Re: TESLA COIL

From: Rodney Kelp (Rodneykelp605_at_hotmail.com)
Date: 01/30/05 

Date: Sun, 30 Jan 2005 17:43:07 -0500

"Blackbeard" <Blackbeard_The_Great@Lycos.com> wrote in message
news:75mnv0t7knvc32gm7bcf5csujav2odku1s@4ax.com...
> My kid is building a tesla coil for his science fair project. I'm a
> plumber, not an electronics guy. Right now, he has put together a
> primary coil (made from 1/4" OD copper tubine) and he has a secondary
> coil made from (approx. 1500 winds of 24-gauge wire around a piece of
> 4" PVC pipe). He made his toroid out of semi-rigid as the plans
> suggest.
>
> Now he's getting held up on the capacitors and spark gap. His plans
> call for 1-1/2 copper to make the spark gap. I can't see any point in
> using 1-1/2" copper (mostly because I have 3/4" immediately
> available). Will it make any difference if we use 3/4" copper for the
> spark gap instead of 1-1/2" copper. The plans call for 7 pieces of
> 1-1/2 copper (2" in length). You put them in series and the spark arcs
> from one piece of copper to the next. Seems to me it would do the
> exact same thing with 3/4" copper. But 3/4" copper has less copper
> (thus (I assume) less resistance). Will that make a difference or can
> we go with the 3/4"?
>
> Also, the plans call for a home-made capacitor made by rolling a piece
> of aluminum flashing and piece of plastic or rubber. They say to roll
> it tight. But they give no directions on how to hook this thing up. I
> have TWO posts on the high voltage transformer (15,000 volts).
>
> I assume the sequence I need to follow is
> 1. Connect both posts from the transformer to the home-made capacitor
> (how?)
> 2. Run a wire from the capacitor to the spark gap (those pieces of
> copper pipe..again, how?)
> 3. Run a wire from the spark gap to the primary coil
>
> 4. How does the secondary coil get power? One person told us that the
> secondary coil should just be grounded and that the 1500 turns would
> generate a magnetic field and generate energy (ie, the lightening that
> hops of the toroid)
>
> Our plans are pretty vague. Any experienced advice would be very
> helpful.
>
> thanks
> mike
>
Does a taser stun gun work the same way with smaller components?

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