Tesla Coil Build Thread

[DashApple]

Hmm Okies , The coil was going to be a 4046 PLL , as the 4046 is all i ever use

 

[Speedy78]

My SSTC! Sigurthr recommended this one for me from Easter Voltage Research. SSTC1.0

Now it doesn't have some crazy output like some here but its a start.

The jig I made to wind the secondary. Cranking it by hand.


Lights!




The little breakout.


Stuck a HeNe next to it to see what would happen. The gas outside of the bore started to glow but no laser output. Still neat looking.



Overall it was really simple to build. Step by step instructions were awesome. Highly recommend this kit to anyone looking to get their first TC. No tuning required!

Speedy

 

[Sigurthr]

Excellent work!!!!

Humble reproducible starts are best, IMO.

If you ground the cathode of the HeNe and place the breakout wire within an inch or two of the anode you might get lasing. It takes considerable current to pump the bore.

 

[ped]

The standalone HeNe is an espesially nice touch /idea .

You've just earned a +2 from me.

I wound my secondary by hand also, however, i mean BY HAND , no jigs or nothing, just a bobbin of copper wire, the former and my thumb .

Excellent work.

 

[Speedy78]

I started it that way but after the cat came in and thought I was trying to play with her I was done. She kicked the spool and unwound like 12 feet of the wire and it loosed the 100 or so coils I had done on the secondary. Stupid animals.

 

[Speedy78]

Didn't like the fact that that there was exposed AC wires and 3 separate parts to the TC so I made it all one.

Mounted the coils on top of a project box from radio shack. Added the window in the front so you can see the PCB board.


The two blue LEDs on the board illuminate everything really nicely. Sorry for the blurry picture. My focus freaks out next to this.


Would be cool to get an acrylic case cut for this but this works for now.


Still lighting lights like a boss!


Edit: Added some better photos!

Was worried the antenna being bent like this would mess it up but still operates the same with the same output.


Had to harvest this AC plug part from an old computer PSU. Radio shack doesn't carry them apparently.


Through the front window. Made out of plexiglass. You can see the transformer sitting directly behind the U channel heatsink with the PCB board on it. This all just barely fits in the box width wise.


Cool pictures I took. Second one would be really cool if it was on a black background and not carpet with my AC intake in the background.





Speedy

 

[Sigurthr]

I'd shorten up that antenna or better yet coil it into a tight solenoid so the end is no higher than half the height of the secondary. One single spark to the antenna from the breakout will destroy the driver. Other than that looks awesome.

 

[Atomicrox]

Great work, it seems to light up stuff from quite a distance!

It would be cool if you replaced the antenna with a secondary CT, shouldn't be that hard.

 

[Speedy78]

The instructions were very specific about it being 14 inches long. I will coil it into a pigs tsil and see if it still woeks right. Should be more stable. Currently it flops all over when I move it. What is a secondary ct?

 

[Polonium210]

The instructions were very specific about it being 14 inches long.

Are you sure it's not 14cm ?

Nice case and good job on the coil:wave:

 

[Speedy78]

Just went back and checked the directions and its 14 inches.

 

[Polonium210]

Just seems excessively long

 

[Speedy78]

Thats what I thought too. Its taller than the secondary.

 

[Atomicrox]

What is a secondary ct?

I'm not familiar with that design but many common SSTCs can have the antenna substituted by a current transformer. You need a small ferrite toroidal core, on it you coil a lot of turns of thin wire (I don't remember the optimal turns off my head) - this coil is connected in series to a resistor, which is then connected to the same point the antenna would be - the other side of the coil is connected to the low voltage GND. The secondary (high voltage) GND wire is also wound with a single turn on the core, on top of the thin wire.

It's generally considered a better form of feedback than using an antenna and it also improves your coil's looks

 

[Speedy78]

Hmm. Will have to do some reasearch on that. In the meantine I coiled it up and its about half the height of the secondary. If I cant figure out the current transformer I wad thinking wrapping thr antenna around a vertical acrylic rod with a small blue led at the base powered from one of the leds on the pcb. Would bw a fixed solution to the stock antenna and it would have that blue glow to it which woukd match the internals.

 

[Atomicrox]

Looking good! You might want to add a small ball of solder on top of the antenna to avoid corona. Sig suggested that for my coil and it helped