My Tesla Coil

The Coil

The primary circuit consists of two 15kv 60ma neon sign transformers, in parallel configuration. The output has an overvoltage and RF filter leading into two wire wound chokes. It then goes into the tank circuit which is the primary taped at turn 10 in series with a .03uf 35kv capacitor. A rotory spark gap fires the capacitor. The secondary coil is wound on a 6" pvc form for 30" and operates at 176khz and is grounded to earth ground via the white wire that is seen leading away. The two neon sign transformers are wired into the ac circuit via a relay on the stand and through a control box in such a way that the circuit cannot fire unless the rotory spark gap is running. This way the high voltage circuit is neutral and cannot be turned on accidently. To date, I have only gotten about 30" arcs. I haven't had the time to fine tune the circuit yet, which should be producing 45-60" arcs. The top load is a 4" x 18" toroid. Currently it is being rebuilt with a full-wave bridge rectifier. 3-15-13


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