As of September 12, 2006

	High Voltage Madness!!

	Tesla Coils - Not too many people know about these amazing "machines". Why Amazing? Think about it...something you plug into your wall socket produces nearly 500,000 volts and it sparks into thin air producig a discharge ranging from few inches to 12 feet and beyond And yet, if you were to touch the output you would not get shocked! A lot of people that see these beauties at work think that it has to do with the low amperage, but that's just not the case. It's the frequency of the device that keeps the harmful voltage from entering ones body. Remember the phrase "It's the volts that jolts, but it's the mills that kills" Somehow, that doesn't apply in here. The Tesla Coil was invented by Nicola Tesla in the early 1900's (yes it's over 100 years old) It was developed as a means of transmitting electricity over standard radio waves, in effect supplying the entire world with electricity without the need for wires. However, since the power companies (which funded the project) would not be able to measure how much electricity someone's using (free power), the funding was stopped and the project effectively died. There are a lot of people that still "play" with this design, It has evolved quite a bit since Dr. Tesla designed it. But the basic design is still in effect. The "Coil" I have build is what would be considered a "medium-sized" coil. Producing anywhere from 250,000 to 500,000 volts The longest spark I've ever achieved was approx. 30 inches. I have no idea how much voltage it actually produced since there is no equipment to measure that kind of voltage and since there are way to many variables to take into account I can only estimate it.... Anyways...Here are the pictures of "The Beast" with short explanation of what you're looking at. I can't remember the exact specs of the TC but I'll try to cover the most important (IMHO) aspects. You're free to use these pictures anywhere but please let Me know that you are using them, just to make me happy

	Click on an image to enlarge A little "Spark Test". This neon transformer produces 12,000 volts and has 720VA power. The output of this transformer is LETHAL! The wire I'm holding is rated at 15,000 volts so I'm relatively safe.   There are 2 transformers being used in this Tesla coil. Giving me almost 1.5KVA. That's a lot of power being used by these xformers. Unfortunately neon-sign xformers are not very efficient when it comes to power usage. That feat has it's pros and cons. The bad thing is that from what power they use the output could be a lot more powerful but on the flip side of the coin, because they are so "leaky" (by design) it's almost impossible to "fry" them, even if you short out the output.   Ah, the capactitors. 30 beer bottles filled with salt-water solutions and topped off with motor oil to prevent the water from evaporating. Of course, I had to use empty the beer bottles first *hic*... Cheap solution for a capacitor...Quite effective too. But I had a few accidents where the power from the neon sign xformers would punch right through the bottle making quite a mess....   The "Spark Gap" - 10 pairs of heavy screws connected in series to created the "heart" of the tesla coil. You'll also notice the wound wire spools on each end of the gap. That is to prevent "kickback". It's what happens when the high voltage tries to return to the neon xformers. Such action would fry them or worse piggy back to the wall socket and fry all the electronic equipment in the house. When the spark gap runs, it creates an imense amount of UV light. Staring at it while its running is not recommended. It is also the LOUDEST part of the tesla coil. The heat generated in this gap is so powerful it melts the screw ends.   The "Transformer" part of the coil. This is where the "Low Voltage" (12,000 Volts) gets stepped dramatically to anywhere between 250,000 and 500,000 volts. You'll notice the aligator clip on the primary copper tubing. This is used to "tune" the two coils togheter. Think of it as a radio where one coil is the transmitter and one is the receiver. They have to tune to the same frequency to maximize energy transfer.   These pictures show the general layout of the coil. Notice the separator board that isolates the neon transformers from the capacitors.   There "she" is...The Beast...finished and ready to RUMBLE! Well, not quite rumble, more like whirr...when it runs, it sounds like an unmuffled chainsaw. Loud and annoying (according to my neighbours)   These are the final shots of the Tesla Coil running. The spark seen here is a lot shorter than originally, the Coil itself is over a year old and those capacitors just don't have the same capacitance they used to so the coil is terrible out of tune. However the spark is still nice and crisp....I'll miss this coil.   This is the only picture I have of me touching the output of the tesla coil. I have isolated myself from the ground for safety's sake but In theory I could have attemted the same thing while standing on the ground assuming the frequency of the coil was high enough. I just chickened out that's all. Also, notice that I'm not touching the spark directly with my fingers. That is to prevent plasma burns. Plasma fire is VERY HOT!

	Coil Stats Secondary Coil Design Diameter of secondary coil 50mm Winding height 637.5mm Wire Diameter and Type 0.33mm, enamel coated magnet wire Secondary Turns apprx. 1930 Secondary Inductance 13.9mH Approximate Resonant Frequencey 514.39 kHz Toroid Capacitance 22pF Primary Coil Design Primary Resonant Frequency 247.26 kHz Conductor Diameter 9.50mm Turn - to - Turn Spacing 10mm Spacing between the secondary and the inside of the primary 62.50mm Primary Tapped 9th turn Additional Coil Information Ground 8ft. x 1/4 inch copper pipe hammered into ground, connected to the coil via 14 gauge bare ground wire HV Tap Connected via 14 gauge standard house wire Transformer connections HV wire rated at 15kV Protection Choke at each bushing of the transformer, No safety gap since I'm barely over 1 kVA Static Spark Gap 9 sparks in series, each at approx 1/5 inch spacing

	In Fall 2000 the "The Beast" has been dismantled to make room in the garage. I don't live with my parents any more and that coil has been sitting idle for almost 2 years. But don't worry. One day I'll build a bigger, more powerful coil. My goal is to see 12 foot sparks