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Re: More Beginner Tesla Questions (fwd)





---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sun, 10 Oct 1999 01:01:42 -0600
From: Don Allen <dona-at-amigo-dot-net>
To: Tesla List <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
Subject: Re: More Beginner Tesla Questions (fwd)

At 10:29 AM 10/09/1999 -0600, Tesla List wrote:
>Original Poster: Tesla List <mod1-at-pupman-dot-com>

Hi Spud, all,

>---------- Forwarded message ----------
>Date: Sat, 9 Oct 1999 10:21:24 -0500
>From: Spud <spud-at-wf-dot-net>
>To: Tesla Coil Webring <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
>Subject: More Beginner Tesla Questions
>
>Hey, I just need to get a few more questions answered before I get all my
>parts and start constructing my own Tesla coil.  First of all, is the same
>wire that is coiled around the secondary connected to the torus on the top,
>or does the torus just sit there and draw electricity somehow from just
>sitting there? (May be a stupid question, but hey, if the primary drives
>the secondary with no hard wiring, maybe the secondary has the same effect
>on the torus. :)  

The wire end at the top of the secondary is connected to the toroid. 
This can be as simple as a loop over a nylon bolt, and a toroid using 
two inverted pie-pans as a center piece is screwed down against it, 
making the connection. 

>Secondly, how am I going to coil that tubing for my
>primary into a neat little conical spiral? (Or is there an easier or more
>effective way to do it?)  

It will be helpful if you can get the assistance of another person while
winding the primary tubing into place, if you go the refrigeration tubing
route for the primary. Leave the tubing it it's coiled state and unwind
it a little bit at a time, while placing it down into the primary supports,
as the assistant feeds it to you. You will both end up walking around
in circles as you place the tubing. The most difficult part for me was
making the tubing supports for a flat primary. I started out with wood
but ended up going to High Density Poly-ethelene (HDPE) for
the supports. You don't have to get that fancy with the archimedean
spiral or get involved with complicated offsets. You can make the
turns bend to the spiral gently with space between the supports.

>Another thing - aren't we concerned about the
>sparks from the torus tracing back and striking the primary?  If so, why
>would you construct the primary right there around the base of the
>secondary, about 2 feet from the toroid, with no cover or anything?

The primary and the secondary are loosely coupled but have to be
in close enough proximity to each other to effect proper coupling. An
important part of any primary construction is always the addition of
a strike rail, usually 2 or 3 inches above the outside turn of the primary.
The strike rail is almost, but not quite a full circle, that is connected to
the RF ground, so as to channel any potentially damaging downward 
strikes to the primary away from the primary itself. Any downward strikes
on my coil are attracted to the strike rail, and not to the primary. It serves
it's purpose well.  

Don


http://www.fwpd-dot-net/dona/tesla/teslacoil.htm