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Re: Tesla Coil Understanding

Subject: 
        Re: Tesla Coil Understanding
  Date: 
        Sat, 29 Mar 1997 04:34:48 -0700
  From: 
        "DR.RESONANCE" <DR.RESONANCE-at-next-wave-dot-net>
    To: 
        "Tesla List" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>


To: List owner  listown

You might dig up the article by David Sloan on Tesla coils and resonance
transformers.  It has a lot of math in it but Sloan designed a the
linear
accelerators used by Univ. of Calif. or Caltech.  Sloan was a Tesla coil
builder, ham radio operator, and great experimental physicist.  

In his work (published in the 1940-50's) he stated with a loose coupled
oscillator (classic Tesla oscillator) the maximum energy transfer could
not
be less than 50%.  He did state that in the tightly coupled true
resonance
transformer mode (type used by Rich Hull, et al) the energy transfer
values
could go up to around 85 or 90%.  

This is not to be confused with peak power where the cap charges for a
relatively long time period and then discharges in a few microseconds
into
the primary.  Peak output power is extremely high with a Tesla system
but
average energy transfer is always less than unity.

If you can't find the Sloan article I will dig around to try to find it
for
you -- it was published in an earlier edition of Nature.

DR.RESONANCE-at-next-wave-dot-net


> 
>  I have read and enjoyed the pointed posts to this list and it has
> helped a
> great deal of my understanding of Tesla Coils.  One common thread that
> seems
> to be apparent, and this is what I am seeking comments from the list on,
> is
> that, in general, Tesla Coils are not all that well understood.  Would
> you
> (the list) agree or disagree?  Is the interaction between the primary
> coil
> and the secondary coil well documented and understood?  Is the
> efficiency of
> a Tesla Coil understood, i.e., the whole Tesla Coil system consumes
> power
> from the wall, how much of the energy "makes it" to the top of the
> secondary...or is that even a legitmate question?  Perhaps these are the
> incorrect questions...lets ask just one more in this fashion...What is
> NOT
> understood, documented in the literature, etc, about Tesla Coils?
> 
> Thanks much to all,
> 
> Scott Taylor
> staylor-at-ppco-dot-com