Tube Coil Disaster

["Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>]

Original poster: "by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <Robynsaddiction-at-aol-dot-com>

Oh yes, I got first light with my tube coil all right. The only problem is that
the light was coming out of the filament transformer:^( Hum? I used the same
that John used with the exception being the primary form. Well, I guess there
is a few other differences. The differences pertain to the capacitors (I am
using TDK Strontium Tintanate 40kV-at-2000pF), and the plate choke ( I only had a
25 K ohm resistor, and I used fourteen turns of 16 AWG instead of 10). 

      When firing up the coil I first powered up the filament in the tube and
let it warm for 60 seconds. Then, I slowly raised the power (I used a light
dimmer, because I blew a fuse in my variac when testing the MOT. It drew nearly
30 amps with the shunts installed. Once the power was turned up all I could get
was a humming and a funny crackling sound from my tank capacitor. When I
switched the leads around on my tube I got a nasty static shock from the top
load. Anyhow, after a few times of moving things around (not connections), and
test firing the arcing started in the filament transformer. After this began
the filaments in the tube doubled in luminosity. 

      John Freau I last weekend I was at my good friend Chuck Cooks house and
he showed me some videos of you and your tube coils. I visit your site quite
often, and I would like to call you in order to get some coaching on tube
coils. Perhaps you have some valuable insight concerning some of my Tube Coil
questions. If you would rather not give out your number then my number is HOME
(913) 345-2431 CELL (913) 645-3597. I hope you can help. 

                                    In Friendship, Richard 
PS Hey Chuck! When are you going to get a webpage for that awesome 15" coil of
yours?