by people like Thompson and Marconi.
The photos of the damped wave trains were very interesting. The
author mentioned that the photos were made with reproduction
equipment that resembled units of the era as closely as posible.
I just find it galling that he would go through such efforts in
accuracy this area and would only mention Tesla's name once.
It was also interesting to note that the large 300 kVa Marconi
transmitter discussed in the article was retrofitted once, and
decommissioned early because the output was so highly damped.
Looking at the material I can only imagine the nightmare of
maintaining a sharp tune in the system, and the related problems
with frequency drift and efficiency. Many of these problems are
related to the poor gap design and lack of primary inductance.
The gaps would not quench well at these power levels, and the
short primary conductor does not provide sharp tune, good
coupling coefficients or energy transfers. Tesla's systems of
this era were much much more advanced.
It has been documented in the U.S. Supreme court that Marconi
stole a number of patents from Tesla relating to Tesla's early
wireless work. The two men were in contact for nearly a year
prior to 1890, during which time Marconi had substantial access
to Tesla's ideas. When Tesla realized the theft of his unper-
fected systems was becomming prevalent, he came to despise
Marconi and cut him off of any new information. Afterwards
Marconi was stuck for a number of years in his efforts to develop
a powerful working transmitter, at least until he was able to
steal Tesla's published patents for the coupled secondary/
antenna. Tesla by this time had raced ahead by leaps and bounds
to the prototype development of the Magnifing Transmitter in the
mid 1890s, while Marconi was still using primitive gaps and
poorly coupled, short primaries for years. Tesla's Magnifing
Transmitter was remarkably frequency stable, narrow band,
continuous wave, and extremely powerful and efficient. Yet he,
and credit for his work, has all but been deleted from main
stream history.
I can go on and on. Tesla was using high frequency alternators
running 20,000 hz or more for his power supplies (patented) in
his transmitters of this era, yet the article details the use of
500 hz alternators by Marconi. The result: Marconi's damped wave
transmitter ran maximum synchronous break rates around 1000 BPS,
(breaks per second) while Tesla went asynchronous to 40,000 or
even 50,000 BPS and was able to achieve nearly undamped CW
output. Marconi's machines were plagued with a heavily damped
signal, short range, reception problems, high input powers, and
very poor efficiency. The article noted that later; others went
to high speed asynchronous breaks, but they lacked the oscillator
circuits Tesla was running, and the sophisticated 1/8th wave
driver system (Magnifing Transmitter) to utilize these extremely
high break rates. When others tried running asynchronous breaks
with extremely high BPS on 1/4 wave drivers, the performance fell
off to near zero, and they called Tesla a liar. Indeed, Tesla was
so far ahead with the system that NOBODY EVEN UNDERSTOOD THE
CIRCUITS HE WAS USING UNTIL THE MID 1980s!!!!
That is over 90 years later, not a mistype.
Credit given to his less creative competition, men like Edison
and Marconi, is wrongful, and not based in historic fact. Both
Edison and Marconi advocated systems that failed the test of time
and practicality, to be replaced with systems invented by the
master, Nickola Tesla. Tesla's most advanced systems went
unutilized completely, unless they have been incorporated into
classified SDI projects for particle beam devices. I have seen
this over and over. In Chicago last weekend at the Museum of
Science and Industry; Edison gets a full sectional display,
complete with an orignal model DC generator. DC power generation
and transmission on industrial scales is dead in all but highly
specific applications. Yet Tesla, the inventor of the modern AC
industrial power grid gets not a word. The only mention of
Tesla's name I could find was on a single "classic" coil on loan
from the University of Chicago.
BTW, the section in the article on the Wien quench gap manu-
factured and used in transmitters by Telefunken, exactly
corresponds to my post of over a month ago in this conference.
Tesla was paid royalty by Telefunken on every transmitter
produced until the start of WWI. These transmitters were on board
every German U-boat, and Tesla's system was used on large land
based transmitters used by the German command. Tesla offered
these patents to the U.S. military several times, but was turned
down. Needing money he sold them to the highest bidder, and the
Germans praised them highly.
The U.S. Navy bought Tesla transmitters prior to WWI from an
intermediary company run by Fritz Lowenstein. Herr Lowenstein was
a highly praised assistant to Tesla in New York and Colorado
Springs. The patents as I have said were owned by German
nationals, but Mr. Lowenstein had the technical expertise to see
that they were properly manufactured and tuned. Tesla, as I have
mentioned before, was notorious for not detailing important
"tricks of the trade" in his patent applications; especially
after his experience with Marconi and others. Having worked
closely with Tesla, Lowenstein sought commercial applications
from systems he felt were sufficiently perfected, though Tesla
saw the Magnifier as the system to bring to industrial power
levels.
I want to thank you for sending the article. I enjoyed readng it
nearly as much as I enjoyed tearing it to pieces. If you run
across similar material please post me.
I have copied my archives from this thread, including much
material you may have missed, onto the disk you sent me. I am
also going to copy the article from the magizine you sent, and I
will return both shortly. I have had a very busy week, what with
a weekend to Chicago, and a new girlfriend, so I am running a
little behind. I still have not unpacked my suitcase.
You should get your material returned around the time you get
this post or shortly after.
Thank you again for thinking of me.
... If all else fails... Put another megavolt through it.
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12
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Msg#: 1692 Date: 12-09-93 08:42
From: Terry Smith
To: Richard Quick
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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RQ> By reading the Colorado Springs Notes it is quite clear that
RQ> Tesla struggled to get a good ground on site for his system and
RQ> cited the local geology (sand & rock) as the source of his
RQ> problem. He eventually had to run water 24 hours a day over his
RQ> ground.
RQ> He used a two ground system in his CS lab, and documents the
RQ> resistance, and electrical distance between the two. The system
RQ> ground was a 3' square copper plate dropped in the bottom of a
RQ> 12' hole with a couple of wheelbarrows of coke dumped on top.
RQ> The hole was backfilled and watered as I mentioned.
You'll find that some broadcasters in areas with problem soil use
multiple 30' long 'salt' paste filled chemical ground devices near
a tower base. In Florida, where serious lightning strikes are a
problem, I've heard reports of the sand being melted, forming an
insulating layer over such devices.
An AM antenna system may have 2 to 20 miles of #10 bare copper wire,
plus a large quantity of 4" strap, and expanded mesh copper screens,
for grounding.
That's several hundred pounds of Cu for a small system, and several
thousand for a large one, aver an area of acres. This is done even
on a wet site.
Terry
-!- Maximus 2.01wb
! Origin: Methylene Chloride: Melts your CPU, & your hand!
(1:141/1275)
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Msg#: 1599 Date: 12-09-93 11:03
From: Richard Quick
To: All
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
ŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽ
I have spent a few hours and archived all of the posts from this
thread. I have had several people ask repeat questions, and
others inform me that feed problems have caused them to miss some
material.
If you are interested in getting a complete and up to date
archive of all of this material, please mail me a floppy and a
SASE. I will be happy to send you my archives free of charge.
Richard T. Quick II
10028 Manchester Rd.
Suite 253
Glendale, MO 63122
USA
... And if all else fails... Put another megavolt through it
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12
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Msg#: 1600 Date: 12-09-93 15:01
From: Richard Quick
To: Dave Halliday
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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Dave,
I shot the magazine back to you in the mail today after I made
copies. I returned the disk you sent with it. On the disk I
copied my archives from this thread, and you will find a personal
letter.
I am sorry that the archives are a little disorganized, but the
posts were saved from two machines, and so there is some
duplication. Everything of importance from about 10/5/93 is on
the disk, though it may be scattered among several files.
Everything including your letter are in standard DOS text.
Look forward to seeing some video/photos of your coiling work
soon. BTW did you really decide to lengthen the 6" coil form from
24" to 30" in height? I would think this would require more than
the 1500' of magnet wire you had earmarked for this project.
I was just curious.
Also, I am seeing posts that you have quoted from others, but I
am not seeing the original posts here....
This looks to be a network problem, unless these people are
posting to you locally.... I wonder what is going on.
I sent you a post last week mentioning that I saw you had made a
local logon here to the SLUG BBS, we narrowly missed a chat. How
long have you been calling locally? If you get the chance since
it appears you have a high speed modem you can grab the thread
here if you have any network problems. This board has nearly all
of my original posts in this conference still available.
... And if all else fails... Put another megavolt through it
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12
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Msg#: 2509 Date: 12-10-93 16:15
From: Richard Quick
To: Terry Smith
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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-=> SEZ Terry Smith to Richard Quick <=-
RQ> the drugstore. The only thing required was 56 hours of time
RQ> in arranging the plates according to Bill. But he did end up
RQ> with .03 uf 15 kv pulse capacitor in a five gallon bucket.
RQ> It was quite a performer on his coil at 3600 watts!
RQ> The novice coiler should think about the capacitor
RQ> requirements and experiment some before beginning large
RQ> scale homemade caps.
TS> Why not use a G3 mica or, for more current, a vacuum cap?
Mica is not as good for homemade caps as poly, they are lossy,
and they get hot. Poly has a lower RF dissapation factor, is
cheaper, and easier to obtain. Commerical mica caps that are
found surplus may be used, but they are not as high Q as poly.
Not many amateurs are running the vacuum systems or have the
equipment and design skills to produce homemade vacuum caps. I
have priced commercial units surplus, and would not find much use
for a vacuum cap unless it was perhaps employed as a tuning cap
on a small magnifier.
TS> With the time value and instability of what you're
TS> describing, it sounds like a couple hundred $$$ for a
TS> readily available commercial cap would be a good comparative
TS> value.
Not for a simple hobbiest. Most coilers are looking for cost
effective and flexible designs. They would rather put in the time
stacking or rolling to build a cap cheaply, than send a check to
the cap company for a custom commercial unit. After you have a
few coils under your belt, and you can design systems that you
know are going to require such and such values, you then start to
look to a commercial unit to reduce size, increase efficiency,
and reduce costs. This is more often true than not in large
systems that grow from the work done with homemade or salvaged
caps.
60% of the capacitance in my lab is homemade. Now if I added the
total value of this capacitance against the cost of a single
commercial unit, a commercial unit would be more cost effective,
and this does not even include the time invested. But my homemade
caps consist of 14 individual units. The number of units gives me
voltage and value flexibility not available in one or two
commercial units. To reproduce my homemade array in 14 commercial
units would not be cost effective.
Since I started small, I went homemade. As my work grew, so did
my homemade capacitors. I already had most of the materials, had
aquired the design and construction skills, and could increase my
power levels with a couple days work building a few more caps.
When I decided to go to the pole pig, I shopped for commercial
caps to drive the system. I knew exactly the voltage rating that
would be required, and the value I was going to need. Not paper
values mind you: I had set the system up with homemade caps and
juggled the system around to find the tune spots I wanted to hit.
The bill on my two .05 uf 45kvac pulse caps came to $600.00, and
I had to wait nearly two months for deliverly once I knew exactly
what I needed.
The bottom line on homemade caps is that they are cheap, built
out of readily available materials, and offer high Qs. The
instabilities are 90% resultant of poor techniques in
construction or operation, such as dirty plates and dielectrics,
trapped air, improper break-in of a newly constructed unit, or
running with the gaps set to wide. Every failure I have
experienced resulted from one of the above. Since the unit was
homemade, I was able to repair the cap and return it to service.
Built with cleanliness and durability in mind, homemade caps will
work quite hard for a long time. It has been nearly a year since
I have had any problems with a homemade unit. The designs I have
mentioned work, give great spark, and are not too expensive to
make for the beginner. If you want to pay $$$ for commercial
units to experiment with, please feel free, the commerical units
are quite good.
Down the road a bit I will post the addresses of a couple of
commerical manufacturers I have dealt with. Both of these
companies have a $150.00 minimum order with a 6-8 week delivery
wait.
... And if all else fails... Put another megavolt through it
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12
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Msg#: 2628 Date: 12-10-93 23:51
From: Dave Lyle
To: Richard Quick
Subj: 10Kva Tesla Coil
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RQ> I have a normal Tesla secondary that resonates at about 200
RQ> kHz with a discharge ternminal. When this coil is placed in a
RQ> primary and critically coupled, it will fire when the tank
RQ> circuit is tuned to 200 kHz. No problems here, this is a
RQ> normal 1/4 wave system. The tank circuit oscillates at 200
RQ> kHz, the secondary coil with discharger resonates at 200 kHz,
RQ> and the output from the system is the 1/4 wave peak of a 200
RQ> kHz signal.
RQ> Now we remove the secondary from the primary and replace the
RQ> secondary with a coil that is 1/4 wave resonate at 400 kHz.
Hi Richard,
I was actually wondering what would be the effect of going the
opposite way.
What if you removed the _primary_ and replaced it with one that
resonated at 600 Khz. Now the secondary would be resonate
at 3/4 wave, and the voltage/current distribution would be:
At the base.........................Current peak, Voltage null
At the 1/4 wave point
(1/3 of the way up the coil).....Voltage peak, Current null
At the 1/2 wave point
(2/3 of the way up the coil).....Current peak, Voltage null
At the 3/4 wave point
(Top of coil)...................Voltage peak, Current null
I suppose you would have trouble preventing a breakdown at the
1/4 wave (1/3 of coil) point, but would there be any advantages
to the higher frequency operation?
Origin: The County Line BBS Node1 414-476-8468 (1:154/100)
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Msg#: 1 Date: 11 Dec 93 01:16:00
From: Richard Quick
To: Terry Smith
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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BTW,
I have several commercial micas that I have experimented with.
The discharge from a coil using commercial micas tends toward a
spindly, violet discharge with very little current behind it.
The run times with these micas is very short, and I have damaged
a commercial mica cap from overheating with very short runs times
at fairly low voltage. The problem with commercial micas is
really a combination of high RF dissipation factors, and the
inability of most commercial micas to effectively pulse
discharge.
The homemade polyethylene caps give much superior performance.
They don't get hot. In fact I have never even gotten a homemade
cap warm. The reason for this is that poly has a very low RF
dissipation factor, and when mineral oil is used as a coolant/
corona supressant there is very low loss, very little dielectric
heating, and what heat does form is sunk to the oil. The spark
from a coil run with poly caps is blue-white, thick, and violent
with a hefty current peak behind it. Nearly all of the modern
commercial caps designed for RF pulse discharging are plastic
film types covered in oil.
The difference between the two capacitor types is vast. Plastic
film caps are much better performers in the Tesla tank circuit.
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12
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Msg#: 2035 Date: 12-11-93 18:37
From: Brian Carling
To: Dave Halliday
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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DH>Anyway, save all of the posts and send away for the video, get some
DH>thin-wall PVC tubing and a couple thousand feet of magnet wire, some
DH>neon-sign transformers, make one of the capacitors detailed in an
DH>earlier post and fire away!
Yes, unfortunately I missed many of the earlier posts... what is
the capacitor for? What is it like?
* SLMR 2.1a * The "World Series" _ISN'T_ !!
-!- Maximus/2 2.01wb
! Origin: _The_Attic_ [301-428-1970] 14.4K v.32b - (1:109/423)
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Msg#: 2647 Date:12-12-93 12:12
From: Robert Taylor
To: Richard Quick
Subj: Re: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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Wanted to drop you a line & see if you got my post about a month
ago on the book that Barnes&Noble has out called *The Inventions,
Research, and Writings of Nikola Tesla*.
Got a new catalog from them the other day & saw that their price
had gone down to about $10. Good book w/ alot of the heavier
technical stuff (including original schematics).
Definately worth a look.
! Origin: BLUFF CITY BBS (1:123/70)
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Msg#: 1733 Date: 12-12-93 14:19
From: Richard Quick
To: Brian Carling
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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DH>My friends and I have arrived on a basic design - 6" diameter
DH>and 30" long, fixed spark gap, 12kV neon sign transformer.
BC> thanks for the info. I am going to see what I can find at
BC> the local library also.
Don't believe everything you read there, that is if you find
anything at all. Detailed instructions on even the "classical"
design Tesla Coils are as scarce as hens teeth.
DH>You could scale down the design but I feel that the amount of
DH>time and money involved would be about the same regardless of
DH>what size coil you are building so why not go for a bigger
DH>one.
BC> No, I want to build the BIG one!
DH>The one I am building is 6" diameter, 30" tall and is powered
DH>by a bank of four neon sign transformers.
BC> That doesn't sound too huge to construct...
This (as far as I am concerned) is still a small coil. But as I
have said it is just about right for a beginner.
BC> Do you connect the neon sign transformers in series or what?
Neon sign transformers have center tap grounded secondaries
inside the case. You cannot run the seconmdaries in series for
this reason. The secondaries are run in parallel for increased
current output, while the voltage always remains the same. For
instance, four 12 kv, 30 ma neon sign xfrmrs are wired to give 12
kv, 120 ma output.
The primaries may be run in parallel as well, depending on your
line power supply and variac. If you are limited to 120 volts
input then you must run the primaries in parallel for 120 volts.
If you have access to 240 volts lines, then it is best to get a
240 volt variac, and pair up the neon signs xfrmrs by placing two
primaries in series so that 120 volts appears across each primary
winding.
Power factor correction capacitors are especially important if
you are running neons at 120 volts. The amp requirements of four
xfrmrs run at 120 volts without power factor correction can
stress a normal household circuit.
-!-
... And if all else fails... Put another megavolt through it
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12
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Msg#: 1734 Date: 12-12-93 14:45
From: Richard Quick
To: Terry Smith
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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TS> You'll find that some broadcasters in areas with problem soil
TS> use multiple 30' long 'salt' paste filled chemical ground
TS> devices near a tower base. In Florida, where serious
TS> lightning strikes are a problem, I've heard reports of the
TS> sand being melted, forming an insulating layer over such
TS> devices.
TS> An AM antenna system may have 2 to 20 miles of #10 bare
TS> copper wire, plus a large quantity of 4" strap, and expanded
TS> mesh copper screens, for grounding. That's several hundred
TS> pounds of Cu for a small system, and several thousnd for a
TS> large one, aver an area of acres. This is done even on a wet
TS> site.
I would concur with the practice of using such heavy RF and
lightning grounds. My experience with Tesla systems shows that
there really is no such thing as a grounding system that is too
large. That profession radio systems are using such heavy grounds
does not surprise me. The system needs to have a solid zero
voltage point capable of grounding heavy current in order to
establish a a powerful signal, not to mention protection from
lightning, and for safety of the HV outputs in the transmitter
itself.
Tesla was the first person to have applied ground to a tuned
circuit. He was the first to realize the advantages of heavy
grounding, and the construction of extensive grounding systems.
What is really surprising is the number of people who do not, or
refuse to, appreciate ground requirements for high powered Tesla
and radio equipment.
My large coil featured in the video has equal energy output from
both ends of the coil. While the discharge terminal produces
visible output in 1/4 wave spark with energies of many megawatts
at more than a couple of megavolts; the base wire is literally
flooded with current. I have measured RF currents of over 60 amps
rms with a current transformer in the base wire of this
particular system, and despite the wave theory of zero voltage at
this point, there is considerable voltage. If there is ANY
resistance to this RF current problems begin. The only way to
remove this current and still maintain low potential in the
ground is to use heavier and larger grounding systems.
I have seen heavy coronas, arcing and sparking, intense RFI, and
highly RF energized control circuits in Tesla systems using
inadequate grounds and/or ground paths. This not only affects
coil performance, efficiency, and throughput of the system, it is
also unsafe and unneighborly.
A grounding system as you described would be ideal for high
energy Tesla work.
-!-
... If all else fails... Put another megavolt through it.
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12
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Msg#: 1 Date: 14 Dec 93 12:19:00
From: Richard Quick
To: Dave Lyle
Subj: 10Kva Tesla Coil
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RQ>Now we remove the secondary from the primary and replace the
RQ>secondary with a coil that is 1/4 wave resonate at 400 kHz.
DL> I was actually wondering what would be the effect of going
DL> the opposite way.
DL> What if you removed the _primary_ and replaced it with one
DL> that resonated at 600 Khz. Now the secondary would be
DL> resonate at 3/4 wave, and the voltage/current distribution
DL> would be:
> At the base.........................Current peak, Voltage null
> At the 1/4 wave point
> (1/3 of the way up the coil).....Voltage peak, Current null
> At the 1/2 wave point
> (2/3 of the way up the coil).....Current peak, Voltage null
> At the 3/4 wave point
> (Top of coil)...................Voltage peak, Current null
DL> I suppose you would have trouble preventing a breakdown at
DL> the 1/4 wave (1/3 of coil) point,
Trouble would be a mild word for it. The 1/4 wave voltage peak
appearing in the windings would destroy the coil in short order.
RF voltages in these frequencies just don't understand what
"insulation" is. I have not found any practical material or
construction technique that would contain the voltage of a solid
1/4 wave voltage peak that appears in the coil windings. Plate
glass, 1/4" thick polyethylene, etc. are invisible to this
discharge, and the energy passes right through it virually
unimpeded. Mineral oil is the best insulator for this particular
energy, but there is insufficient space between turns on the coil
for sufficient breakdown protection. Even if there was enough
room between turns, then you have problems with the coil form
breaking down.
I have done experiments with coils in which the same basic end
result was achieved by bottom feeding an extra coil with current
that resulted in higher harmonic resonances of the extra coil
(such as the 3/4 wave harmonic you charted above). When the coil
was fired, sparks and corona came flying out of about a dozen
turns in the coil. Those turns where spark and corona appeared
corresponded to the 1/4 wave peak. But there was no way to
contain it. The sparks broke down the windings, scored, then
carbonized the coil form . The coil suffered irrepairable damage
and had to be scrapped. Similar incidents with other systems
where energy densities were high resulted with the spark from 1/4
wave peaks in the winding blowing holes through the coil form.
Again the coil was a complete loss and had to be scrapped.
In addition to the breakdown, the remaining turns further up the
coil had no energy at all to speak of. Why? All the energy in the
system was lost to spark and corona leakage at the 1/4 wave
breakdown point, insufficient energy remained in the coil
windings above the breakdown to do anything.
DL> would there be any advantages to the higher frequency
DL> operation?
None that I can think of. This model represents a very high loss
situation. 1/4 wave voltage peaks represent the final output
point in a coil system. There is no way to process the energy in
wire to any point above 1/4 wave in a single coil without
tremendious losses.
However when you go to two or more coils, where you are working
with more than one output terminal, it is possible to achieve 3/4
wave signal processing. This requires a pair of 1/8 wave driver
coils, two primaries run in series off the same tank ciruit, and
two extra coils. Your outputs from the extra coils are still 1/4
wave with the peaks on the terminals, but taken as a whole the
system does efficiently process a 3/4 wave signal. This system
would be adding up lower harmonics (two 1/8th wave outputs, with
two 1/4 wave outputs) to get to efficient 3/4 wave signal
processing. This system would be unique in that it may not
require a ground, as the two tuned sets of coils could "beat" off
of each other; in other words the nul voltage current output from
the base of one 1/8 wave driver coil could be fed into the base
wire of the second driver. This system would require that the
series run primaries, and the drivers and extra coils be wound in
opposite directions to achieve phase differential. The base wire
current output of one coil becomes added input to the base of
another.
... And if all else fails... Put another megavolt through it
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Msg#: 2 Date: 14 Dec 93 12:33:00
From: Richard Quick
To: Robert Taylor
Subj: Re: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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-=> SEZ Robert Taylor to Richard Quick <=-
RT> Wanted to drop you a line & see if you got my post about a
RT> month ago on the book that Barnes&Noble has out called *The
RT> Inventions, Research, and Writings of Nikola Tesla*.
Yes I did. I take it then you missed my reply.
I own a copy, and a copy of nearly everything else worthy of note
on the subject. I have posted a bibliography for source material
on his more advanced work.
The book you mention is drawn from his public lectures and other
"public domain" material. Things really start getting good when
you access sources of material he produced that were never
intended to become public. This private material, when combined
with his patents and patent applications, reveals much larger
plans.
Thank for checking up, and the book does make very interesting
reading. It covers some of his early work in good detail.
... And if all else fails... Put another megavolt through it
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Msg#: 1811 Date: 12-14-93 13:55
From: Dave Halliday
To: Richard Quick
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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RQ> DH> There is a local park that is situated on Lake Washington
> DH> near where I live, I have been toying with the idea of
> DH> firing the coil off there, maybe out on one of the boat
> DH> docks. Drop a bunch of Aluminum flashing over into the water
> DH> for the ground.
RQ> DH> Could be kind of fun!
RQ>I have fired and grounded off of water grounds exactly as you are
>thinking. They work great!
Great to hear!
RQ>Good Luck! I hope to see a spark shot or two soon. Bring the
>camcorder, and a 35 mm, and a few friends.
I am going out of town for fifteen days over the holidays but I should
have something in a month or so after that. Have a lot of the raw
materials - stuff for the capacitor. Need to get the neon transformers
and actually wind the coil and build the base to hold the primary.
Things have been extremely busy at the store so I haven't had too much
"spare time" but January has always been pretty slow.
Anyway, I am now getting the feed directly from SLUG-BBS so there
should be no missing messages.
TTYL - Dave ë:-)
-!-
b QMPro 1.51 b The Disk Crash BBS - now with 360K Online
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Msg#: 1812 Date: 12-14-93 13:56
From: Dave Halliday
To: Richard Quick
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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RQ> DH> In the mail this afternoon!
RQ>Thanks a lot. I just got back from a weekend in Chicago with my
>new girlfriend (NICE!) and look forward to seeing it!
Sounds good! Gotta get me one of those sometime... Maybe after
the coil is built... <grin>
-!-
b QMPro 1.51 b Work: the worst thing you can do for your health.
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Msg#: 1813 Date: 12-14-93 14:08
From: Dave Halliday
To: Richard Quick
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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RQ>Thank you Dave for sending the magazine with the article on the
>spark gap transmitters. It was interesting, but full of mis-
>crediting. The author chose in many instances to detail the worst
>systems of the era.
I thought you would get a kick out of it. I had intended you to keep
the magazine - that was why there was just the return mailer for the
disk. If you want, I can pop it in the mail again.
Anyway - I figured you would have some fun with the article. I
have not made any major study of Tesla's life but what I have seen
( Man out of Time by Cheny (sp?) plus a couple other articles ) makes
me realize that he is very much an un-sung hero of electronics.
RQ>The photos of the damped wave trains were very interesting. The
>author mentioned that the photos were made with reproduction
>equipment that resembled units of the era as closely as posible.
>I just find it galling that he would go through such efforts in
>accuracy this area and would only mention Tesla's name once.
Yeah - it is like he is just copying the "party line" of the people
who claimed to "develop" the equipment without doing any research on
his part...
>The gaps would not quench well at these power levels, and the
>short primary conductor does not provide sharp tune, good
>coupling coefficients or energy transfers. Tesla's systems of
>this era were much much more advanced.
The three turn primary also caught my eye. Plus the capacitance
was probably huge and lossy - oil filled wooden boxes...
RQ>BTW, the section in the article on the Wien quench gap manu-
>factured and used in transmitters by Telefunken, exactly
>corresponds to my post of over a month ago in this conference.
>Tesla was paid royalty by Telefunken on every transmitter
>produced until the start of WWI. These transmitters were on board
>every German U-boat, and Tesla's system was used on large land
>based transmitters used by the German command. Tesla offered
>these patents to the U.S. military several times, but was turned
Now *that* is interesting!
Anyway, on to the next message - TTYL - Dave
-!-
b QMPro 1.51 b New Resturant on the Moon. Good food but no
atmosphere...
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Msg#: 1814 Date: 12-14-93 14:10
From: Dave Halliday
To: Richard Quick
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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RQ>I have copied my archives from this thread, including much
>material you may have missed, onto the disk you sent me. I am
>also going to copy the article from the magizine you sent, and I
>will return both shortly. I have had a very busy week, what with
>a weekend to Chicago, and a new girlfriend, so I am running a
>little behind. I still have not unpacked my suitcase.
Great! I got the disk - Thanks!
I also went and got the entire thread from SLUG-BBS so I will
have everything in continuous order.
TTYL - Dave ë:-)
-!-
b QMPro 1.51 b Live long and phosphor...
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Msg#: 2666 Date: 12-14-93 14:23
From: Dave Halliday
To: Richard Quick
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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RQ>Look forward to seeing some video/photos of your coiling work
>soon. BTW did you really decide to lengthen the 6" coil form
>from 24" to 30" in height? I would think this would require
>more than the 1500' of magnet wire you had earmarked for this
>project.
I was thinking of 30" all along. That stays within the 1:5
aspect ratio limit. The thickness of the wire that I got will
allow for 940 or so turns in 30" of length which works out right
at 1500' feet of wire.
RQ>Also, I am seeing posts that you have quoted from others, but
>I am not seeing the original posts here....
RQ>This looks to be a network problem, unless these people are
>posting to you locally.... I wonder what is going on.
I had been using another BBS for the FIDO messages and they were
having some problems with missing messages. I will be using
SLUG-BBS from now on until I get my Planet Connect dish up and
running. It is sitting in the store right now but I need to get
on the roof and cut a hole through the ceiling for the feed-
through and of course ( being Seattle ) it is raining pretty much
continuously... Maybe August if I am lucky <grin>
Anyway, when the dish gets set up, I will start my own FIDO feed
to my BBS.
RQ>I sent you a post last week mentioning that I saw you had made
>a local logon here to the SLUG BBS, we narrowly missed a chat.
>How long have you been calling locally? If you get the chance
>since it appears you have a high speed modem you can grab the
>thread here if you have any network problems. This board has
>nearly all of my original posts in this conference still
>available.
I already grabbed them - I had called a few times from home but
the modem I am using there is an older one and it sometimes
hangs. I will be calling from the store now.
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Msg#: 2667 Date: 12-14-93 14:30
From: Dave Halliday
To: Brian Carling
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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BC>thanks for the info. I am going to see what I can find at the
>local library also.
Although I have not really researched Tesla's life all that much,
from what I gather, he kept critical stuff from his patent
applications because he had been screwed by Marconi and others.
You need to read between the lines.
DH> You could scale down the design but I feel that the amount of
DH> time and money involved would be about the same regardless of
DH> what size coil you are building so why not go for a bigger
DH> one.
BC> No, I want to build the BIG one!
How big?
DH> The one I am building is 6" diameter, 30" tall and is powered
DH> by a bank of four neon sign transformers.
BC> That doesn't sound too huge to construct...
It struck me as a nice size - large enough to produce nice 5'
arcs but small enough as not to overwhelm my workshop or my
budget.
BC> Do you connect the neon sign transformers in series or what?
A combination - the transformers are 12kV at 30mA so I will get
24kV at 60mA by using four of them.
DH> Down the road, I would like to experiment with a "pocket"
DH> coil or a tabletop model but you do need a very very good
DH> ground regardless of the size so this isn't something that
DH> you could take somewhere and casually set it up and expect to
DH> get good results.
BC> Why can't the one you describe be a "table-top" model?
> 6" around by 30" tall would fit on most tables!
Yeah but I was thinking about one that was maybe 3" dia and 12"
tall.
That would be impressive if it threw out foot-long arcs and from
what all of the other designs of this type do, the arcs are
several times longer than the length of the primary.
Imagine something sitting on the table, a foot tall and two feet
or so in diameter ( the flat primary coil ) throwing off two foot
long arcs!
DH> Anyway, keep tuned to this conference and I will be letting
DH> people know how things are progressing!
BC> I'll watch eagerly!
Hey - start planing something! Get some neon transformers, some
stuff to make the capacitors and a bunch of magnet wire and start
building!
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Msg#: 1900 Date: 12-15-93 00:13
From: Richard Quick
To: Dave Halliday
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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RQ>You should also make sure to run any HV power supply off a
>variable autotransformer (variac). This way output voltage to
>the experiment may be controlled smoothly.
DH> I already have a nice 5-amp which I am sure could take
DH> momentary overloads.
I'm afraid this won't serve except for the smallest test coil.
>>Sniff, Sniff, is that smoke I smell????<< >>Sniff<<
DH> There was a beautiful dual 240 volt Variac at Boeing
DH> Surplus but it was part of larger DC power supply and they
DH> wanted $700 for the whole thing. It was a good 15" in
DH> diameter! Didn't catch the current rating - too dark to see
DH> inside the case.
Most likely you were looking at a 29 amp+ rated Powerstat, these
are just the ticket.
DH> I am seriously thinking of going back there and offering
DH> them $100 cash just for the Variac and seeing if they will
DH> take it...
Like I said, these are just the ticket. Powerstats made by
Superior Electric are top of the line and are the most common
industrial units I have seen. Glom on this puppy if you can, and
if you can't, keep looking for another one. Powerstats are
gangable, and they are common surplus. If you get one, odds are
down the line you will come across another that will match the
first and you can bolt the housings together and parallel wire
them for pole pig operation.
A nice variac or two are about the only thing that you must plunk
down $$$ for if you are serious about coiling. I paid $150.00
each for mine, and never looked back. If I see another you can be
sure I will plunk $150-$200 again without batting an eye. The
price for new Powerstats would curl your hair and loosen teeth.
Now do you want to be sick? I was out in Richmond Virgina last
summer visiting some coiling friends. They have a scrap yard
there that would... well I can't use that language here. Anyway,
Alex drives out in his van and picks up this cabinet loaded with
meters, a plastic potted 5 kVA HV xfrmr, and a ganged array of
six 45 amp Powerstats in NEW condition, complete with remote
drive (geared, motor driven common shaft with remote unit)...
Price...
$45.00 for the whole load, and the springs on his van were
sagging badly. They guys out there said that the yard takes them,
uses a cutter to cut the copper off of them, cut the toroid cores
up, and scrap them valued around $5.00 each. I priced his array
new at over $4500.00
DH> Also, I just sent the application off to Harry Goldman for
DH> the TCBA membership.
Welcome aboard! If you told him I sent you then I get a free
issue of the NEWS at no cost to either of us!!! Thanks!
-!-
... And if all else fails... Put another megavolt through it
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12
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Msg#: 1901 Date: 12-15-93 01:33
From: Richard Quick
To: Dave Halliday
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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RQ>Thank you Dave for sending the magazine with the article on
>the spark gap transmitters. I copied everything that I wanted.
DH> Sometime in the next month or so, I will have to go through
DH> and copy some other issues. They do an occasional
DH> "History of Electronics" article. Fun stuff!
I would be interested in seeing more stuff like this if it
catches your eye.
Referring to Tesla:
RQ>He was THE electrical genius of his time.
DH> I also think C. P. Steinmetz was an interesting character
DH> but Tesla was way ahead of everyone.
Steinmetz was by no means a slacker. He gave us a lot in his area
of expertise. But when it came to bulk technique, research, and
knowledge; Tesla was a head and shoulders above the crowd.
(literally and figuratively)
Tesla's genius spanned an important era in mankinds history. His
foresight ranks with Da Vinci, and his technical abilities were
second to none. He intellect was broad, where others were very
narrow and focused.
Tesla was a mechanical engineer, an electrical engineer, a radio
engineer, and a visionary. I have seen credits that he was a
graduate of the Univeristy of Prague, but research done there by
others show that he was never even enrolled, though it is
possible he audited classes. Indeed he did not have access to
funds to pay for a higher education. Yet he handed (hand drawn)
plans for the first AC induction motor to a shop foreman for
construction. The motor worked perfectly without modification or
adjustments, and the exact same design is still used today.
Without missing a step he went on to design three, then four,
then six phase motors. Along the way he designed the power grid
to supply them.
He did this not once in one area, but hundreds and hundreds of
times in numerous areas during his working career. Steam powered
electro-mechanical oscillators, high frequency alternators,
bladeless turbines and pumps, viscosity speedometers, electrical
oscillators, X-Ray machines, CW transmitters, wave guides, the
list goes on, and on, and on.
The work that he documented, patented, and/or published covers
but a small but significant fraction of the discoveries and
research he did. Most times he was moving so fast that he did not
have time to write things down.
A good example is the Colorado Springs work. He did incredible
things with the large coils that are only appreciated today, long
past the time his name has been dropped from the mainstream
history books. In an interview after his return to New York (from
Colorado Springs) Tesla made the headlines by stating he had
detected wireless transmission from Mars. He stated he tuned the
machine to the detected frequencies and made a reply. At the time
he was of course thought to be wacko (as Guy Daugherty would put
it). Marconi had not yet managed to send a reliable signal.
Tesla had already set his large coils up, and experimeted with
them connected to a relay type tone receiever (no superhets
yets). His tuning and amplification circuits (unpublished
designs) were so sensitive that in an era of "stone knives and
bear skins" (remember the automobile was nearing invention in a
few years) he was able to listen to pulsars through a telephone
handset. Thus, using his coil setup exactly as pictured in the
famous photos, he changed a few connections, and had successfully
built and operated the first radio telescope.
I will forgive him that his overactive imagination led him to
believe he was recieving signals from mars, especially since the
nearest pulsar is many light years further away, the signal is
exceedingly weak, and radio had not been invented yet (by
Marconi).
The same coils operated X-Ray tubes of his design that took X-Ray
photos at 100 feet. They also were able to cavity resonate the
earth at frequencies under 30 kHz. In addition (using the same
coils) he was the first (and last until 1988) to produce
synthetic ball lightning.
I could go on. The bottom line is the other famous names of the
era were good, but they were narrow and clumsy compared to the
light that Tesla threw.
Someone mentioned a book from Barnes and Nobel: The Inventions
Writings, and Research of Nickola Tesla. In the lectures
published in the book, Tesla demonstrates a single terminal bulb
with a brush discharge (1891). The book shows photos of this and
several similar bulbs. Tesla clearly states that he sees a
potential for this effect as an amplifier and detector.
The "brush discharge" in this demonstration is a directed
electron beam from the center terminal of the bulb to the glass.
What he is demonstrating is the principal behind the electron
microscope. Yet at the same time (within months) he patents a
number of tuned circuits that still form the basis of radio
today. It was a question of time, money, and resources. Electron
microscopes or radio? Tesla must have figured radio was a
priority (he patented), and threw hints out to the crowded
lecture hall about electron microscopes (public domain) where
they were not understood or followed up on.
-!-
... If all else fails... Put another megavolt through it.
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12
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Msg#: 2714 Date: 12-15-93 11:04
From: Richard Quick
To: Dave Halliday
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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RQ>Good Luck! I hope to see a spark shot or two soon. Bring the
>camcorder, and a 35 mm, and a few friends.
DH> I am going out of town for fifteen days over the holidays
DH> but I should have something in a month or so after that.
DH> Have a lot of the raw materials - stuff for the capacitor.
DH> Need to get the neon transformers and actually wind the coil
DH> and build the base to hold the primary. Things have been
DH> extremely busy at the store so I haven't had too much
DH> "spare time" but January has always been pretty slow.
Great, then at least you are are in the planning stage and are
organizing yourself for the various constructions.
DH> Anyway, I am now getting the feed directly from SLUG-BBS so
DH> there should be no missing messages.
And no delay!!!
... And if all else fails... Put another megavolt through it
ŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽ
Msg#: 2715 Date: 12-15-93 12:11
From: Richard Quick
To: Dave Halliday
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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-=> SEZ Dave Halliday to Richard Quick <=-
RQ>Thank you Dave for sending the magazine with the article on
>the spark gap transmitters. It was interesting, but full of
>miscrediting. The author chose in many instances to detail
>the worst systems of the era.
DH> I thought you would get a kick out of it. I had intended
DH> you to keep the magazine - that was why there was just the
DH> return mailer for the disk. If you want, I can pop it in
DH> the mail again.
No need. I copied everything that I wanted.
DH> Anyway - I figured you would have some fun with the article.
DH> I have not made any major study of Tesla's life but what I
DH> have seen ( Man out of Time by Cheny (sp?) plus a couple
DH> other articles ) makes me realize that he is very much an
DH> un-sung hero of electronics.
He was THE electrical genius of his time.
>I just find it galling that he would go through such efforts in
>accuracy this area and would only mention Tesla's name once.
DH> Yeah - it is like he is just copying the "party line" of the
DH> people who claimed to "develop" the equipment without doing
DH> any research on his part...
Exactly. Tesla developed and experimented with every type system
mentioned in the article before the people credited for these
systems.
>The gaps would not quench well at these power levels, and the
>short primary conductor does not provide sharp tune, good
>coupling coefficients or energy transfers. Tesla's systems of
>this era were much much more advanced.
DH> The three turn primary also caught my eye. Plus the
DH> capacitance was probably huge and lossy - oil filled wooden
DH> boxes...
Yeah, the signal generated by this system would have been highly
eratic. The pulses would have been very intense due to the
capacitor size, but the output had to be a far cry from being a
"smooth" powerful signal. Tesla on the other hand was using a
tiny capacitance in a "balanced" tank circuit with very close
coupling, and extremely fast quenching, ultra high speed gaps.
He processed only 250 kVA (50 kVA less input power than the large
Marconi xmittr) in Colorado Springs, but his output was CW,
frequency stable, beat free, RF signal. His power processing
efficiency was over 70% from the supply line to the antenna mast.
His antenna current was a modest 1100 rms amps, with a peak power
in excess of 10 gigawatts. Not bad for a guy in 1900 with a
shoestring budget and salt water/glass caps.
... And if all else fails... Put another megavolt through it
ŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽ
Msg#: 2716 Date: 12-15-93 13:28
From: Richard Quick
To: Dave Halliday
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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-=> SEZ Dave Halliday to Brian Carling <=-
BC>Do you connect the neon sign transformers in series or what?
DH> A combination - the transformers are 12kV at 30mA so I will
DH> get 24kV at 60mA by using four of them.
Nope, won't work. Each secondary coil in the neon xfrmr is
grounded to the core. This setup will not allow the secondaries
to be placed in series. Other type xfrmrs may be placed in
series, such as plate, potential, and pig xfrmrs, but not neons.
The secondaries may be placed in parallel for higher currents,
but you are voltage limited. This is OK really because you will
have trouble making or finding caps that will hold up to 24
kvac pulse.
The primaries on neons are not grounded. The primaries may be
run in parallel, so you may gang up as many as you want at 120
volts as long as your circuit will stand up to the load (which
may be surprisingly high if you don't use pfc capacitance).
However for anything larger than 1.5 kVA you will most likely be
looking hard at 240 volt operation to reduce the current load. In
this case you may take two neons of the same rating, place the
primaries in series, and throw 240 across the two units. The
secondaries are all parallel wired to the high voltage buss,
regardless of the arrangement of the primaries. This way really
large power supplies may be built up slowly, by simply adding
pairs of neons to the bank. I have run up to 12 neons (6 pairs
wired for 240 volt operation) for power supplies in excess of 4
kVA for medium sized coil systems.
Phasing is important in running banks of neons. Not all neons are
wired in the same direction. If the primary or secondary coils
are reverse wired on some units, they will cancel out other
units. A little time may be required to make sure that all of the
neons are wired in phase. Nothing special is required to do this,
just identify the out of phase unit, and reverse the line power
connections, or reverse the secondary connection to the HV buss.
You should also make sure to run any HV power supply off a
variable autotransformer (variac). This way output voltage to the
experiment may be controlled smoothly.
... And if all else fails... Put another megavolt through it
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Msg#: 1867 Date: 12-15-93 14:38
From: Richard Quick
To: Scott Hoffman
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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-=> SEZ Scott Hoffman to All <=-
SH> Anybody know where i can get really, really, really, really,
SH> really, really, BIG, BIG, Capacitors, that can handle
SH> massive currents, and voltages. I need them for my laser
SH> project. The caps I had have blown and I learned that the
SH> manufacturer is out of business. I'm not talking Radio Shack
SH> special order caps. either. The ones I have are the size of
SH> car batteries. I wont bother giving the specs. ( I know some
SH> of you geniuses can't do anything without specs. and
SH> schematics, but I no longer have the documentation.) The
SH> "really BIG" x 6 comment should give you an indication of
SH> what i'm talking about. Uh...Some of you might ask what i
SH> need a power supply this big for, for an ordinary laser.
SH> well....it's no helium-neon. It's a 8 foot nitrogen laser.
SH> And requires a pulse of current of massive proportions to
SH> excite the atoms. Hope someone can help!!!
This is the thread you need to be addressing if you are into high
energy devices. You missed a number of very good posts here in
regarding these giant type HV pulse discharging capacitors.
Please be specific, I can supply any information you need on this
subject as I have a lot of experience designing, constructing,
and buying caps of this type. If your BBS carries any archives
you should download about the last months worth of posts in this
conference and scan this thread for an idea of what I am talking
about.
Post the value you need, and the voltage requirements. I work
with Tesla Tank circuits that generally require at least 10 KVAC
pulse discharging caps. In a DC application you can push a
homemade cap of this type to 30-35 KVDC without a problem.
... And if all else fails... Put another megavolt through it
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12
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Msg#: 1869 Date: 12-15-93 17:15
From: Dave Halliday
To: Richard Quick
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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RQ> RQ>Good Luck! I hope to see a spark shot or two soon. Bring the
> >camcorder, and a 35 mm, and a few friends.
RQ> DH> I am going out of town for fifteen days over the holidays
> DH> but I should have something in a month or so after that.
> DH> Have a lot of the raw materials - stuff for the capacitor.
RQ>Great, then at least you are are in the planning stage and are
>organizing yourself for the various constructions.
Yeah - I have a really good idea as to what goes into the
construction so any time I see something that would be useful,
I stockpile it.
I plan to continue building after this first one. My friend who is
working with me is curious about building a small one.
We were talking about something a foot tall, 3" diameter. Judging from
the other coils, it might be good for two foot arcs.
RQ> DH> Anyway, I am now getting the feed directly from SLUG-BBS so
> DH> there should be no missing messages.
RQ>And no delay!!!
Yeah - the other BBS was really lax about mail runs. I went and
got all of the FIDO - Electronics messages and have been going through
and making a text file of the dialogue.
TTYL - Dave ë:-)
-!-
b QMPro 1.51 b 15 of every stamp is for storage...
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Msg#: 1871 Date: 12-15-93 17:28
From: Dave Halliday
To: Richard Quick
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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RQ> BC>Do you connect the neon sign transformers in series or what?
RQ> DH> A combination - the transformers are 12kV at 30mA so I will
> DH> get 24kV at 60mA by using four of them.
RQ>Nope, won't work. Each secondary coil in the neon xfrmr is
>grounded to the core. This setup will not allow the secondaries
>to be placed in series. Other type xfrmrs may be placed in
>series, such as plate, potential, and pig xfrmrs, but not neons.
Whoops... Shows what I know <grin> I thought the multiple
transformers were for both current and voltage increase.
RQ>The secondaries may be placed in parallel for higher currents,
>but you are voltage limited. This is OK really because you will
>have trouble making or finding caps that will hold up to 24
>kvac pulse.
Makes sense!
RQ>However for anything larger than 1.5 kVA you will most likely be
>looking hard at 240 volt operation to reduce the current load. In
>this case you may take two neons of the same rating, place the
>primaries in series, and throw 240 across the two units. The
>secondaries are all parallel wired to the high voltage buss,
>regardless of the arrangement of the primaries. This way really
>large power supplies may be built up slowly, by simply adding
>pairs of neons to the bank. I have run up to 12 neons (6 pairs
>wired for 240 volt operation) for power supplies in excess of
>4 kVA for medium sized coil systems.
OK - I see where I got off the track - you were referring to pairs of
transformers, I thought they were running in a series-secondary mode...
RQ>You should also make sure to run any HV power supply off a
>variable autotransformer (variac). This way output voltage to the
>experiment may be controlled smoothly.
I already have a nice 5-amp which I am sure could take momentary
overloads. There was a beautiful dual 240 volt Variac at Boeing
Surplus but it was part of larger DC power supply and they wanted
$700 for the whole thing. It was a good 15" in diameter! Didn't
catch the current rating - too dark to see inside the case.
I am seriously thinking of going back there and offering them
$100 cash just for the Variac and seeing if they will take it...
Also, I just sent the application off to Harry Goldman for the
TCBA membership.
TTYL - Dave ë:-)
-!-
b QMPro 1.51 b In New Guinea: cargo cults. In the U.S.:
vaporware.
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Msg#: 1870 Date: 12-15-93 17:29
From: Dave Halliday
To: Richard Quick
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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RQ> RQ>Thank you Dave for sending the magazine with the article on
> >the spark gap transmitters. It was interesting, but full of
RQ> DH> I thought you would get a kick out of it. I had intended
> DH> you to keep the magazine - that was why there was just the
RQ>No need. I copied everything that I wanted.
OK - I'll keep it here then. Sometime in the next month or so, I
will have to go through and copy some other issues. They do an
occasional "History of Electronics" article. Fun stuff!
> DH> I have not made any major study of Tesla's life but what I
> DH> have seen ( Man out of Time by Cheny (sp?) plus a couple
> DH> other articles ) makes me realize that he is very much an
> DH> un-sung hero of electronics.
RQ>He was THE electrical genius of his time.
I also think C. P. Steinmetz was an interesting character but
Tesla was way ahead of everyone.
Anyway, TTYL - Dave
-!-
b QMPro 1.51 b I need a cordless extension cord, please
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Msg#: 2797 Date: 12-16-93 09:05
From: Tom Moeller
To: Scott Hoffman
Subj: Re: Big Caps.
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SH> Anybody know where i can get really, really, really,
SH> really, really, really, BIG, BIG, Capacitors, that can
SH> handle massive currents, and voltages. I need them for my
SH> laser project. The caps. I had have blown and i learned
SH> that the manufacturer is out of business.
GE Capacitors in Fort Edward, NY makes some "large" capacitors...
will 1.1uF at 62.5kV do? Their 30F1400 series goes from 5kV to 62.5kV,
in sizes from 8x4x5.5 inches up to 13.5x6x16.5 inches. The information
book I have here doesn't list any specs (oops! Sorry!) for the Effective
Series Resistance (ESR) so you might check with their applications
department before sending them your VISA number.
SH> The ones I have are the size of car batteries. I wont
SH> bother giving the specs. ( I know some of you geniuses can't
SH> do anything without specs. and schematics, but I no longer
SH> have the documentation.)
Oh, sorry, you're right. I guess all the "geniuses" here shouldn't
answer your plea for help. |-}
SH> Some of you might ask what
SH> i need a power supply this big for, for an ordinary laser.
SH> well....it's no helium-neon. It's a 8 foot nitrogen laser.
SH> And requires a pulse of current of massive proportions to
SH> excite the atoms.
I know an engineer (oops, another genius!) who worked on a laser drilling
system - high accuracy pinholes thru titanium. He says his capacitor bank
was made out of similar sized capacitors, with inductors in series along
the way. By changing the connections and ratios of capacitance and
inductance, they could change the pulse duration of the laser blast.
Theirs was a flash-excited CO2 laser, though, instead of nitrogen.
- Tom
-!- EZPoint V2.1
! Origin: Encore Electronics (1:267/14.42)
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Msg#: 1903 Date: 12-16-93 10:55
From: Dave Halliday
To: Richard Quick
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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RQ>RQ>You should also make sure to run any HV power supply off a
> >variable autotransformer (variac). This way output voltage to
> >the experiment may be controlled smoothly.
RQ> DH> I already have a nice 5-amp which I am sure could take
> DH> momentary overloads.
RQ>I'm afraid this won't serve except for the smallest test coil.
>>>Sniff, Sniff, is that smoke I smell????<< >>Sniff<<
Drat... I'll just keep it on my service bench then...
RQ> DH> There was a beautiful dual 240 volt Variac at Boeing
RQ>Most likely you were looking at a 29 amp+ rated Powerstat, these
>are just the ticket.
RQ>Like I said, these are just the ticket. Powerstats made by
>Superior Electric are top of the line and are the most common
>industrial units I have seen. Glom on this puppy if you can, and
>if you can't, keep looking for another one. Powerstats are
>gangable, and they are common surplus. If you get one, odds are
This one was a dual unit. I will try an offer - see what they say. The
unit has been there for a few months so they might be tempted. The
console that the Variac is mounted in is similar to your power control
console - about 5 feet tall, the top third is sloped. I might just
offer them $100 cash for that part of it. The DC supply that it
connects to is in a 55 gallon drum.
RQ>A nice variac or two are about the only thing that you must plunk
>down $$$ for if you are serious about coiling. I paid $150.00
>each for mine, and never looked back. If I see another you can be
>sure I will plunk $150-$200 again without batting an eye. The
>price for new Powerstats would curl your hair and loosen teeth.
I looked at the price for a 15 Amp unit and my hair curled at
that...
RQ>Now do you want to be sick? I was out in Richmond Virgina last
>summer visiting some coiling friends. They have a scrap yard
>there that would... well I can't use that language here. Anyway,
>six 45 amp Powerstats in NEW condition, complete with remote
>drive (geared, motor driven common shaft with remote unit)...
>Price...
RQ>$45.00 for the whole load, and the springs on his van were
Hey Richard... Thanks a *lot* <grin> Just what I wanted to hear...
There are a couple of technological junk yards here too but the people
running them have an inflated idea of what the stuff is worth. Three of
them have gone out of business in the last few years so maybe they are
willing to listen to reason... ( They will check a current catalog
price and then sell the surplus goods for 50% of that cost... Gimme a
break! )
RQ> DH> Also, I just sent the application off to Harry Goldman for
> DH> the TCBA membership.
RQ>Welcome aboard! If you told him I sent you then I get a free
>issue of the NEWS at no cost to either of us!!! Thanks!
I sure did! Anyway, I will talk with you later - Dave
-!-
b QMPro 1.51 b Windows 3.1 - The colorful clown suit for DOS...
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Msg#: 1904 Date: 12-16-93 11:13
From: Dave Halliday
To: Richard Quick
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil 1/2
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RQ> DH> Sometime in the next month or so, I will have to go through
> DH> and copy some other issues. They do an occasional
> DH> "History of Electronics" article. Fun stuff!
RQ>I would be interested in seeing more stuff like this if it
>catches your eye.
I will do that - I keep some of the back issues.
RQ>Referring to Tesla:
RQ> RQ>He was THE electrical genius of his time.
RQ> DH> I also think C. P. Steinmetz was an interesting character
> DH> but Tesla was way ahead of everyone.
RQ>Steinmetz was by no means a slacker. He gave us a lot in his area
>of expertise. But when it came to bulk technique, research, and
>knowledge; Tesla was a head and shoulders above the crowd.
>(literally and figuratively)
This is true! My favorite Stienmetz story was that he could
never get the hang of driving. He was always running the car up
onto peoples lawns, into other cars, etc... He had a car customized
with a second set of controls in the trunk and he had someone
sitting there, looking through a periscope and doing the actual
driving while he would serenely cruise through the neighborhood,
hand on the wheel, smoking a cigar...
Fun stuff...
RQ>Tesla's genius spanned an important era in mankinds history. His
>foresight ranks with Da Vinci, and his technical abilities were
>second to none. He intellect was broad, where others were very
>narrow and focused.
This is what I gathered too - I also heard about the remote control
vehicles he built - the submersible boat ( no antennas either )
RQ>Tesla was a mechanical engineer, an electrical engineer, a radio
>engineer, and a visionary. I have seen credits that he was a
>funds to pay for a higher education. Yet he handed (hand drawn)
>plans for the first AC induction motor to a shop foreman for
>construction. The motor worked perfectly without modification or
>adjustments, and the exact same design is still used today.
>Without missing a step he went on to design three, then four,
>then six phase motors. Along the way he designed the power grid
>to supply them.
Yeah - I heard that he was sitting on a bench somewhere and the motor
came into his head completely formed. Just sitting there in his
imagination, running smoothly...
RQ>He did this not once in one area, but hundreds and hundreds of
>bladeless turbines and pumps, viscosity speedometers, electrical
I know about the turbines - a flat disk, no cups or anything -
high speed and very efficient...
RQ>I will forgive him that his overactive imagination led him to
>believe he was recieving signals from mars, especially since the
>nearest pulsar is many light years further away, the signal is
>exceedingly weak, and radio had not been invented yet (by
>Marconi).
Interesting - kinda pre-dates Janssky ( sp? ) by a few years...
RQ>I could go on. The bottom line is the other famous names of the
>era were good, but they were narrow and clumsy compared to the
>light that Tesla threw.
RQ>Someone mentioned a book from Barnes and Nobel: The Inventions
>Writings, and Research of Nickola Tesla. In the lectures
>published in the book, Tesla demonstrates a single terminal bulb
>with a brush discharge (1891). The book shows photos of this and
Interesting - I'll have to look for it. I just picked up a copy
of a 1904 reprint: Experiments with Alternate Currents of High
Potential and High Frequency - the text of a lecture he gave at the
Institution of Electrical Engineers in London.
There is also an appendix: Transmission of Electric Energy
without Wires.
The book is published by Angriff Press, P.O. Box 2726, Hollywood,
CA 90078 ISBN# 913022-25-X
The book details a lot of the electrical discharge lights. From the
text of the book it sounds like he was quite an energetic lecturer too..
I know where *I* want to set the time machine!
Anyway, I will be going away for two weeks, getting back on the
first.
If I do not talk with you before then, have a great holiday!
TTYL - Dave ë:-)
-!-
b QMPro 1.51 b Money has proved the most dangerous of hallucinogens.
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Msg#: 1 Date: 16 Dec 93 17:35:00
From: Richard Quick
To: Dave Halliday
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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Again referring to Tesla:
DH> Yeah - I heard that he was sitting on a bench somewhere and
DH> the motor came into his head completely formed. Just
DH> sitting there in his imagination, running smoothly...
This is apparently true, Tesla told the story on more than one
occasion. Many other notables of genius status have said their
greatest ideas came in similar fashion, or in dreams; but few
were as prolific as Tesla.
It seems that ideas like this came to him very frequently over a
number of years. He complained more than once that it was simply
impossible for him to act on all of them. Tesla read Edison's
quip that invention was "1% inspriation and 99% perspiration" and
remarked that the inverse was in fact the truth. He stated that
he was able to operate sophisticated mechanical and electrical
devices in his head to determine feasibility prior to drawing or
constructing the actual device. He followed this statement up by
saying that he never built a device that did not operate as
anticipated.
In his later years, after failing to fund the Wardenclyff
transmitter to completion, he was unable to maintain a
laboratory. He did not stop inventing however. He set his MIND to
work building, testing, and operating equipment. The result of
his purely mental efforts were designs for such devices as
particle beam weapons. This mental work came into tangible
existence in the form of drawings for such components as the open
ended vacuum tube (one end open to STP) for generating high
energy particle beams.
It is one of the true crimes against humanity that he was so
misunderstood that even a small lab could not be furnished to
allow him practical creative outlets, though much blame may be
laid to him for his ignorance of financial affairs, and his
refusal to retain a business manager to see to those affairs.
He spent money like water, money having no real value to him. He
allowed people to purchase valuable patents outright instead of
insisting on long term royalty agreements in addition to the lump
sum payments, which would have insured some future income. Had he
been monetarily wiser, he would not have died penniless, and many
more ideas could have seen commercial application; even if the
final marketing was done by others.
Have a good vacation, I look foward to hearing from you upon your
return.
... And if all else fails... Put another megavolt through it
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Msg#: 2006 Date: 12-17-93 20:35
From: Ron Lawrence
To: Dave Halliday
Subj: Re: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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> BC>Do you connect the neon sign transformers in series or what?
>
> A combination - the transformers are 12kV at 30mA so I will
> get 24kV at
> 60mA by using four of them.
I'd be REALLY cautious about paralleling ANY non-precision transformers,
and on neon light transformers, watch out for there being an internal,
tied to case, center tap - lots of 'em are built that way. I about
fried myself in junior high school due that grounded center tap!
(When ya stack two in series for more volts, you can, and often do, get a
massive flash-over to the AC input, and that 600v insulation just isn't
adequate to keep it from further jumps!)
...RON...
-!- Opus-CBCS 1.73a
! Origin: C C I B B S (509)663-8397 (1:344/58.0)
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Msg#: 1947 Date: 12-18-93 01:15
From: Richard Quick
To: Patrick Kirol
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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PK> Richard I have been following your coiling discussions here
PK> for some time and would like to get a copy of the video tape
PK> you have and a copy of the Tesla coil information you posted
PK> on this echo. I would also like to get your advice on which
PK> coiling program you would recommend. I have noticed that
PK> there are a couple different ones out there. I am mailing
PK> out a tape and disk (and check) today.
You will love the tape if you are the slightest bit interested in
coiling or other high voltage equipment. I run some hot stuff
here. I will get your copy out within 48 hours of receipt of your
package, but please allow a few extra days due to the holiday
mails.
As for the coiling program I would recommend you purchase THE
TESLA COIL DESIGNER by Walt Noon. This software is sold through
several publishers and book dealers, but I can't find a catalog
handy. However Walt would love to hear from you, and please tell
him I provided you with his address (I owe him a letter).
Walt Noon
3283 Belvedere
Riverside, CA 92507
The software is pretty good but I really only use it for one
purpose: it enables me to determine within tollerable limits the
inductance and resonate frequency of the secondary coil, and the
tank circuit frequency. Used intelligently this menu driven
software will take simple U.S. physical measurements from a
planned design and give you real working numbers as to
operational frequency of the system, rough tuning, number of
primary turns required, and the size of the capacitance and power
supply needed. This will cut the hours and hours of time required
with a calculator and book of tables and formulas... down to
seconds. All of the required tables such as dielectric constants,
line frequencies, toroid capacitances, etc. are already in the
software. It is really just a matter of plug and chug.
The functions it covers includes nearly every major componet of
the 1/4 wave Tesla coil; having calculators built in for
capacitors, power supplies, tank circuit frequencies, discharge
terminals, etc.. The only thing I will have to fault is the spark
length calulator that the program uses, I frequently blow the
programs estimated maximum disharge length away on my real
systems. Walt tells me it is not the program, but the coiler (me)
who is at fault. <BIG grin>
Combined with the practical information presented on the video
tape, copies of this thread, and some of my spark gap designs I
will include on the disk, you will have a wealth of accurate
coiling information. As always, I am available here to answer
questions, offer advice, and can trouble shoot any problems you
may encounter. Good Luck!!!
-!-
... If all else fails... Put another megavolt through it.
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12
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Msg#: 2000 Date: 12-18-93 23:44
From: Robert Holtz
To: Richard Quick
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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Well,
After reading whats been going on in the conference between yourself
and the other members I'm pleased to see a dialog develop. Thank
for letting me know it was productive >;-)
-!-
b QMPro 1.51 b From small chips to big breasts, silicone is the best
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Msg#: 2145 Date: 12-19-93 11:08
From: Robert Taylor
To: Richard Quick
Subj: Re: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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-=> Quoting Richard Quick to Robert Taylor <=-
RQ> Yes I did. I take it then you missed my reply.
Looks like you're right. I think the BBS that I picked you up on
was having some problems around that time, so end of mystery.
RQ> I own a copy, and a copy of nearly everything else worthy of
RQ> note on the subject.
Guess I shoulda known better on that one! You must have one
heckuva Tesla library.
RQ> intended to become public. This private material, when
RQ> combined with his patents and patent applications, reveals
RQ> much larger plans.
I can only imagine how interesting some of this material must be.
I was aware of some Hungarian translation of his private papers
was out there, but have never seen a copy of same.
Just out of curiosity, are you familiar with anything regarding
Tesla's connection with the "project invisibility" & the U.S.S.
Eldridge? Ran across something that connected him with the
project, but everything that I've seen is vague. An impression
was left that he may have had something to do with the building
of the alleged field-generator.
BTW--did catch your reply on my post about Ken Strickfadden. His
work always amazed me.
Seasons Greetings & Happy Holidays.
... C:\\DOS C:\\DOS\\RUN RUN\\DOS\\RUN WATCH\\DOS\\CRASH
! Origin: BLUFF CITY BBS (1:123/70)
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Msg#: 2 Date: 20 Dec 93 01:30:00
From: Richard Quick
To: Brian Carling
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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BC> Yes, unfortunately I missed many of the earlier posts...
BC> what is the capacitor for? What is it like?
Capacitance is required in the tank circuit to convert line
frequency power into RF (radio frequency) pulses. It works like
this:
A capacitor designed to discharge in a pulse, and able to
withstand high voltage, is charged with the power supply xfrmr.
The power supply xfrmr usually puts out a high voltage (6-20kv).
Since you are stepping up your line voltage (120/240) with a
transformer, your output current gets smaller as the output
voltage gets higher. So if you are using neon sign xfrmrs, say
12,000 volt 30 millamp output units, your input current is high,
say 3 amps (if the transformer is power factor corrected). Your
output is a measly .03 amps.
Not much power here, only 360 watts. But if you take that .03
amps (@12kv) and charge up a capacitor with it, how many watts
will you get if you discharge the capacitor? That will depend on
how fast you drain the cap. Lets say you short the cap out and
pulse discharge it. Currents in the order of a few dozen amps are
easily obtained this way.
Now if you match the size of the capacitor to the amount of
energy produced by the HV power supply in 1/2 of a 60 cycle wave
(the + polarity, then the - polarity) you will be able to fully
charge the cap in 1/2 cycle. In the common case with a power
supply at 60 cycle, then you can fully charge the cap 120 times
per second.
Instead of just shorting the cap out with a wire or buss bar,
let's discharge the cap through a heavy, low impedance coil. In
order to properly time the discharge so that the cap fires only
when fully charged, we need some type of high voltage switch.
The switch commonly used is an air gap, or spark gap. When the
capacitor is charging it is receiving energy, as it recieves
energy there is current flow from the power supply. The more
cuurent flowing, the more depressed the circuit voltage becomes.
This is voltage drop, the input energy is limited, the current is
high, so the voltage must be low. As the capacitor charges the
voltage rises, until there is no more current flow. When current
stops flowing into the cap (fully charged), the voltage peaks,
and the spark jumps the gap.
This spark (arc actually) discharges the capacitor very quickly.
Once the energy of the discharge is used, the spark gap opens up,
and the capacitor is free again to recharge from the power
supply.
One interesting property of capacitive discharge through a
conductor is oscillation. During the discharging of a capacitor
in a circuit such as this the pulse of energy actually swings
back and forth from one capacitor plate to another until the
energy is consumed. The frequency of oscillation changes
according to the size of the capacitor, and the length of the
conductor. Large capacitors slow the frequency of oscillation, as
due long conductors. The frequency of a typical Tesla tank
circuit (capacitor & heavy coil) typically range from 1 mHz on
the high end to say 20-30 kHz on the low end.
The peak currents and voltage seen in the heavy primary coil are
a function of the capacitor and power supply. The circuit is
designed to deliver a maximum of voltage and current over a very
short period of time. Peak powers in this circuit may reach many
megawatts with relative ease, due to the capacitve discharge.
-!-
... If all else fails... Put another megavolt through it.
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12
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Msg#: 2102 Date: 12-20-93 01:42
From: Richard Quick
To: Patrick Kirol
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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Patrick,
I got your Tesla video tape request in the mail today. The
archives, GIF schematics, and many pages of notes are on the
disk. The tape is full up. I will return mail the tape and disk
first thing tomorrow. Good luck, and if you get a coil up and
running please tell us about it.
As I have stated here before: if you have any questions or
comments about the video, please feel free to post here. I would
love to hear from you.
-!-
... And if all else fails... Put another megavolt through it
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12
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Msg#: 2103 Date: 12-20-93 03:24
From: Richard Quick
To: Ron Lawrence
Subj: Re: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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> BC>Do you connect the neon sign transformers in series or
> what?
> A combination - the transformers are 12kV at 30mA so I will
> get 24kV at 60mA by using four of them.
RL> I'd be REALLY cautious about paralleling ANY non-precision
RL> transformers.
Running these xfrmrs in parallel is really no problem at all. I
do it all the time on really LARGE banked power supplies (over 4
killowatts from 360 watt neons) and have never had a problem.
Good high voltage technique requires some bypassing caps, and a
safety spark gap with center tap ground to protect the power
supply from kickback, flashover, burnout, etc.. With a little
technique a parallel bank will hold up quite a while without
failure. Even without much protection beyond a safety gap, they
will still hold up for hours of high voltage fun.
The ease in paralleling these particular type xfrmrs is from the
magnetic leakage core shunts. The internal shunting is very
forgiving to load imbalances.
I posted both Dave and Brian about attempting to run these units
with the secondaries in series. This could be a bad scene if one
of the secondaries were to open, and the case and core were to
pick up 6 kv or so.
-!-
... And if all else fails... Put another megavolt through it
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12
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Msg#: 2101 Date: 12-20-93 09:30
From: Robert Holtz
To: Richard Quick
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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-> As our local co-sysop, and an eyewitness to both some of my
-> working systems, and the video records, would you care to state
-> an opinion? I know you too have shown some of the video to
-> others. Any comments?
A far as stating an opinion goes I'd say it's impressive to say the
least. Since I have only seen one machine spewing forth 15 foot
lightning bolts is hard to do a comparison.
When showing the tape to other people it's hard to convince them that
someone is actully doing this in their basement somewhere in the
suburbs. :-)
cya
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Msg#: 2148 Date: 12-21-93 14:03
From: Richard Quick
To: Robert Taylor
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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Regarding: The Inventions, Writing, and Research of Nickola Tesla
available from Barnes & Noble Booksellers
RQ> I own a copy, and a copy of nearly everything else worthy of
RQ> note on the subject.
RT> Guess I shoulda known better on that one! You must have one
RT> heckuva Tesla library.
Over 200 separate covers at this time. A lot of the material I
have read two, three, even four times looking for clues.
RT> I can only imagine how interesting some of this material
RT> must be. I was aware of some Hungarian translation of his
RT> private papers was out there, but have never seen a copy of
RT> same.
I believe the book you are referring to is the Colorado Springs
Notes, which were hand written in english in 1899-1900. These
papers and many others were processed by the Office of Alien
Affairs at the time of Telsa's death (though he was a full
citizen...). Telsa had no relatives in this country. Before his
death the Yugoslavian government had declared him a national hero
(while we were busy starving him). When the Yugoslavs found that
he was completely destitute, they set up a trust fund to see that
he received a monthly check to cover his food and rent. It was
all he had when he died. Since the Yugoslavian government was
taking responsibility for his care, the U.S. government declared
Yugoslavia the next of kin. The personal effects found in his
hotel room were pilfered (many valuable items were stolen), and
what remained were sent to Belgrade where they were placed in a
museum.
In the mid 1970's the curator of the Telsa Museum in Belgrade
cataloged all of the papers written by Tesla in Colorado Springs.
About this time "pilgrams" such as Robert Golka began showing up
at the museum to read the originals. The curator decided to
publish through NOLIT of Belgrade, and copies were made available
in the U.S. for around $45.00 for a beautiful gold leaf, leather
bound edition. Today my copy is worth over $100.00. The book has
reprints of most of the surviving photos Tesla took of the lab,
it's contents, and some of the experiments performed there.
It should be noted that Tesla was very proud of his U.S.
Citizenship. He spoke five languages fluently, but english was
his mother tongue. All of his patents, articles, and interviews
were conducted in english, and all of his notes were in english.
RT> Just out of curiosity, are you familiar with anything
RT> regarding Tesla's connection with the "project invisibility"
RT> & the U.S.S. Eldridge? Ran across something that connected
RT> him with the project, but everything that I've seen is
RT> vague. An impression was left that he may have had something
RT> to do with the building of the alleged field-generator.
This area would most definately fall under the protection of
National Security interests, and as such would be highly
classified if the project did in fact take place. I have never
seen any concrete proof of this project or Tesla's involvement.
But that does not stop the stories and conspiracy theorys. I have
heard more than a few. I cannot say if any of this is worthy of
believing or not, as I base my information on facts not hearsay.
Nobody to my knowledge has presented verifiable facts on this.
But it is a fact that to this day the U.S. government has a Top
Secret classified archive in Washington D.C. which contains the
bulk of papers Tesla wrote in his later years. Some of these
papers are believed to have orginated from his hotel room, but
the bulk of these papers (many boxes) were removed by the Office
of Alien Affairs from his rented storage room. They were not
turned over to the Yugoslavian government because they were not
considered to be "personal effects". It is my understanding that
these papers concern Tesla's particle beam weapon plans, and more
likely than not the field generator plans if they do exist.
As I have stated, the existence of the archive has been
established, as well as the fact that many unpublished documents
written by Tesla reside there. The exact catalog of documents is
a mystery. It is interesting to note that 50 years after Tesla's
death, the U.S. government still considers these documents to be
of the gravest concern to national security.
Related filings under the Freedom of Information act has revealed
clues on some of these documents. It is a known fact that the
powerhead design for a coil driven particle beam weapon resides
there. This powerhead was a vacuum tube open to the air at one
end. Vacuum was maintained at one end of the tube by using a
vortex of compressed air, so the tube geometries are similar to
an aspirator pump. The tube contained a standard capacitive
discharge rail gun at the low pressure end which produced and
accelerated metal plasma. The main system energy was given to the
plasma from a large Magnifier system (believed) which provided
voltage to further accelerate the plasma to near light speeds
over a very short distance. I have seen reproductions of original
unpublished sketches that Tesla made of this powerhead that were
included with his papers sent to Belgrade, and brought to light
by one of the "pilgrams" returning in the late 1970's. I have no
doubt as to the the authenticity of the information I saw, as
there was a representive of the museum in attendance when the
sketches were viewed and discussed, and the reproduction bore the
identical museum authenticity stamp that my published copy
of the Colorado Springs Notes bears.
Back to your subject of "project invisiblity", I have heard
nothing but rumors. I heard a guy a couple of years back who
claimed to have seen Tesla at White Sands early in the war
working on a classified military project. This story could not be
verified, and the teller offered no proof. Good story though.
... And if all else fails... Put another megavolt through it
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Msg#: 2431 Date: 12-28-93 05:56
From: Patrick Kirol
To: Richard Quick
Subj: Re: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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-=> Quoting Richard Quick to Patrick Kirol <=-
RQ> In case you missed my post yesterday that included
information on the coiling software that you inquired about
earlier here is a brief recap:
RQ> Tesla Book Company, P.O. Box 121873, Chula Vista, CA.
RQ> 91912. They have a 1-800-398-2056 information, catalog, and
RQ> ordering service.
Richard, I received your tape and disk today in the mail,...
WOW that thing packs a wallop! Makes me want to go out and get
to work on building a couple of your caps and getting things
cracking! You could work out the rough edges and turn it into a
"how to" film or maby a "school demonstration" film for
HS/College level physics classes. Have you received any requests
for coils to power other devices, lasers etc.? I realy think you
should package the tape and some instructions into a how to thing
for beginners. I was wondering about the shape/path that the
sparks take esp the ground strikes. Are they in some way an
expression of the way the charge is stacked up on the secondary?
When you run the coil outside does wind have any effect on where
the coil strikes?
I realize from your discussion that my coil lacked so many
things, notably a regulated power input, adequate tank circut,
grounding, dimensions I had about 70 ft #10 coper wire as a
primary, 1500 feet of secondary on a 2.5 inch pipe (that stood
too tall from the primary). I had no way to measure if I was
getting anything off the secondary, the neon lights were a good
idea. I will read through your disk files and try again. Thanks
for your time. My dad would have loved your garage setup. Don't
melt any nails!
Pat Kirol (also on the net Patrick Kirol@lambada.oit.unc.edu)
`
-!- Blue Wave/Max v2.12
! Origin: The Federal Post -{*}- Spring-Lake, NC (1:3634/2)
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Msg#: 1 Date: 28 Dec 93 12:51:00
From: Richard Quick
To: All
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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Well I hope everyone had a happy holiday. I am now recovered
enough to post some more specific info on Magnifier construction
and operation. I have covered some general material on this
revolutionary Tesla coil system, but will now endeavor to throw
out some specific pointers for those of you who have an interest
in this much more efficient RF power processor.
As I have mentioned the Magnifier is a three coil system. The
primary is excited from a Tesla tank circuit, the secondary coil
is inductively coupled to the primary, and the extra coil is top
loaded on the secondary in such a fashion as to be uncoupled
completely from the primary/secondary "driver" coils. The extra
coil is base fed by transmission line, which can be anything from
Litz wire, copper pipe, or heavy DC transmission wire.
The keys to getting an efficient Magnifier setup in operation can
be listed fairly easily: Close coupling between primary and
secondary, good gap quenching, and proper impedances in the
secondary driver and the extra coil.
Coupling in Tesla magnifiers must be tight. Classic style
vertical helix primaries are very practical for use in Magnifier
systems, but heavy insulation between the coils must be used to
prevent flashover. The close coupling reduces somewhat the VSWR
in the driver secondary, and the 1/8th wave output contains
substantially less voltage than a normal 1/4 wave Tesla system,
but the close physical proximity between coils means flashover
will be a problem. Use several layers of polyethylene plastic
around the secondary, and insulate the top primary turns with
heavy vinyl hose. It has come to my attention that tapping the
primary coil from the bottom turns, and heavily insulating the
top turns, reduces flashover. (now gee, why didn't I think of
that?)
Good gap quenching is a must. Because the coupling is so much
tighter in Magnifier systems, more strain is put on the main
system spark gap. If ever there was a need for exotic spark gap
systems this is it. Quench times must be low, low, low, in order
to trap the maximum energy into the secondary driver. An un-
quenched (closed) gap will allow energy in the secondary back
into the primary/tank circuit. This must be prevented. In
Colorado Springs, Tesla used a pair of air blast gaps in series
with a massive rotary. He kept pushing his line frequency higher
(he had a massive, variable speed alternator in the lab),
increased his break rate (up to 50,000 bps) and kept the energy
delivered per pulse down to a minimum. The reason he strove to
keep the energy per break down was to prevent overloading his
gaps. As energy per break (voltage * current) increases, quench
times decrease and efficiency in the Magnifier drop off. The
increase in the number of breaks per second allowed the total
energy processed to climb to unheard of levels, with unheard of
performance and efficiency.
The next key point to building and operating a small to medium
Tesla Magnifier is proper coil impedances in the secondary driver
and extra coil. The extra coil must have a higher impedance than
the secondary driver. The extra coil must be lower in resonate
frequency.
I have mentioned here that the 1/8th harmonic output of the
secondary driver coil matching the natural 1/4 wave resonate
frequency of the extra coil is the most efficient mode of
Magnifier operation. This is true, but don't get bogged down with
it. This system will work and fire (within reasonable limits)
with any extra coil that has a higher impedance and inductance
that the driver secondary. Let me give some tips.
I have found that most high performance 1/4 wave secondary coils
make lousy driver secondary coils in the Tesla Magnifier. The
reason is the impedance and inductance are too high, and the 1/4
wave coil is not designed or constructed to handle high current
outputs. 1/4 wave coils built per my instructions (posted here
several times) are designed to produce excellent 1/4 wave voltage
peaks, not 1/8th wave current. Your best bet is to wind a special
coil for use as a driver. With this in mind what type of coil
design would work best? Well my first decent driver coil was
built for use as a 1/4 wave resonator, but it dropped into the
role of a Magnifier driver without complaint; it had a a nice low
aspect ratio, and it was wound with heavy stranded wire...
A good general purpose Magnifier secondary has a very low aspect
ratio for good tight coupling over the entire winding length (say
about 1.5:1). It is wound with heavy stranded insulated wire (say
#18 or larger) to help carry heavy RF currents with lower losses.
The frequency of the coil should not be too low, say in the area
of 400 kHz for most medium systems.
For the extra coil you want to pack a lot of inductance into a
small unit volume, but not too much. You will end up with an
amazingly short resonating coil if this is done properly. Use a
6" or 8" coil form with an aspect ratio a little over 2:1. For
winding the coil use say #20 -#24 double Formvar magnet wire. The
extra coil must be heavily top loaded with toroid discharger in
order to produce really killer performance, as is the case when
pumping a lot of energy through any magnet wire coil. The
impedance in the bare extra coil must be higher than the driver
coil by some margin, and the frequency of the extra coil should
be brought down around 200 kHz by top loading the coil with
discharger. The impedance of the driver must be low (heavy
stranded wire spaced by insulation) while the impedance of the
extra coil must be high (thin magnet wire, close wound turns)
The tank circuit of the Magnifier must be tuned to the same
frequency as the extra coil with discharger. Set the driver
secondary inside the primary and run a transmission line some 6-
8' to the extra coil. The extra coil must be away from any
field damping effects such as ground, large metal objects, other
coils etc. It must be allowed to resonate as freely as possible.
... And if all else fails... Put another megavolt through it
ŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽ
Msg#: 2 Date: 30 Dec 93 11:08:24
From: Richard Quick
To: Patrick Kirol
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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PK> Richard, I received your tape and disk today in the mail,...
PK> WOW that thing packs a wallop!
Nobody who has seen the video will argue with you. Peak powers of
22 megawatts in a spark discharge look VERY impressive. Nobody
who has sent for the tape has asked for their $10.00 back either.
<grin>
PK> Makes me want to go out and get to work on building a couple
PK> of your caps and getting things cracking!
Go for it!
PK> Have you received any requests for coils to power other
PK> devices, lasers etc.?
Very few people out there believe it can be done, and even fewer
are doing ANY research at all into these areas. One of the
problems with the standard 1/4 wave systems featured on your copy
of the video is that the impedance of the output is too high for
powering lasers etc. directly. However the Tesla Magnifier
circuit offers the means to increase the processing efficiency,
decrease the impedance, and generate still greater peak powers.
This is the direction the research must go.
PK> I realy think you should package the tape and some
PK> instructions into a how to thing for beginners.
I have thought about it, but as of yet have not done anything in
this direction. The tape clearly shows it CAN be done, and I have
been surprised with the number of respondents who built coils but
could not get spark. With the information on the tape, the
archives from this thread, and my availability here to answer
questions, it should be possible to get a foot up into this very
interesting (and neglected) area of RF power processing.
PK> I was wondering about the shape/path that the sparks take
PK> esp the ground strikes. Are they in some way an
PK> expression of the way the charge is stacked up on the
PK> secondary?
I assume you are talking about strikes from the discharge
terminal to the strike rail protecting the primary coil. The
frequency of strikes to the grounded rail was partly my fault.
The toroid discharge terminal needs to be lifted higher off the
secondary as the diameter of the toroid grows. The last few runs
show the coil operating with the toroid at less than optimium
height. Had it been set higher the spark would tend to strike the
ground rail less. The spark is caught up in the field flux
interaction between primary and secondary and is following the
lines of magnetic force in this field. Once they get away from
the field however I assume they are pretty much random, hitting
everything within striking distance, which is at least 11 feet in
this instance.
PK> When you run the coil outside does wind have any effect on
PK> where the coil strikes?
Most definately. Weather conditions outside bear a lot on the
coil performance. Wind will blow sparks all over, and will cause
the system tune to vary. A corona cloud forms around the toroid
as a result of the megavoltages present. With discharge present
you cannot see this with the naked eye or on video, but time
still photography will show the cloud clearly present. The effect
is very pronounced when using small toriods at high power. This
corona cloud affects the system by acting as a larger discharger,
increasing the capacity of the toroid, and lowering the resonate
frequency of the secondary. When wind blows it removes the ions,
and the secondary tune seems to jump up and down with the gusts.
I have had circuit failures that I believe were caused by this
wild, wind induced, frequency changes, but my eyes never saw
anything like the spark writhing around in the wind.
PK> I realize from your discussion that my coil lacked so many
PK> things, notably a regulated power input, adequate tank
PK> circut, grounding, dimensions I had about 70 ft #10 coper
PK> wire as a primary, 1500 feet of secondary on a 2.5 inch pipe
PK> (that stood too tall from the primary). I had no way to
PK> measure if I was getting anything off the secondary, the
PK> neon lights were a good idea. I will read through your disk
PK> files and try again. Thanks for your time. My dad would
PK> have loved your garage setup. Don't melt any nails!
Well it should be pretty clear now, and you have the most up to
date and comprehensive information on 1/4 wave Telsa coils
available anywhere to the best of my knowledge. Take your time
and look over all of the text files I sent, look at the spark gap
schematics, look at the video. I have hidden nothing; it's all
there. If you have any questions or comments just post me, I will
be more than happy to answer.
... And if all else fails... Put another megavolt through it
ŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽ
Msg#: 1 Date: 30 Dec 93 16:41:00
From: Richard Quick
To: All
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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For the beginner:
The best sized coil system for those of you who are interested in
building your first really "hot" Tesla coil is based on a 6"
diameter secondary coil. A coil this size runs very well at 1500
watts and can be driven to 2000 watts without much problem. Spark
lengths of 55-60" can be easily obtained with such a coil.
The parts for a unit like this can typically be accumulated for
around $150.00 as I have posted before. Figure your designing and
construction time will run from 40 to 80 hours depending on the
shop facilities available.
Most people who build a coil do not go on to design and build a
second unit. The reason for this being that the first effort more
often than not fails to work as the designer/builder had hoped,
and the project gets relegated to a dusty corner somewhere.
I lay blame for this on coil plans and designs advertized,
published, or sold in the last 20 years that were based on plans
and designs popularized in the 1920s and 30s. These plans made
use of what I call "classic" coil componets, which includes: long
skinny secondary coils with space wound or insulated wire
windings, plate glass capacitors, solid copper wire primaries,
needle type spark gaps, and small sphere or knob type
dischargers. "Classic" coils of this type are miserable
performers frequently using unsafe tank circuits and grounding
techniques. The prevalence of these coil designs persists to the
present day and are responsible for many a budding coiler to quit
in disgust after getting nothing but a nasty shock or two from
what was advertized as a clean RF spark output from the
secondary. That is if they got even that.
My first coil was a huge effort to build while I was in high
school. The plans for the coil came mail order from a company
that advertized in the back of Popular Science some years back,
and was plagued with every possible design fault I listed above.
I never was able to get a single spark from the discharge
terminal. I thought "performance" Tesla coils were nothing but a
myth, and felt I had been taken in by a dream.
Years later I bought another set of plans, and had similar
results. But I associated myself with a group of people who were
intent on bringing the 1/4 wave Tesla coil and the Tesla
Magnifier out of the pages of history and into current practice.
As a result of many many hours winding coils, building
capacitors, and researching Tesla's original notes, I am happy to
report sucess in bringing the Tesla coil into the 1990s. It is
efficient, inexpensive, and capable of enormous peak powers off
the discharge terminal. The modern design "reinvented" by trial
and error is a very worthwhile project for anyone interested in
high voltage or high energy RF.
Since October I have been posting information and answering
questions regarding coiling, and the modern designs that we have
evolved from Tesla's original work. I have recieved many positive
responses from regulars in this conference regarding my work, and
have done my best to "set the record straight" regarding Nickola
Tesla and his place in history. Much of the information regarding
the coils themselves has appeared in print here for the first
time, and my posts have added up to over 100 pages on this
subject.
So I guess what I am saying is: If you have built a coil, or you
are thinking about building a coil, grab the archives from this
thread. If you can't build a really hot coil system from the
information that has been released here, you never will.
... And if all else fails... Put another megavolt through it
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12
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Msg#: 3 Date: 03 Jan 94 13:31:24
From: Richard Quick
To: Damian Wright
Subj: Re: big magnetic pulse
ŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽ
JA> I'd like some ideas on generating a LARGE magnetic pulse or
JA> field.
DW> This'll create a magnetic pulse, don't know how big though,
DW> it's a Tesla coil, (with lots of copper wire), it's not too
DW> dangerous, it only kicks out about 40000Volts, but at a
DW> pretty low A of course, if you're interested drop me a line
DW> and I'll post the article I read on it up here on this net.
I have been posting on high powered Tesla systems in this
conference for some time.
The Tesla Tank circuit is the pulse field generator. It uses a
spark gap switch to pulse discharge a HV cap through a large
coil. The EMFs produced are incredible as peak powers in this
circuit can easily reach many megawatts. My largest Tesla system
has peak powers of 22+ megawatts and will light florescent bulbs
at 50-60' without any wire connections to the tube. It will erase
bank and credit card magnetic strips at a few yards, and is
lethal to digital circuits (watches, calulators, etc.) at a
similar range.
You do not need a secondary resonating coil (Tesla coil)
inductively coupled to the tank circuit, the tank circuit is
actually more effective alone than when coupled to the secondary
resonator.
I have a two hour video tape that shows the basic setup and
operation of several of these systems. The video has shots
showing gas discharge bulbs lighting at several feet away from
systems that were tuned to produce sparks, not pulse fields.
Modification to a system such as you desire would be very
minimal.
These systems BTW are designed and built for continous duty
operation. Even though the caps are pulse discharged, and the
peak powers are very high, the system produces more or less a
continous field.
... And if all else fails... Put another megavolt through it
ŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽ
Msg#: 4 Date: 03 Jan 94 13:49:37
From: Richard Quick
To: Damian Wright
Subj: Re: big magnetic pulse
ŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽ
JA> I'd like some ideas on generating a LARGE magnetic pulse or
JA> field.
DW> This'll create a magnetic pulse, don't know how big though,
DW> it's a Tesla coil, (with lots of copper wire), it's not too
DW> dangerous, it only kicks out about 40000Volts, but at a
DW> pretty low A of course, if you're interested drop me a line
DW> and I'll post the article I read on it up here on this net.
I'd beg to differ on a point or two.
First you are correct in pointing to Tesla systems as a potent
source of EMFs. The primary coil/tank circuit produce the EM
fields in question.
But the HV producing secondary would not be required, or even
desired, if maximum field strength are all that is wanted. In
addition, the secondary coils are quite capable of producing
voltages in the megavolt range even with coils as small as 6"
diameter and 2' tall. My larger 10" diameter, 32" high secondary
produces between 3-5 megavolts with ease and is capable of 11'
discharges (common) with recorded discharges up to (and even
exceeding) 15' in length.
Low amps? NOT! These bolts come off as thick as the average mans
leg. Running the large system with 10 kVA 60 cycle input I get
peak powers of 22 megawatts average; with an output voltage of 5
megas this works out to over 4 amps current at the discharge
terminal. While this may seem low, the system was designed to
produce a null current 1/4 wave voltage peak on the discharger,
and my figures are all conservative. Should I choose to alter the
design parameters and shoot for a higher current output I see no
reason why lower voltages at currents in excess of 1000 amps
could not be produced.
... And if all else fails... Put another megavolt through it
ŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽ
Msg#: 2581 Date: 01-03-94 13:53
From: Dave Halliday
To: Richard Quick
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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Hi Richard - just got back a couple days ago. Great trip!
Anyway, I'll be starting the actual construction of the capacitors
and the coil in the next week and will keep you posted!
I am going to be near Boeing Surplus tomorrow and if the high-voltage
DC supply with the nice 39 Amp Powerstats is still there I'll
offer 'em a hundred bucks for it and see what happens!
ANyway, I will keep you posted as to what is happening and will
be keeping the tape rolling all throughout the testing process.
TTYL - Dave
-!-
b QMPro 1.51 b Live long and phosphor...
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Msg#: 2577 Date: 01-03-94 13:59
From: Richard Quick
To: Jim Arconati
Subj: big magnetic pulse
ŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽ
JA> I'd like some ideas on generating a LARGE magnetic pulse or
JA> field.
DW> This'll create a magnetic pulse, don't know how big though,
DW> it's a Tesla coil, (with lots of copper wire), it's not too
DW> dangerous, it only kicks out about 40000Volts, but at a
DW> pretty low A of course, if you're interested drop me a line
DW> and I'll post the article I read on it up here on this net.
I have been posting on high powered Tesla systems in this
conference for some time. See the thread: 10KVA Tesla Coil
The Tesla Tank circuit is the pulse field generator. It uses a
spark gap switch to pulse discharge a HV cap through a large
coil. The EMFs produced are incredible as peak powers in this
circuit can easily reach many megawatts. My largest Tesla system
has peak powers of 22+ megawatts and will light florescent bulbs
at 50-60' without any wire connections to the tube. It will erase
bank and credit card magnetic strips at a few yards, and is
lethal to digital circuits (watches, calulators, etc.) at a
similar range.
You do not need a secondary resonating coil (Tesla coil)
inductively coupled to the tank circuit, the tank circuit is
actually more effective alone than when coupled to the secondary
resonator.
I have a two hour video tape that shows the basic setup and
operation of several of these systems. The video has shots
showing gas discharge bulbs lighting at several feet away from
systems that were tuned to produce sparks, not pulse fields.
Modification to a system such as you desire would be very
minimal.
These systems BTW are designed and built for continous duty
operation. Even though the caps are pulse discharged, and the
peak powers are very high, the system produces more or less a
continous field.
... And if all else fails... Put another megavolt through it
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12
ŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽ
Msg#: 2584 Date: 01-03-94 15:39
From: Dave Halliday
To: Jim Arconati
Subj: Big Magnetic Pulse
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JA>I'd like some ideas on generating a LARGE magnetic pulse or field.
>Yeah, I know... "just set off a low-yield nuclear weapon," etc, etc...
JA>Save the bandwidth -- I want practical ideas (or non-nutcase theory)
>on generating strong magnetic fields. How Big? Well how big can
>I make one (without the nuclear device)? What's the strongest magnetic
>field, and/or biggest magnetic pulse I could make without esoteric
>devices (super-cooled superconductors are included in my definition
>of esoteric.)
You can make a really large magnetic field but how large of an
area do you want this field to be in... That is where you get into
hideous amounts of input power.
Your best bet would be to have a large capacitor bank, charge it
up to a couple tens of KV and then use some kind of flash discharge to
connect it to your magnetic coil.
Only problem would be the highly lethal voltage and current - not
something to get into casually.
TTYL - Dave
-!-
b QMPro 1.51 b Multitasking = screwing up several things at once.
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Msg#: 2579 Date: 01-03-94 17:07
From: Richard Quick
To: Dave Halliday
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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Dave,
I saw a post of yours up on the net today and thought I would
drop you a line. How was your vacation?
I am interested is following up on your coiling activities, and
wanted to tell you that another conference regular has received a
copy of my tape and is going to be jumping back into coils after
problems with his first unit (failed to produce the promised
results). I sent him all of my notes, the plans for the spark
gaps and the thread archives. I know with this information he
will get the results he is looking for, but it will probably take
a week for him to read through all of the material I have sent.
On another note I have seen a post from Jim Arconati wanting
information on strong EM field generators. I tried to drop the
hint that the Tesla Tank circuit is the only way to go if you
want maximum peak powers. No other circuit I have seen or worked
with can produce rapid, megawatt range, pulses.
I hope you can find the time to get your cap, coil, and tank
circuit together in the next couple of months. I really am
looking forward to getting some video and/or photos of your work
in the near future.
Good luck, and remember to "Tune for Maximum Smoke!"
... If all else fails... Put another megavolt through it.
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12
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Msg#: 2580 Date: 01-03-94 17:21
From: Richard Quick
To: Damian Wright
Subj: Re: big magnetic pulse
ŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽ
DW> This'll create a magnetic pulse, don't know how big though,
DW> it's a Tesla coil, (with lots of copper wire), it's not too
DW> dangerous, it only kicks out about 40000Volts, but at a
DW> pretty low A of course, if you're interested drop me a line
DW> and I'll post the article I read on it up here on this net.
P.S.
I am interested in seeing the article if it would not be too much
trouble to peck it out. The 10KVA Tesla Coil thread has more than
a few followers who would also appreciate seeing the material.
I will apologize in advance for critiquing the material (and your
reply earlier) but I have seen too much misinformation published
and repeated on this subject. I have built more than a few high
power Tesla systems, and have many many hours of hands on
experience with coils, HV pulse caps, spark excited tank circuits
etc. to let misunderstandings go unchallenged.
If I come on a little strong it is only because I run very high
power equipment and designed and hand built nearly all of it.
... If all else fails... Put another megavolt through it.
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12
ŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽ
Msg#: 2589 Date: 01-03-94 17:31
From: Dave Halliday
To: Richard Quick
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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RQ>Dave,
RQ>I saw a post of yours up on the net today and thought I would
>drop you a line. How was your vacation?
Hi Richard - just got back a few days ago. Vacation was fantastic!
I was on a small ( 150 foot ) cruise ship with 50 passengers, 30
crew and 8 scientists nosing around the islands in the Sea of Cortez
(between Baha and Mexico ) for 12 days.
Seattle's cold and rainy and I wanna go back!!!!! <grin>
RQ>I am interested is following up on your coiling activities, and
>wanted to tell you that another conference regular has received a
>copy of my tape and is going to be jumping back into coils after
>problems with his first unit (failed to produce the promised
>results). I sent him all of my notes, the plans for the spark
Great! It is really reassuring to know that it *can* be done.
Especially since the time I tried in high school, I built the basic
"classic" coil and was not concerned with ground or anything like that.
Got a few inches of wispy discharge that was barely visible in daylight
and the coil got promptly broken down and the 15KV neon sign xformer
got turned into a jacobs ladder for a local coffee house I was
working in at the time.
I left you another note mentioning that I will be starting up some
serious coil building in the next couple weeks. I still need to make
the capacitors and to wind the secondary and build the support for the
primary. I will be calling local plastics places to find the best price
on the polyethylene and some plexi scraps.
I have some 3/4" bronze rod in my boat junk drawer and I'll turn the
transformer protection gap out of that. I was wondering about some of
the magnetically quenched gaps and was thinking of experimenting with
embedding some cobalt-samarium magnets just under the gap faces.
Maybe later...
Anyway, needless to say, I will be keeping the tape rolling during the
smoke test. My neighbors already think I am weird, this will cinch it.
RQ>On another note I have seen a post from Jim Arconati wanting
>information on strong EM field generators. I tried to drop the
>hint that the Tesla Tank circuit is the only way to go if you
>want maximum peak powers. No other circuit I have seen or worked
>with can produce rapid, megawatt range, pulses.
I did see someone asking about creating EMP, forgot the name but I
replied mentioning using a capacitor and inductor triggered by a spark
gap. I didn't know if they were just into individual pulses or a
continuous oscillation. I'll keep an eye out.
RQ>I hope you can find the time to get your cap, coil, and tank
>circuit together in the next couple of months. I really am
>looking forward to getting some video and/or photos of your work
>in the near future.
I am looking at about two months max to have everything working. My
garage ( shop area ) is at the bottom of a driveway and I was thinking
of just sinking a couple 10' sections of copper water pipe for the
ground. I have a rotohammer and can punch through the cement drive. I
was thinking of putting a valve on one end and running water through it
while I was driving it into the ground. Should make it a bit easier.
Also, I forgot if I had mentioned it but I picked up about 40' of really
heavy 1" copper braid at Boeing Surplus as well as a big spool of #22
stranded teflon insulated wire. The wire is kind of fat - 25 turns /
inch but it should be wonderful for a larger coil and also a magnifier.
The total cost for both plus some office litter was under $60 -
definitely a good deal!
RQ>Good luck, and remember to "Tune for Maximum Smoke!"
Thanks! and I will keep you posted! TTYL - Dave
-!-
b QMPro 1.51 b We have enough scientists; we need more hunchbacks, Igor.
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Msg#: 2590 Date: 01-03-94 17:37
From: Dave Halliday
To: Jim Arconati
Subj: big magnetic pulse
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RQ> JA> I'd like some ideas on generating a LARGE magnetic pulse or
> JA> field.
RQ>The Tesla Tank circuit is the pulse field generator. It uses a
>spark gap switch to pulse discharge a HV cap through a large
>coil. The EMFs produced are incredible as peak powers in this
>circuit can easily reach many megawatts. My largest Tesla system
RQ>I have a two hour video tape that shows the basic setup and
>operation of several of these systems. The video has shots
>showing gas discharge bulbs lighting at several feet away from
>systems that were tuned to produce sparks, not pulse fields.
>Modification to a system such as you desire would be very
>minimal.
Hi Jim - butting in here. I have been in correspondence with
Richard for some time and I sent away for his tape. It is fantastic!
Also, from your initial post, I thought that you wanted just a single
pulse and not a continuous field. That is why I suggested what is
essentially just a single shot tesla primary.
If you can use a continuous field, then a straight Tesla Coil setup is
definitely the way to go!
Check with your local BBS to see back postings of the Tesla
thread.
Good luck! Dave
-!-
b QMPro 1.51 b The Electric Chair and the Clapper Switch. A
great combo
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Msg#: 1 Date: 04 Jan 94 16:55:00
From: Richard Quick
To: Jim Arconati
Subj: BIG magnetic pulse
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Okay Jim, here we go:
You set up your huge bank of HV pulse discharging capacitors and
charge them from a heavily protected HVDC power supply. The caps
are discharged through a coil of any desired dimension.
The pulse is switched and controlled by placing two quenched
spark gaps in series with the inductance. By adjusting the gaps
you will be able to achieve a non-oscillating pulse through the
coil.
Since the pulse is not oscillatory, your capacitance may be as
large as you desire without having to worry about frequency
changes (or power limits) as the circuit is scaled up or down
according to needs. This means that the pulse can become
extremely powerful as the capacitor bank value can be increased
virtually without limit.
The key to successful operation of this circuit are the quenched
spark gaps used in series with the inductance. They must quench
extremely fast at very high power and they must be very high Q to
produce a nice sharp pulse.
This type experiment is something I have never exactally
performed intentionally, but my Tesla work parallels these
circuit designs very very closely. As I have mentioned, a slight
modification to any of my present tank circuits would result with
a spark excited EMP generator of exceptional power.
If you are really serious in exploring this further I can offer
specific help. I have designs on file (GIF) for a very high Q,
air blast (quenching) spark gap designed for these high powers.
I also have several files concerning the HV pulse discharging
capacitors. I have archived the 10KVA Tesla Coil thread since
10/5/93 and the file contains over 100 pages of posts with
specific and related information on these type systems and sub-
systems.
If you are interested in obtaining these text and GIF files send
me a 3.5, 1.44 blank formatted disk and a SASE and I will send
those to you post haste; there is no charge for the information.
The video tape is also recommended for those interested in very
high power spark gap oscillators, it details things like: HV
power supplies, control circuitry, HV RF choking and 60 cycle
filters for the power supply and control circuits, spark gaps,
coils, Jacob's Ladder (20 kv @ 8 kVA), etc.. The tape shows
everything in operation, complete with the monster discharges
from my big coil. I charge $10.00 for a 2 hr SP recorded one-off
master. You must send me a blank (high quality) VHS tape, and a
self addressed first class postage pre-paid mailer. I mail the
tapes out within 48 hours from receipt of your package and I will
guarantee you will be glued to the TV for the entire tape.
Every time I offer this tape I must make the following
disclaimer: I cannot be responsible for the safety of anyone who
replicates or attempts to replicate any of the systems or
experiments featured on my video. The tape features nothing but
high voltage, high energy systems any of which are quite capable
of killing a person instantly or damaging valuable equipment.
My address is: Richard T. Quick II
10028 Manchester Rd.
Suite 253
Glendale, MO 63122
USA
I am available in this conference to answer any questions or
comments you may have regarding the contents of the video should
you choose to pop for a copy but the thread archives offer
detailed text explainations for much of the contents of the video
as I have already sent out several tapes to some of the regulars
here. I have had no complaints regarding the quality of the
presentation.
Good luck, and as always...
... If all else fails... Put another megavolt through it.
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Msg#: 2736 Date: 01-05-94 09:58
From: Robert Taylor
To: Richard Quick
Subj: Re: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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-=> Quoting Richard Quick to Robert Taylor <=-
RQ> When serious research is done with any Tesla patented system or
RQ> device it becomes all too clear that Telsa's world was based on
RQ> well thought out and workable systems.
Bingo! Couldn't have put it better myself. The guy was definately a
genius & at least 100 years before his time. The shame is that most
people don't remember him for much past polyphase AC, high freq
transmission, & synchronous motors when there was a ton of useful
stuff beyond that.
Later...
... ...and in a strange turn of events, the cat was electrocuted.
-!- Blue Wave/Max v2.12 [NR]
! Origin: BLUFF CITY BBS - Under OS/2 - Memphis, TN (901) 763-3784
(1:123/70)
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Msg#: 2675 Date: 01-05-94 10:57
From: Dave Halliday
To: Richard Quick
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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RQ>Hey Dave!
RQ>Glad to have you back, and glad you had a good vacation. I wonder
>how you fanangled such a trip???
I finagled it the old fashioned way, called up the tour agent and
charged it. <grin> I like to get as far away from the telephone at
least once a year wether I need it or not. Keeps me sane ( relatively )
RQ>Good Luck at Boeing with getting the heavy variacs, sounds like
RQ>You made some good choices on picking up the heavy 1" strap and
>teflon wire. Building up supplies took me months before I got to
>the point that I did not have to run out every 15 min. looking
>for such and such as I expanded my coiling.
I will be going to Boeing today ( office person was also out of town and
her plane did not get in on time yesterday ) They have a really funny
pricing on stuff, some things are absurdly low, other things are way
over what they should be. The good thing is that if you catch someone in
a good mood, they will be open to any offer just to move the item. I am
keeping my fingers crossed on this one!
Also, re: running out every 15 minutes... I know that feeling.
I get to the point where I think that I have a good parts collection and
then my next project needs something that I never even heard of...
My basement is getting to the point where space *is* the final
frontier... <grin>
RQ>Your ground idea sounds great. Space the pipes about 5' min
>distance apart and wire them together with the 1" strap using
>soldered connections. Water pumped into the pipes is an excellent
OK - the garage is in the basement and the driveway slopes down to it.
It is only 12 feet wide, I was thinking of spacing them closer than
that. Another idea is that since the garage is on one edge of the
house, I could just run pipes along that edge and bring the strap in
through a window. My power panel is also in the garage so I could use
it for the house ground as well...
>idea. If you are going through the effort of pressure water
>injection into the ground site go a step further and drill a few
>small holes into the pipe sidewalls and get as much surface area
>wet as possible. Salt added to the water (or poured into the pipe
Very good idea! Seattle is kinda wet most of the time but we do have a
couple weeks in the summer when it gets dry. You can see the locals
running around with spray bottles misting down the mildew and moss on
the houses... <grin>
>before it is pressurized) will increase the local conductivity
The salt is also a really good idea! I could pack the pipes with sea
salt or make an "injector" out of some large diameter PVC with a hose
fitting on each end. I have a nice garden ( yet another #$%^&* hobby )
but that edge of the house is nowhere near it so there would not be any
damage to plants.
>and improve your ground. A larger pipe or tin can may be set
>around the grounding pipe where it enters the earth and may be
>filled with water to trickle down around the ground. Use your
>imagination.
Just thinking that there is a gutter runoff is on that side too - divert
the water from that...
RQ>Constructing a good ground is very hard work, but essential to
>performance coiling. You are wise to choose this often neglected
It does make sense - I was into ham radio a while ago and know a little
bit about antennas and can appreciate what a good ground plane can do.
I shudder to see some boats with fiberglass superstructures and see that
people have mounted ground-plane whip antennas on them and they then
gripe about how poor their radio is, can't get a good signal out of
it... Also cars where the antenna is mounted on one corner of the
roof - nice omnidirectional radiation pattern there... <grin>
>area as your starting point, and your neighbors will be thankful
>(it really does limit the RFI). Nothing ruins a guys day like the
>neighbors showing up at the door with torches in their hands
> a la Frankenstein...
Actually, considering the neighborhood, that's a fun image! The area I
am in was built in the 50's and has a lot of the original owners in
there. I can see my next door neighbors in particular. They are really
good people but the guy retired about 20 years ago ( Boeing engineer )
and does not have any real hobbies except snooping into what I am doing.
I'll have the garage door open and be working on something and he will
totter over and talk for a long time, grousing about the state of the
world in general.
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Msg#: 2679 Date: 01-05-94 16:40
From: Dave Halliday
To: Richard Quick
Subj: Tesla goodies
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Hi Richard - just got back from Boeing Surplus. I took a good look at
the high voltage supply. Made by HiPot, rated for 60KV at about 100-200
milliamps. It would have been really nice to get but it was *huge*.
The main transformer tank stands about four feet tall and then there is
the control unit, an eight foot tall enclosed rack.
But the good news is that I also saw a triple-gang, motorized 50 Amp
Powerstat unit there, priced at $300. I offered $100 and we settled on
$150. Since it is motor controlled, I will just put it right near my
main breaker panel and then run a conduit out to where I will be running
the coil. This will be really nice too in that my control box can be
smaller. For safeties sake, I will probably have a relay to disconnect
the Powerstat and have a pushbutton switch on it that needs to be pushed
every time I want to fire the coil. That way, if I have a small
hand-held control box, I will not have the chance of it firing up
accidentally.
Also, going through the back mail from when I was away, I got the
January issue of the TCBA News and my membership certificate. Looks
really well written, I will send away for some back issues.
I will keep you posted - Dave
-!-
b QMPro 1.51 b Wench: What you use to turn the head of a dolt...
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Msg#: 2680 Date: 01-05-94 17:25
From: Dave Halliday
To: Richard Quick
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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RQ>We are talking about placement and construction of a heavy RF
>ground using two 10' lengths of copper water pipe...
RQ> DH> OK - the garage is in the basement and the driveway slopes
> DH> down to it. It is only 12 feet wide, I was thinking of
> DH> spacing them closer than that <5' apart>.
RQ>Your ground will have lower resistance to heavy RF current
>(higher Q) if you space the pipes out about half of their length.
>If the placement does not allow separation you are better off
>just using one pipe. The reason for this is closely placed
>grounding points will effectively act as a single point. The more
>you space, the bigger the electrical ground produced.
OK - got that. Thanks for the info. I will probably put the ground on
the outside wall of the house alongside where the garage is. There is
a
property line there so I have a good long run to play with. I will need
to get some more of that braiding but Boeing seems to always have a lot
of it on hand. They charge $1.50 / pound.
RQ> DH> My power panel is also in the garage so I could use
> DH> it for the house ground as well...
RQ>Don't make permanent connections from the coil (RF) ground to the
>house ground. This will allow RF bleedover and RFI problems. You
>may make connections here when coils are not being fired, but
>keep the control cabinet and the house ground at lower potential
>than the RF ground. In other words when the RF ground is in use
>grounding a coil it is "powered up" and full of RF current and
>hash (RFI). If you connect your power cabinet to it then RF will
>bleed into the house through the power cabinet 60 cycle ground
>connection. Isolate the RF ground from other equipment.
Got it! That makes a lot of sense - even though there is a good ground,
there is still a *lot* of current flowing into it and there could be
some problems with bleedover.
Nothing like being able to draw a three foot long arc from my
refrigerator. It would be a great hit at parties...
I will just keep the electrical panel just as it is and make the Tesla
ground completely separate. I am also thinking of this summer, renting
a generator and setting up a coil at the pier near Lake Washington and
using a couple foot square aluminum sheet in the lake for the ground.
The park I live by is used a lot for picnickers and such so it might get
a bit of attention... A Seattle man was arrested today for... <grin>
TTYL for now - Dave
-!-
b QMPro 1.51 b Proofread carefully to see if you any words out.
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Msg#: 2678 Date: 01-05-94 17:29
From: Richard Quick
To: Dave Halliday
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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We are talking about placement and construction of a heavy RF
ground using two 10' lengths of copper water pipe...
DH> OK - the garage is in the basement and the driveway slopes
DH> down to it. It is only 12 feet wide, I was thinking of
DH> spacing them closer than that <5' apart>.
Your ground will have lower resistance to heavy RF current
(higher Q) if you space the pipes out about half of their length.
If the placement does not allow separation you are better off
just using one pipe. The reason for this is closely placed
grounding points will effectively act as a single point. The more
you space, the bigger the electrical ground produced.
DH> My power panel is also in the garage so I could use
DH> it for the house ground as well...
Don't make permanent connections from the coil (RF) ground to the
house ground. This will allow RF bleedover and RFI problems. You
may make connections here when coils are not being fired, but
keep the control cabinet and the house ground at lower potential
than the RF ground. In other words when the RF ground is in use
grounding a coil it is "powered up" and full of RF current and
hash (RFI). If you connect your power cabinet to it then RF will
bleed into the house through the power cabinet 60 cycle ground
connection. Isolate the RF ground from other equipment.
... And if all else fails... Put another megavolt through it
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12
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Msg#: 1 Date: 06 Jan 94 12:34:30
From: Richard Quick
To: Dave Halliday
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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DH> But the good news is that I also saw a triple-gang,
DH> motorized 50 Amp Powerstat unit there, priced at $300. I
DH> offered $100 and we settled on $150. Since it is motor
DH> controlled, I will just put it right near my main breaker
DH> panel and then run a conduit out to where I will be
DH> running the coil. This will be really nice too in that my
DH> control box can be smaller. For safeties sake, I will
DH> probably have a relay to disconnect the Powerstat and have a
DH> pushbutton switch on it that needs to be pushed every time I
DH> want to fire the coil. That way, if I have a small hand-
DH> held control box, I will not have the chance of it firing up
DH> accidentally.
Your looking good. You should have no problems with current
overload with these units even running a pole pig. Powerstats are
commercial cont. duty rated and will handle a run at twice the
plate rating for 5 min. or more before they warm up. If required
you can use a cooling fan for real high current experiments. Good
job on hunting down the right componet for the job.
Power relay safety interlocks are a very very good idea. I run
two in my power cabinet, one before the variac and one after the
variac. The first power relay interlock is tripped by key switch
to prevent unauthorized powerup of the cabinet, the second
interlock is switched with a toggle (cont. operation) and push
button (manual pulse operation). Be sure to ground the variacs to
the breaker box with #6 copper min. and to the water pipe with
some more of that 1" strap. I use a separate 240 v breaker box
with plug-in replaceable breakers (60 amps currently) on the feed
to my cabinet/variacs.
DH> Also, going through the back mail from when I was away, I
DH> got the January issue of the TCBA News and my membership
DH> certificate. Looks really well written, I will send away
DH> for some back issues.
Collecting back issues of the news is a good idea. I have issues
dating back to 1988 and pop for another years worth of back
issues every time I renew. I have seen some dynamite articles (I
have been published here as well) and some really excellent coil
projects... One issue had a guy's coil powered by a 455 Olds
engine running a three phase 480 volt generator. The coil design
was unfortunately "classic" in origin though modern construction
and materials were used, but the article published the complete
schematic for the generator/control circuits. You will find some
really interesting stuff here.
Back on that ground for just a second. Make sure the pipes are
driven in away from basement foundation walls by at least 5'.
If you are putting the pipe in near a garage (built on a slab
with no basement foundation) it will be no problem to place
ground pipe right near the structure. The reason for this of
course is that a basement foundation wall only contacts earth on
one side, and grounding rod or pipe driven here will only conduct
180 degrees of a circle instead of all 360.
Keep up the good work!
... And if all else fails... Put another megavolt through it
ŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽ
Msg#: 2712 Date: 01-06-94 15:37
From: Dave Halliday
To: Richard Quick
Subj: tesla stuff...
ŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽ
Hi Richard - I was wondering if you had Walt Noon's address. You had
mentioned that he had a design program and I just saw that the Tesla
Bookstore in Chula Vista, CA carries it.
I would rather get it directly from him because he probably wholesales
it to the bookstore and I would rather have him get the money.
I got the PowerStat temporarily hooked up and it runs fine! The
motor takes about 30 seconds to go from one end to the other. I didn't
really throw a load on it, just a 500 watt quartz-halide floodlamp but
it seems to be in like-new condition.
Thanks again for all the info - I will be keeping you posted - Dave
-!-
b QMPro 1.51 b Bureaucrats are the meat loaf of humanity.
ŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽ
Msg#: 2713 Date: 01-06-94 15:47
From: Dave Halliday
To: Richard Quick
Subj: tesla
ŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽ
Hi Richard - forgot to mention in the last message but I just realized
that two days from now we will have the 50th anniversary of Tesla's
death. ( 7 Jan 1943 )
Maybe coilers around the world should power up for a minute in
commemoration...
Dave
-!-
b QMPro 1.51 b In New Guinea: cargo cults. In the U.S.: vaporware.
ŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽ
Msg#: 2714 Date: 01-06-94 17:47
From: Dave Halliday
To: Richard Quick
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
ŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽ
RQ> DH> But the good news is that I also saw a triple-gang,
> DH> motorized 50 Amp Powerstat unit there, priced at $300. I
> DH> offered $100 and we settled on $150. Since it is motor
RQ>Your looking good. You should have no problems with current
>overload with these units even running a pole pig. Powerstats are
>commercial cont. duty rated and will handle a run at twice the
>plate rating for 5 min. or more before they warm up. If required
>you can use a cooling fan for real high current experiments. Good
>job on hunting down the right componet for the job.
I kinda figured they would do the trick when I saw them. I'll have to
include a shot of them when I send you the video. They are *huge*
The whole assembly must weigh at least 250 pounds!
RQ>Power relay safety interlocks are a very very good idea. I run
>two in my power cabinet, one before the variac and one after the
>variac. The first power relay interlock is tripped by key switch
>to prevent unauthorized powerup of the cabinet, the second
>interlock is switched with a toggle (cont. operation) and push
I think so too. I have had some near misses because I *knew* that
everything was turned off and safe... I am very cautious. When
changing the blade on my table saw, I will un-plug it from the wall and
drape the cord over the saw table so I can look at it while changing the
blade... There is no one else at the house ( except for two shepherds )
but something could fall on the switch or I could trip and put a hand
out on the wrong thing...
The key switch is one idea I hadn't thought of and the idea has just
been swiped! <grin> I can imagine my leaving the garage door open some
day and having a neighborhood kid walk in out of curiosity...
The idea with the relay was that whenever the coil was powered down, the
relay would drop out and I would have to walk over to the PowerStat and
hit a button to reset it. That way, if I have a hand-held remote, there
would be no way I could fire it from the remote without first engaging
the relay. The same relay would also be connected to the kill button on
the remote.
I have also been thinking that since I use the little five-amp Variac on
my test bench at the store but I do most of my home-brew electronics at
the house, I could also run a line from the PowerStat to my workbench
for testing electronics stuff. Kill two birds with one stone - blow
things up with the coil and then fix them on the bench... <grin>
>button (manual pulse operation). Be sure to ground the variacs to
>the breaker box with #6 copper min. and to the water pipe with
>some more of that 1" strap. I use a separate 240 v breaker box
>with plug-in replaceable breakers (60 amps currently) on the feed
>to my cabinet/variacs.
Yeah - I was thinking of putting a 60 amp breaker in the main box, then
coming off of that to a smaller box ( maybe with a couple of 60 amp
fast-blow fuses ) and using that box to connect to the PowerStat.
I would then have a commercial ( Industrial grade ) electronics box
conduited to it holding the relays and the control electronics. I was
also thinking of picking up two current shunts so I could instrument the
puppy a bit.
RQ> DH> Also, going through the back mail from when I was away, I
> DH> got the January issue of the TCBA News and my membership
RQ>Collecting back issues of the news is a good idea. I have issues
>dating back to 1988 and pop for another years worth of back
>issues every time I renew. I have seen some dynamite articles (I
>have been published here as well) and some really excellent coil
I noticed that the quality of writing was really good. Much better than
Boarderlands or any of the "fringe" types. Actual legible circuit
diagrams... Stuff like that... <grin>
>projects... One issue had a guy's coil powered by a 455 Olds
>engine running a three phase 480 volt generator. The coil design
>was unfortunately "classic" in origin though modern construction
>and materials were used, but the article published the complete
>schematic for the generator/control circuits. You will find some
>really interesting stuff here.
That would be something to see!
RQ>Back on that ground for just a second. Make sure the pipes are
>driven in away from basement foundation walls by at least 5'.
>If you are putting the pipe in near a garage (built on a slab
>with no basement foundation) it will be no problem to place
>ground pipe right near the structure. The reason for this of
>course is that a basement foundation wall only contacts earth on
>one side, and grounding rod or pipe driven here will only conduct
>180 degrees of a circle instead of all 360.
I was thinking of that. My initial plan was to run them down the side
of the house but taking a walk out there made me realize that I would be
loosing half of the ground. The property line is about 8 feet away so
I
will run it there. That particular line is the one I share with my
grumpy neighbor so it should be a fun time putting them in.
Your'e doing what??? For *what*??? What's a "Tesla Coil" anyway???
RQ>Keep up the good work!
Thanks for the info/advice/help!
TTYL - Dave
-!-
b QMPro 1.51 b <<< Tagline deleted by Natl Endowment for the Arts >>>
ŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽ
Msg#: 1 Date: 06 Jan 94 22:14:20
From: Richard Quick
To: Dave Halliday
Subj: tesla stuff...
ŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽ
DH> Hi Richard - I was wondering if you had Walt Noon's address.
DH> You had mentioned that he had a design program and I just
DH> saw that the Tesla Bookstore in Chula Vista, CA carries it.
Walt and I are good friends. I have helped him debug, add
features, and made other suggestions that he incorporated into
the software. It works.
Please do write to him and let him know I am recommending his
software in the conference. I owe him a letter still, so send my
regards and tell him the halloween photos were appreciated.
Walt Noon III
3283 Belvedere
Riverside, CA. 92507
DH> I got the PowerStat temporarily hooked up and it runs fine!
DH> it seems to be in like-new condition.
Cool dude, you be entering the world of high voltage soon.
-!-
... And if all else fails... Put another megavolt through it
ŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽ
Msg#: 2 Date: 06 Jan 94 22:20:57
From: Richard Quick
To: Robert Taylor
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
ŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽ
-=> Quoting Richard Quick to Robert Taylor <=-
RQ> When serious research is done with any Tesla patented system
RQ> or device it becomes all too clear that Telsa's world was
RQ> based on well thought out and workable systems.
RT> Bingo! Couldn't have put it better myself. The guy was
RT> definately a genius & at least 100 years before his time.
RT> The shame is that most people don't remember him for much
RT> past polyphase AC, high freq transmission, & synchronous
RT> motors when there was a ton of useful stuff beyond that.
RT> Later...
The shame is that most people don't remember Tesla at all :-(
-!-
... And if all else fails... Put another megavolt through it
ŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽ
Msg#: 3 Date: 06 Jan 94 22:32:13
From: Richard Quick
To: Dave Halliday
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
ŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽ
Just read your other posts. The ground seems to be well planned
and thought out. Go with it, it will work great and will be
expandable when you go to put a bigger coil on it.
Your safety and protection system ideas sound level headed, and
should work fine. Just don't forget to wire them in for those
first few test runs.
The aniversity of Tesla's death should be celebrated with
everyone switching off the electrical mains into their houses,
then maybe people would begin to appreciate what he gave to
mankind....
That HE was the one that brought power to the world!!!
-!-
... If all else fails... Put another megavolt through it.
======================================================================
=====
Date: 07-01-94 (11:18) Number: 2504
From: DAVE HALLIDAY Refer#: NONE
To: RICHARD QUICK Recvd: NO
Subj: 10KVA TESLA COIL Conf: (218) Electronic
----------------------------------------------------------------------
-----
RQ>Just read your other posts. The ground seems to be well planned
>and thought out. Go with it, it will work great and will be
>expandable when you go to put a bigger coil on it.
I was a ham for a while and also worked on some FM stations when I was
in college and I can appreciate the value of a good ground. I am also
into overbuilding anything that I can get my hands on. Takes more time
at the beginning but it never breaks later...
RQ>Your safety and protection system ideas sound level headed, and
>should work fine. Just don't forget to wire them in for those
>first few test runs.
This is a very astute comment. Patience has never been one of my
virtues and I have to force myself to complete some of the things I work
on instead of just running with them when they get to a certain level...
Rest assured though that I fully appreciate the dangers of the high
voltages involved here... I have been "bit" a few times with tube
equipment and have no desire for that to happen again!
RQ>The aniversity of Tesla's death should be celebrated with
>everyone switching off the electrical mains into their houses,
>then maybe people would begin to appreciate what he gave to
>mankind....
RQ> That HE was the one that brought power to the world!!!
This is so true! That would be something to do - turn off the main
breaker for ten minutes. The more and more I read about his work, the
more I realize just how much everyone *else* derived from his ideas!
Anyway, TTYL - Dave
b QMPro 1.51 b Hey, don't pick up that dogW‚.™ … D NO TERRIER
--- WM v3.10/93-0100
* Origin: St. Louis Users Group BBS (314) 878-7614 (1:100/4.0)
(1:100/4)
======================================================================
=====
BBS: WELCOM BBS
Date: 21-02-94 (10:57) Number: 3295
From: RICHARD QUICK Refer#: NONE
To: BRIAN CARLING Recvd: NO
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil Conf: (111) ELECTRONIC
----------------------------------------------------------------------
-----
L1 T1
뀎Ž‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹ŽŽŽŽ‚
£‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹ŽŽŽŽŽ¨
3 L2 3
3 3
G1 O 3
O 3
3 C1 3
~AŽŽŽŽŽŽ' ~AŽŽŽŽŽŽŽ'
3 3
3 3
3 3
…‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹—
X1 ¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡ŽŽŽŽŽë
£ŽŽŽŽ‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹ŽŽŽŽ¨
3 3
3 3
60 Hz Line In
L1 = Tesla secondary coil.
T1 = Discharge Terminal
L2 = Tank Circuit Primary Coil
G1 = Tank Circuit Spark Gap
C1 = High Voltage, Pulse Discharging Capacitor
X1 = High Voltage Step Up Transformer
Power to drive the circuit is normally 60 Cycle 120/240 fed to a
step up transformer (Neon sign, potential, power distribution, or
plate type). The step up xfrmr charges capacitor C1 in the Tank
Circuit. When C1 is fully charged, the voltage breaks down the
air at the main system sparkgap <G1>, which sets the Tank Circuit
into a high frequency oscillation. The specific frequency of
oscillation is determined by the value of C1, and the inductance
(# of turns) in the primary coil L2.
L1 is grounded at the base, as is the case and core of X1.
L1 is fitted with a conductive discharge terminal on the
ungrounded (air) end of the coil.
This is among the simplest circuits that Tesla patented, and is a
good start for a beginner. A typical Tesla secondary in this
circuit (L1) may be constructed by close winding about 1500 feet
of #22 double Formvar coated magnet wire on a 6" diameter section
of dried PVC thin wall drain pipe that has been well sealed with
polyurethane or two part epoxy paint. The coil should be around
24" high (no more than 30") and tightly, evenly wound with a
single layer of wire. Leave about an inch of coil form above and
below the windings. The coil is capped top and bottom with 1/4"
plexiglas plates glued on with expoy. No holes are drilled into
the sides of the PVC coil form. Once the coil is wound, it is
again sealed with polyurethane or two part epoxy paint to prevent
breakdown.
L2, the Primary Coil, is wound from 60-75 feet of 3/8" OD soft
copper water pipe or refrigerator tubing. Wind the coil in a
flat, pancake, spiral on some plastic insulating supports. The
inside turn should be about 9-10 inches in diameter, with turns
spaced about 1/4" apart. The finished coil should be about as
wide as coil L1 is long, or a little wider.
C1 has typical values around .009 - .02 uf (microfarads) with a
voltage rating between 10 - 20 killovolts AC. For best
performance the capacitor should be pulse rated for rapid
discharge.
T1 is the secondary coil discharger. A beginner might throw a 4-5
inch diameter spherical aluminum flag pole top on the coil for a
discharger. A Toriod (donut shaped) discharger will give higher
breakdown voltages, and longer sparks.
G1 is the main system spark gap. Two solid brass utility door
knobs from the hardware section at Walmart may be mounted on an
insulating support. With the smooth knobs facing one another, and
at least one knob made movable for adjustment, they will serve
well for low power coiling for a beginner.
X1 for most beginners is the common Neon Sign xfrmr. The higher
voltage units are best, but you must not exceed the voltage
rating of your capacitor C1. To increase the current to charge
the capacitor you may run several neon sign xfrmrs in parallel.
... And if all else fails... Put another megavolt through it
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12
--- WM v3.10/93-0100
* Origin: St. Louis Users Group BBS (314) 878-7614 (1:100/4.0)
(1:100/4)
======================================================================
=====
BBS: WELCOM BBS
Date: 27-04-94 (20:00) Number: 5940
From: RICHARD QUICK Refer#: NONE
To: DAVE HALLIDAY Recvd: NO
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil Conf: (111) ELECTRONIC
----------------------------------------------------------------------
-----
Dave,
I thought I would take a minute to cover some aspects of RF
choking on the feed lines to the Tesla Tank circuit. I will refer
you to vol. 13, #2, page 6 of the Tesla Coil Builders Association
publication NEWS for a start. Since others will be reading this,
and will not have access to this publication, I will reproduce
the circuit diagram below.
PC1 X1 RFC 1A RFC 2A
ŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽƒŽŽŽŽŽŽ¨§£ŽŽŽŽŽŽ‹‹‹‹‹ŽŽŽƒŽŽŽŽ‹‹‹‹‹ŽŽŽ> TO TESLA TANK
Ž Ž )§( 3
ŽƒŽ )§( 3
3 )§( O
.€ŽŽŽ' )§( .€ŽŽŽŽo SAFETY GAP
3 )§( O
Ž Ž )§( 3
ŽƒŽ )§( 3
ŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽ ŽŽŽŽŽŽ—§…ŽŽŽŽŽŽUUUUUŽŽŽ ŽŽŽŽŽUUUUUŽŽŽ> TO TESLA TANK
PC2 RFC 1B RFC 2B
"Radio Frequency Chokes RFC 1A and 1B are wound with about 70
turns on a 1" cylinder (PVC, plastic, etc.). RFC 2A and 2B are
wound with around 20 turns on a similar form. The size of the
wire is not critical as long as the wire is capable of carrying
the rated current."
"Protective Capacitors PC1 and PC2 are not critical and can be
rated in the vicinity of .5 to 2 microfarads. Use a voltage
rating as high as possible. The usual 400-600 volt capacitors
will not withstand kickbacks for very long. I prefer capacitors
with ratings of from 2500 to 5000 (or higher) volts"
The above is quoted from the article, X1 is of course the high
voltage step up transformer that supplies the Tesla Tank. I will
note that this circuit is the bare minimum protection required,
and that this is only adequate for small (6") coils running under
1.5 KVA.
Even the author, Harry Goldman, admits that this RF protection
circuit does not eliminate, but only reduces the RF and kickback
problem. Note his statement that the low voltage line PC
(Protective Capacitors) capacitors (PC1 & PC2) need a rating of
2500 volts or higher. These capacitors are across the 120 or 240
volt 60 cycle line!!!! Imagine what voltage spikes are appearing
in the house or shop supply line if 400-600 protective capacitors
are routinely failing. Obviously the problem needs some more
attention.
Please note the modifications to the above circuit in my
recommended circuit below.
£------¨
| | X1 RFC 1A
ŽŽ|ŽŽŽŽŽŽ|ŽŽŽŽŽ¨§£ŽŽŽŽŽŽƒŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽƒŽŽŽŽ‹‹‹‹‹ŽŽŽ> TO TESLA TANK
| | )§( 3 3
| | )§( 3 3
| | )§( BC1 Ž Ž O
| LF1 ~AŽ. )§( ŽƒŽ oŽŽ. SAFETY GAP
| | )§( 3 O
| | )§( 3 3
| | )§( 3 3
ŽŽ|ŽŽŽŽŽŽ|ŽŽŽŽŽ—§…ŽŽŽŽŽŽ ŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽ ŽŽŽŽŽUUUUUŽŽŽ> TO TESLA TANK
| | 3 RFC 1B
…------— ¡‹¡
grnd
LF1 is a commercial heavy duty line filter wired in reverse.
Where current throughputs are high I use several in parallel.
Quality commercial line filters employ iron powder chokes, as
well as the "PC" capacitors of the circuit at the top of this
post. The Line Filters I use also have RF choke coils in the
ground path; the ground wire can be run reversed (it is neutral)
and can be used to trap stray RF, preventing ground path
contamination to the 60 cycle breaker box. I should note that I
use a minimum of two independent grounds. The core of X1, and
everything to the right of X1 in this diagram, is grounded
separately to a heavy, dedicated, RF ground. This heavy RF ground
is also used to ground the base of the Tesla secondary.
Note that the core of X1 is grounded in this diagram, where the
top diagram shows the core floating ungrounded. I believe this
was an oversight of Mr. Goldman's.
BC1 is a Bypass Capacitor. I use high voltage barium titanate
doorknobs, with stacks of four or more in series. A typical
rating for a single cap would be .003 microfarad @ 30 KVDC, and
using four of these caps in series I get .0007 microfarads at 120
KVDC. Since the AC rating is about half the DC rating on these
type capacitors, figure a series stack of four will withstand a
kickback of 50-60 KVAC in this use.
Where center tap ground type xfrmrs are used for X1 (such as neon
sign cores) BC1 must be divided into two units, and the center of
the stack must be grounded with the xfrmr core (see the arrange-
ment of PC1 and PC2 in the top most diagram). Use no more than
.0008 or so microfarads per side, as too large a bypass capaci-
tance will create an oscillating current in the high voltage
windings on your step up xfrmr that will cause the xfrmr to fail.
RFC 1A and RFC 1B are about 15-20 turns (minimum) of insulated
wire on a large iron powder core. I use 2" diameter iron powder
toroids to wind these chokes.
I have found that the RF and Kickback protection of the circuit
using bypass capacitors and iron powder (as opposed to air core)
RF chokes is much better than the simpler circuit recommended by
Mr. Goldman. If you are running a small tabletop Tesla coil, then
Mr. Goldman's circuit is probably all you need. But if you are
running, or intend to run, more than 1.5 KVA out of your power
supply; look carefully at the circuit I have outlined.
Remember... Over 1.5 KVA and the kickbacks are sounding like high
powered rifle shots at the safety gap. They will "light up your
life" if not properly contained and grounded.
... If all else fails... Throw another Megavolt across it!
--- WM v3.10/93-0100
* Origin: St. Louis Users Group BBS (314) 878-7614 (1:100/4.0)
(1:100/4)
======================================================================
=====
Date: 03-05-94 (21:05) Number: 6265
From: RICHARD QUICK Refer#: NONE
To: BLAIR GROVES Recvd: NO
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil Conf: (111) ELECTRONIC
----------------------------------------------------------------------
-----
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.
... If all else fails... Throw another Megavolt across it!
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12
--- WM v3.10/93-0100
* Origin: St. Louis Users Group BBS (314) 878-7614 (1:100/4.0)
(1:100/4)
======================================================================
=====
BBS: WELCOM BBS
Date: 07-08-94 (21:31) Number: 10768
From: RICHARD QUICK Refer#: NONE
To: DON KIMBERLIN Recvd: NO
Subj: Tesla Coils Conf: (111) ELECTRONIC
----------------------------------------------------------------------
-----
RQ> DK> ...Nice sketch:
RQ> DK> ...but where do you plug the microphone in? <smirkle>
Human voice T1
\/
3
ýŽŽŽƒŽŽŽý<--Diaphram 3 L2
ý § V ý<--Valve ~AŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽ}
ý § § ý 3 }
¡¡¡¡‹¡¬á§áááá 3 }
Gas in^ § 3 }
Gas out> § 3 }
§ A1 3 } L1 C1
Š¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡ >>>> } {ŽŽŽ'~AŽŽŽƒŽŽŽ < HF
Gas stream> 3 } { o
3 } { G1 o
3 } {ŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽ ŽŽŽ < HF
~AŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽ}
3
earth ëëë
RQ>The "gas under pressure" microphone was placed in the circuit
RQ>between the air capacity terminal (T1) and the ground. The
RQ>modulated air stream would in turn modulate the arc at A1.
DK> ....
DK> ...Sonofagun! Old (young) Tesla had it all! Interesting
DK> situation occurs when trying to modulate extremely low
DK> frequencies, however. Unless the ratio between the
DK> modulating (speech) and modulated (radio) sigs is more than
DK> about 1:10, a lot of problems with distorted speech occur.
Tesla mentions this effect several times in the COLORADO SPRINGS
NOTES, both in reference to the circuit above, and in the carbon
microphone circuits. He stated that the oscillations of the coil
and the break rate on the gap had to be very rapid to reduce this
effect and produce the clearest speech at the receiver; so it
appears to me at any rate, that he was not only very aware of
this problem, but that he had gone far towards solving it.
DK> Still, if the technology had ever gotten to wide use, I'm
DK> sure he would have worked that out...
I think it was worked out. So many people fail to realize that
Tesla designed and constructed not random inventions, but entire
working systems. By "working systems" I mean things like the
commercialized polyphase system in use today (and unchanged since
Tesla first handed the patents to Westinghouse machinists).
Tesla stated all the way up to the time of his death in 1943 that
his wireless system was far superior to any system in use. The
example above is drawn from his experimental work of 1899 and
prior, as are the carbon microphone systems I mentioned (and
provided references for). What I find particularly impressive:
his system required no sensitve detector (receiver - amplifier),
and no external power supply, for a person to hear human voice at
the receiving end (the transmitter being very powerful and
efficient at delivering energy).
Tesla showed us fully developed triode vacuum tubes in 1891 in
his public lectures (drawings, photos, and lecture transcriptions
of the tubes exist). He was asked during his pending court case
in 1916 why such tubes were not employed by him in receiver/
amplifier circuits. He answered that in his "system" they were
not required: that no amplification was. He was clearly quite
familiar with the design, construction, and operation of these
tubes before Deforest; but did no further study with them because
the knowledge and use of these tubes were not required for voice
transmission.
Tesla frustrates me time and time again for what he clearly
documented but refused to employ/patent in some application;
others grabbed credit for much of what was his original work.
... If all else fails... Throw another Megavolt across it!
--- Blue Wave/RA v2.12 [NR]
* Origin: Cindex Support BBS (314) 837-5422 Florissant, MO.
(1:100/395.0)
======================================================================
=====
BBS: WELCOM BBS
Date: 06-09-94 (16:52) Number: 12123
From: RICHARD QUICK Refer#: NONE
To: JAMES MEYER Recvd: NO
Subj: Tesla Capacitors Conf: (111) ELECTRONIC
----------------------------------------------------------------------
-----
RQ> Flat plate caps have no inductance. Rolled caps contain two
RQ> or more plates which are tightly rolled up. Rolled plates
RQ> exhibit some properties of coils, they contain a certain
RQ> degree of self-inductance.
JM> Rolled caps don't always have to show a lot of inductance.
JM> With a slight modification to your construction techniques,
JM> you could make "extended foil" caps with almost no
JM> inductance. The inductance of an extended foil cap doesn't
JM> change as they get bigger either.
Please tell me more. What slight modifications would be required,
and how do those modifications reduce or eliminate self-
inductance?
As I may have mentioned; the .02 uf 10 KVAC pulse discharging
rolled capacitor (instructions which I have posted here several
times) are self-resonant around 1.2 MHz. When I build larger caps
of this design; the self resonance drops below 1 MHz where it
interferes destructively with the tank circuit operation of
smaller coils; these smaller coils are where the beginners start.
The second design limitation I have encountered is a lowering of
the tank circuit Q factor when larger rolled caps are used in the
oscillator. I attribute part of this to destructive self-reson-
ance, but this can be controlled/reduced by operating the
oscillator at lower frequencies, and maintaining a suitable
spread between the self-resonate frequency of the cap, and the
normal operating frequency of the oscillator. The destructive
interference does not seem to account for the large drop in Q
factor I read on my scope.
One problem with tank circuits is that the circuit Q factor drops
off as the physical length of non-primary coil conductors
increase. I have run physically large oscillators below 100 kHz,
using up to 14 of the homemade .02 uf rolled caps in the circuit
at one time, and the Q factor gets pretty poor. The bus wiring
alone subtracts plenty of Q (even with great care you get tons of
radiant surface area and off-axis inductance); but when I add up
all of the plate lengths of the rolled caps, and include these
lengths as a factor in the tank circuit wiring, it becomes clear
that the wiring length of the circuit exceeds the primary coil
length by several times. It seems that this must be avoided.
Where physically large layouts are common, that is at lower tank
circuit frequencies (say below 175 kHz), I switch to flat stacked
capacitors. When I switch, I see tank circuit Qs increase. This
capacitor construction (flat plate) avoids the problem of self-
inductance (&therefore self-resonance), but I see an increase in
tank circuit Q that the self-inductance factor alone does not
seem to account for.... It seemed to me the best course to limit
the rolled cap design at .02 uf, and for larger capacitors, to
switch over to a flat stacked capacitor design.
I am not at all trying to detract from the viability of your
suggestion, which I would like to hear in more detail, but I am
simply trying to outline and clarify some of the problems and
design limitations I have encountered in the course of my
experimentation.
... If all else fails... Throw another Megavolt across it!
--- Blue Wave/RA v2.12 [NR]
* Origin: Cindex Support BBS (314) 837-5422 Florissant, MO.
(1:100/395.0)
======================================================================
BBS: WELCOM BBS
Date: 06-09-94 (18:24) Number: 12124
From: RICHARD QUICK Refer#: NONE
To: TERRY SMITH Recvd: NO
Subj: Tesla, Col.Sprng Conf: (111) ELECTRONIC
----------------------------------------------------------------------
My mail services have been poor to worse the last two weeks.
No mail picked up for a nearly a week, then getting duplicates,
not counting posts missed completely and late messages....
Anyway, Terry Smith and Don Kimberlin were commenting on some
info I dug up on Tesla's Colorado Springs Magnifier....
TS> Interesting, yes, but nothing like what would be
TS> characteristic of any height insulated vertical radiator,
TS> with or without typical loading.
DK>...How about it, Terry? Can you figure what the field would
DK> be like off a 94 kHz loading coil with a top hat? It sure
DK> looks to be pretty "standard" in that regard...my first
DK> guess says about 1.5 Amps average base current, but 1350
DK> Amps peak base current...what a pulse!
TS> Based on 209 ohms and 420 kV, we might expect over 2,000 A at
TS> the base. Extrapolating with the ratio of 31.5 and assuming
TS> minimal losses, the arc might be around 60 A. That's
TS> approaching a gigawatt.
TS> As to radiation efficiency, I'd be curious if any data
TS> comparable to present day units existed. A 200 ohm base is
TS> typical of a 120 degree or so tower. Loading of normal
TS> radiators commonly does more to match impedances without
TS> higher Q networks, than to boost radiation efficiency. The
TS> near zero Vf, and indication (based on what?) of 70 degree
TS> wavelength, conflict with normal radiator modelling, as does
TS> a VSWR so much greater than 2.
TS> I'd be curious, but afraid to even guess. I would speculate
TS> that fields from some of the coils might cancel, but that
TS> there'd be some radiation from both the long coil, and the
TS> arc path. How much I'd guess would depend a lot on
TS> construction practices, not shown here. If I had to pick a
TS> number to compare with equivalent transmitting power into an
TS> efficient radiator, I'd guess this might be similar to around
TS> a megawatt, though low duty cycle. Is there any historical
TS> field data?
The whole idea of the Colorado Springs Experimental Station was
to verify Tesla's previously discovered methods of transmitting
communications and electrical power without wires. The system was
not designed, built, or operated at as radiating transmitter. The
Magnifer circuit was operated at industrial power levels to
perfect a method of wireless global transmission thru conduction.
References to radiation efficiency completely miss the point of
the experiment. Tesla stated over and over that his goal was to
supress radiation and increase conductivity. This is why the
system was required to produce such high voltages.
The posted values were derived from only one of many dozens of
experiments Tesla performed with the equipment at hand, and is
"typical" in showing the type voltages, currents, and frequencies
Tesla worked with at the station between 1899-1900.
The famous spark photos from the Colorado Springs lab were taken
solely to publicize to power processing ability of the machine,
and does not document the primary function of the oscillator/coil
system. It could also be surmised that spark length gave a good
relative indication of system tune given the absence of any
reliable commercial diagnostic equipment in 1899-1900.
... If all else fails... Throw another Megavolt across it!
--- Blue Wave/RA v2.12 [NR]
* Origin: Cindex Support BBS (314) 837-5422 Florissant, MO.
(1:100/395.0)
======================================================================
=====
BBS: WELCOM BBS
Date: 07-09-94 (20:55) Number: 12220
From: JAMES MEYER Refer#: NONE
To: RICHARD QUICK Recvd: NO
Subj: Tesla Capacitors Conf: (111) ELECTRONIC
----------------------------------------------------------------------
-----
On 09-06-94, RICHARD QUICK wrote to JAMES MEYER and said:
RQ> Please tell me more. What slight modifications would be required,
RQ> and how do those modifications reduce or eliminate self-
RQ> inductance?
RQ>
RQ> I am not at all trying to detract from the viability of your
RQ> suggestion, which I would like to hear in more detail, but I am
RQ> simply trying to outline and clarify some of the problems and
RQ> design limitations I have encountered in the course of my
RQ> experimentation.
An extended foil cap is wound with the foil extended over the
edge of the dielectric so that the connection to the foil can
be made continuously along the entire edge of the foil. This
means that the charging currents are distributed over the
foil much more evenly and the effective series inductance is
the same as a piece of wire the same length as the cap.
Perhaps a picture right now would be worth a thousand more
words.
"A" "B"
------------------------------- ^
| dielectric | | r
---| -------------------------------- | o
| f | | foil 2 | | l
| o | | | | l
| i | | | |
| l | | | | t
| | | | | h
| 1 | | | | i
| | | | | s
---| -------------------------------- |
| "D" | | w
------------------------------- "C" - a
y
"A" to "B" is the length of the finished cap. (One foot?)
"B" to "C" is the length of the foil before rolling.
(Several yards?)
The cap is made by laying down one sheet of dielectric of the
proper size. Next goes one foil plate placed so that one
edge extends past the edge of the dielectric by about a
quarter to a half inch.
The second dielectric sheet is exactly the same size as the
first, and it gets laid down so the corners match the corners
of the first.
The second foil is the same size as the first and it goes on
next, but it is extended to the opposite side as the first
foil.
Of course you want the dielectric sheets larger than the foil
by enough to get the arc-over voltage high enough.
Then the cap is rolled up. The two foils will be extended
from opposite ends of the cap. It's then only a matter of
attaching the two terminals to the foils. Since the entire
edge of both foils is available, a good high current
connection can be made. If you use a hammer to pound the
turns of each foil into contact, you could then solder a real
heavy piece of copper strap or a threaded brass rod to the
foil at each end.
This is how physically small caps with low inductance are
made. It's also how the large, pulse discharge, caps in the
modulator for the linear particle accelerator at the lab are
made. I know. I've dissected a couple after they "blew".
You could take apart a few old small caps to get an idea
about how they're made. The "orange drop" Sprague caps are
usually extended foil.
Jim
* JABBER v1.2 * The earth is like a tiny grain of sand, only =much=
bigger.
--- FidoPCB v1.5 beta-'j'
* Origin: Psychotronic BBS - We are smarter than you. RTP,NC (1:3641/1)
======================================================================
BBS: WELCOM BBS
Date: 08-09-94 (07:46) Number: 12237
From: TERRY SMITH Refer#: NONE
To: RICHARD QUICK Recvd: NO
Subj: Tesla, Col.Sprng Conf: (111) ELECTRONIC
----------------------------------------------------------------------
RQ> Anyway, Terry Smith and Don Kimberlin were commenting on some
RQ> info I dug up on Tesla's Colorado Springs Magnifier....
TS> Interesting, yes, but nothing like what would be
TS> characteristic of any height insulated vertical radiator, TS> with
or
without typical loading.
DK>...How about it, Terry? Can you figure what the field would
DK> be like off a 94 kHz loading coil with a top hat? It sure
TS> Based on 209 ohms and 420 kV, we might expect over 2,000 A at
TS> the base. Extrapolating with the ratio of 31.5 and assuming
TS> minimal losses, the arc might be around 60 A. That's
TS> approaching a gigawatt.
TS> As to radiation efficiency, I'd be curious if any data
TS> comparable to present day units existed. A 200 ohm base is
TS> typical of a 120 degree or so tower. Loading of normal
TS> number to compare with equivalent transmitting power into an
TS> efficient radiator, I'd guess this might be similar to around
TS> a megawatt, though low duty cycle. Is there any historical
TS> field data?
RQ> The whole idea of the Colorado Springs Experimental Station was
RQ> to verify Tesla's previously discovered methods of transmitting
RQ> communications and electrical power without wires. The system was
RQ> not designed, built, or operated at as radiating transmitter. The
RQ> References to radiation efficiency completely miss the point of
RQ> the experiment. Tesla stated over and over that his goal was to
RQ> supress radiation and increase conductivity. This is why the
Don and I were simply trying to compare apples and oranges, or place the
secondary characteristics of this coil in the realm of references we
consider when looking at RF devices of substantial fractional wavelengths.
It's normal to look at induced and radiated fields of a broadcast antenna,
coupling efficiency to the earth, and the earth resistance in conducting
that signal. Tesla's signals obviously have some overlap, though it does
appear to be a much different balance of parameters than in intentional
RF radiators.
You must realize how most components or circuits for one nominal purpose
can usually be analyzed as to the (albeit, somtimes minute) elements of
other types. For example, you can measure series inductance of many
resistors, shunt and series resistance of capacitors, inter winding
capacitance and series resistance of inductors, etc.
RQ> The famous spark photos from the Colorado Springs lab were taken
RQ> solely to publicize to power processing ability of the machine,
RQ> and does not document the primary function of the oscillator/coil
RQ> system. It could also be surmised that spark length gave a good
RQ> relative indication of system tune given the absence of any
RQ> reliable commercial diagnostic equipment in 1899-1900.
Ahh, you're just jealous that with modern technology, you haven't been
able to build something twice as large. <<g>>
Terry
--- Maximus 2.01wb
* Origin: Charges filed under Ohms Law! (203)732-0575 BBS (1:141/1275)
======================================================================
BBS: WELCOM BBS
Date: 09-09-94 (11:19) Number: 12267
From: DON KIMBERLIN Refer#: NONE
To: RICHARD QUICK Recvd: NO
Subj: Tesla, Col.Sprng Conf: (111) ELECTRONIC
----------------------------------------------------------------------
<Terry Smith posted:>
RQ>TS> I'd be curious, but afraid to even guess. I would speculate
RQ>TS> that fields from some of the coils might cancel, but that
RQ>TS> there'd be some radiation from both the long coil, and the
RQ>TS> arc path. How much I'd guess would depend a lot on
RQ>TS> construction practices, not shown here. If I had to pick a
RQ>TS> number to compare with equivalent transmitting power into an
RQ>TS> efficient radiator, I'd guess this might be similar to around
RQ>TS> a megawatt, though low duty cycle. Is there any historical
RQ>TS> field data?
RQ>The whole idea of the Colorado Springs Experimental Station was
RQ>to verify Tesla's previously discovered methods of transmitting
RQ>communications and electrical power without wires. The system was
RQ>not designed, built, or operated at as radiating transmitter. The
RQ>Magnifer circuit was operated at industrial power levels to
RQ>perfect a method of wireless global transmission thru conduction.
SET MENTAL_BLOCK.SYS /on
...Oh, boy, do I have trouble with that, Richard. As you note,
"radiation" does imply propagation of magnetic or static fields
through space. But "conduction" implies propagation of induction
fields through the earth. Then, we have some sort of Tesla
experiments involving what has to be radiating X-rays and such
toward the ionosphere.
...Please sort out my feeble mind. While I have no problem with
understanding Tesla could have been working on both radiation and
conduction as I know them, it seems like the descriptions don't
separate the two...unless there is some higher plane of
understanding I need to get to. (Yes, the two are related, but
usually we're concentrating on one and trying to suppress the
other...)
RQ>References to radiation efficiency completely miss the point of
RQ>the experiment. Tesla stated over and over that his goal was to
RQ>supress radiation and increase conductivity. This is why the
RQ>system was required to produce such high voltages.
...Again, when it's conduction, the emphasis is on current,
not voltage...at least for ordinary mentalities...can you help
get my perspective right for this understanding?
--- GOMail v2.0j Beta [94-0035]
* Origin: Borderline! BBS Kannapolis, N.C. (1:379/37)
======================================================================
=====
BBS: WELCOM BBS
Date: 11-09-94 (13:10) Number: 12291
From: BRETT LILLEY Refer#: NONE
To: RICHARD QUICK Recvd: NO
Subj: Tesla Capacitors Conf: (111) ELECTRONIC
----------------------------------------------------------------------
-----
Hi Richard, I have followed the Teslar thread here with interest even to
the cost of obtaining copies of your videos via Jim Oliver.
They are most impressive although I make a plea no doubt endorsed by
other viewers, PLEASE INVEST IN A TRIPOD FOR YOUR CAMERA. I get sea sick
watching them :-(
I have around 15 years experience in radio, mostly at VHF and UHF and
Microwaves but my training included the LF, MF and HF bands. Your Tesla
coils operate at the lower end of the LF bands.
> RQ> Flat plate caps have no inductance.
Wrong! all capacitors have inductance as well as series and shunt
resistance and of course capacitance. It is just that flat plate caps
have much less inductance and at LF frequencies it provides insignificant
reactance. However even at LF frequencies an effect known as Skin effect
can result in a significant effective series resistance, more about
that later.
> RQ> Rolled caps contain two
> RQ> or more plates which are tightly rolled up. Rolled plates
> RQ> exhibit some properties of coils,
They are coils!
> RQ> they contain a certain degree of self-inductance.
Not surprising, Knowing their capacitance and self resonant frequency you
should be able to calculate their inductance.
fc = 1/(2*pi*(L*C)^-2) or L = 1/((2*pi*fc)^2*C)
> JM> Rolled caps don't always have to show a lot of inductance.
> JM> With a slight modification to your construction techniques,
> JM> you could make "extended foil" caps with almost no
> JM> inductance. The inductance of an extended foil cap doesn't
> JM> change as they get bigger either.
> Please tell me more. What slight modifications would be required,
> and how do those modifications reduce or eliminate self-
> inductance?
One method would be to terminate each plate at its edge rather than its
ends by extending the edge of one plate beyound the insulator at one end
of the roll and doing the same with the other plate at the other end. You
could then bond across all the turns of each plate. This would reduce the
inductance (and the series resistance!) by making the effective length of
conductor the width of the plate rather than the length of the plate.
You would of course have to double the "creepage" allowance of insulator
at the edges of the plates (ends of the roll).
> The second design limitation I have encountered is a lowering of
> the tank circuit Q factor when larger rolled caps are used in the
> oscillator. I attribute part of this to destructive self-reson-
> ance, but this can be controlled/reduced by operating the
> oscillator at lower frequencies, and maintaining a suitable
> spread between the self-resonate frequency of the cap, and the
> normal operating frequency of the oscillator. The destructive
> interference does not seem to account for the large drop in Q
> factor I read on my scope.
You are encountering skin effect. At frequencies higher than about 100khz
current flow in a conductor only occurs near the surface thus reducing the
effective cross sectional area and increasing the effective series resistance.
This effect will occur in all parts of your primary tank circuits and in
the secondary coil. The usual method of countering this is to use conductors
with a large surface area for a given cross section. Ie. compare the surface
area per unit length of a flat conductor vs a round conductor of the same
cross sectional area. Other techniques effective at LF include the use of a
multi stranded conductor where each strand is insulated (Litz wire).
I definately don't proffess any experience in the area of Tesla coils but
hopethat a little cross pollenation with radio theory will help eliminate
some of your problems.
Bye.
---
* Origin: Brett's Point (Co-Sysop of The Beast - 64 7 3575355)
(3:774/600.4)
======================================================================
BBS: WELCOM BBS
Date: 19-09-94 (16:12) Number: 12788
From: RICHARD QUICK Refer#: NONE
To: DON KIMBERLIN Recvd: NO
Subj: Tesla, Col.Sprng Conf: (111) ELECTRONIC
----------------------------------------------------------------------
RQ>The whole idea of the Colorado Springs Experimental Station
RQ>was to verify Tesla's previously discovered methods of
RQ>transmitting communications and electrical power without
RQ>wires. The system was not designed, built, or operated at as
RQ>radiating transmitter. The Magnifier circuit was operated at
RQ>industrial power levels to perfect a method of wireless
RQ>global transmission thru conduction....
...
RQ>The high voltage and RF frequencies means that large amounts
RQ>of energy can be conducted freely through low pressure gas
RQ>(a-la waveguide) where there is no radiating wave propagation.
DK> ...Hmmm...I'm right with you fine up to this point, but it
DK> sure seems that "conduction channel" would have to be focused
DK> toward the ionosphere somehow...
I am not sure that Tesla was aware of the existance of the
ionosphere, nor that it matters much. Practical lab experiments
of scale test systems can be performed by any coiler worth his
salt. A four inch diameter coil (transmitter) and a six inch
diameter coil (receiver) can be set up in transmitter/receiver
configuration. The four inch coil is heavily top loaded with
capacitive air terminal (toroid) to prevent spark breakout. Top
loading the four inch coil will also reduce to coil resonate
frequency to the point where a frequency match can be made with
the unloaded, or slightly loaded, six inch coil. I connect the
base of the two coils to a common ground, and run an 8 foot long
florescent tube, or two tubes with the ends pressed and taped
together between the two air terminals of the coils. Real power
can be transmitted through the tube. I have no problems pumping
through a killowatt or two. At a threshold voltage, which depends
on gas pressure and composition, the low pressure gas becomes
self ionizing, and conducting.
DK> ... and I don't know of any focusing devices Tesla used for
DK> that...otherwise, I'm right here with you -- I think...
I am afraid I cannot give a precise answer to this question of
beam focusing devices. Alas there are acknowledged holes in the
documentation of Tesla's advanced work. Many of these gaps were
deliberate on Tesla's part to throw off the competition. Yet we
get closer and closer every year. Serious study, and experi-
mentation, leads us to bridges over these gaps. In all of the
work I have personally conducted, I have found no flaws in
Tesla's basic logic.
DK> ...Was the Magnifier a focusing device for the conductive
DK> beam?
No, the Magnifier is a name for a specific three coil arrangement
which represents a power processing efficiency breakthrough.
Tesla always strove for high efficiency, and the Magnifier gave
it to him in a RF resonate tuned transformer of enormous power.
DK> ...But, now that we have it going up, how do we tap into it
DK> to get it down?
I would have to assume that the receiver plugged in the same way
as the transmitter.
An interesting thing about this system is that it uses a
resonator for the final stage to deliver the high EMF output.
In the same simplified scale experiment I briefly described
above, the receiving coil is still processing energy even if the
conductive channel (low pressure tube) is not connecting the air
terminals. A "free" (not inductively coupled to the transmitter
system) resonator will pick up and resonate on ground current
alone. No air terminal conductive channel is required for the
system to deliver some considerable energy to the receiver
through ground conduction alone. Enough voltage is present on the
air terminal of the receiving coil to cause it to spark freely,
light bulbs, etc.. I have gotten bulbs to light on a tuned
receiving coil 1/4 mile away from a shielded transmitter. The
input energy to the transmitter was only one killowatt, there was
no raditaion: the "pickup" or receiving coil was connected to
a 50' length of aluminum flashing sunk in creek bottom. There are
some interesting properties to Tesla's open ended resonators.
It appears that a large scale system would deliver enough energy
from the ground connection alone to open up a conductive channel
to the stratosphere (via X-Ray, UV bulbs on the air terminal of
the receiver).
... If all else fails... Throw another Megavolt across it!
--- Blue Wave/RA v2.12 [NR]
* Origin: Cindex Support BBS (314) 837-5422 Florissant, MO.
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