This is the third time I have posted to this group about the same tesla coil within two weeks, but I have new materials and questions that come with them. First, one of the postings said i want to look for 28 awg wire. I have alot of 40 awg wire, would this be two thin for a coil running on an input of 5-10 kv with a 40 nf capacitor bank? Also, I went super cheap on the toroid and bought three feet of aluminum dryer hose. After being shaped like a dougnut it had a nine inch diameter and is 4.5 inches tall. Is this too big for a coil 2.5 by 10 inches? I have some copper stranded speaker wire about 18 awg. would this be thick enough for a coil with this much power? And lastly how many turns should I use for this primary, and how far apart should I space them? if you can answer even just one question, I would greatly apprecieate it.
More tesla coil questions.
Sep 02, 2005
3 Replies
Sign up for the tesla mailing list, those guys have years of experience. They have built hundreds of tesla coils. They are very helpful to beginners. >>>>
formatting link
wire. I have alot of 40 awg wire, would this be two thin for a coil
Thanks for your help. I'll keep your suggestions in mind. I hope to escape to one of my better local electronics stores an buy 28 awg wire for the secondary.
The biggest problem I see is 40 AWG wire. I would keep shopping to get something anywhere from the mid 20's to the mid 30's rather than using 40.
The top load seems large to me, but I see this being more of a problem if you also have the secondary wire size too thin and less of a problem if you do not. I would have the top load height about the same as the secondary diameter and width twice that. I have seen others do well with larger top loads (to better impair corona when voltage is really high) if everything else is optimized.
18 gauge wire for the primary I see being thinner than optimum, but I see this doing only a little damage to the performance. I would experiment with the number of turns for best results, starting with about 12 turns.- Don Klipstein ( snipped-for-privacy@misty.com)
Join the Discussion
Have something to add? Share your thoughts — no account required.
Didn't find your answer?
Ask the community — no account required