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Re: lots of questions??
From: Bert Hickman[SMTP:bert.hickman-at-aquila-dot-com]
Reply To: bert.hickman-at-aquila-dot-com
Sent: Tuesday, November 18, 1997 8:56 AM
To: Tesla List
Subject: Re: lots of questions??
Ray,
Some quick answers are below...
Tesla List wrote:
>
> From: Raymond C. Howes[SMTP:rchowes-at-email.msn-dot-com]
> Sent: Monday, November 17, 1997 8:31 PM
> To: Tesla List
> Subject: lots of questions??
>
> My name is Ray,
>
> I wrote a letter a couple of weeks ago as first coil and help?
> Recieved lots of good info thanks!
> First coil up and running but would like to really nail every down.
> I may have made a mistake on the winding of my secondary, through the files
> off of the net, I read that the primary and secondary should be wound in the
> same direction.
>
> What kind of results do you get when you wind the secondary in the opposite
> direction?
Winding direction makes no practical difference for a simple 2-coil
system.
>
> Reading on the bottle caps, what size beer bottles are being used 12, 16, 32
> oz?
>
A 12 Oz bottle gives you about 650 - 800 pF. Capacitance of the bottle
is based upon the wall thicknes, overall surface area, and filling
height. If the bottles have the same thickness, then you can calculate
the capacitance of the larger bottles by using the larger diameter and
usable height for the larger bottles.
> I have no electric measuring instruments except for the basic voltmeter. I'm
> using 6 32oz vinergar bottles,can anybody give me an idea of their values?
> uf.
You probably want to stick with beer, pop, or champaign bottles since
these all have thicker glass walls. Thinner glass will easily puncture
and fail.
> Using one of the calculation methods I came up with .002 uh per
> bottles,having 6 bottles in parallel eqauls .012. right?
>
Wrong units, but the value might be close for large bottles...
Capacitance is in microfarads or uF.
> I did have 8 stationary spark gaps and found to get longer streamers with
> only 2 gaps.
>
> Having 8 spark gaps, were the bottles being charged to much? and or losing
> thier charge to soon?
Not clear, but it sounds like your effective rep rate was much higher
with fewer gaps. Infrequent firing results in shorter streamers, since
you don't get the benefit of a streamer following in the footsteps on
the one that came before...
>
> When wiring the base( transformer,chokes, spark gaps,wire to caps,and wire
> to primary) What size wire should be used,solid, or braided? #12,#14 and so
> on?
The connections for your Tesla Coil primary circuit (Primary, Tank Cap,
and Main Spark Gap) should all be either heavy guage wire (not braid) or
copper tubing. For a small coil, #10 AWG house wire will work. The
higher the power of the coil, the more important it will be to have
larger wire/pipe, since this path will be carrying high amperage RF. The
rest of the wiring can be done with regular high voltage wire (14 - 20
gauge).
> I'm only using 1-15kv-at-30ma for now and keeping the other one for a spare
> until I get everything figured out properly.
>
A 15 KV system can be a significant challenge for a beginning coiler.
Good luck!
> Primary iner dia. is 8" 1/2" between turns total of 10 turns. Secondary
> is 4.5"x 20"
> with #24 wire configured to wintesla calculations.
Sounds like a nice system. What kind/size toroid are you using?
>
> Sorry about all the questions. The only way I'm going to learn anything is
> to ask a lot
> of questions no matter how silly they are.
>
> How exspensive is the equipment used in measuring tesla coils? hv meters
> and capacitors?
If you get the equipment used at Hamfests, they can be relatively
inexpensive. A signal generator, frequency counter, RLC meter, and an
oscilloscope all come in handy. Look for a vaccum-tube type scope, since
the newer solid state versions are not as robust when used around Tesla
Coils...
>
> I really appreciate the help earlier
> with first coil and help letter
> also the viyln info
> Thanks a lot
>
> Ray
>
> rchowes-at-msn-dot-com
Safe coilin' to you!
-- Bert --