Tesla Coil Build Thread

[Sigurthr]

Spay poly works fine, just put a LOT of it on.

 

[The Lightning Stalker]

Get the ultra fast drying. The fast drying is
still too slow. It costs more, though.

 

[joeybab3]

Wow! i'm glad i found this thread. I recently bought a tinyTesla(well i bought it in may of 2014 actually but it was a kickstarter and didn't come until a week ago). I finally finished assembling it and i have no action whatsoever. I have tried resoldering all parts, and i have a replacement parts set coming in the mail. I'm not sure what else to do until that happens. btw their forums are trash, and have little info.

 

[Sigurthr]

Pictures! Post pictures as CLEAR and IN FOCUS and as high res as you can (link em on like imgur).

 

[LtKernelPanic]

I haven't had time to start building my tinyTesla but I remember reading in the manual about having to change the phasing jumpers if nothing happens when you try it. It's on the top of page 13 in the manual. http://onetesla.com/tinyTesla_Manual.pdf

Before swapping out parts make sure you've done all the troubleshooting steps they list and be sure you don't have any solder bridges that could fry your replacement parts.

Good luck in getting it to work. I'm going to get my secondary varnished over the weekend so I can hopefully build it the following weekend if nothing else pops up first.

 

[Down with Umbrella]

I remember reading in the manual about having to change the phasing jumpers if nothing happens when you try it. It's on the top of page 13 in the manual. http://onetesla.com/tinyTesla_Manual.pdf

Before swapping out parts make sure you've done all the troubleshooting steps they list and be sure you don't have any solder bridges that could fry your replacement parts

The manual looks pretty straightforward, I skimmed the trouble shooting pages. I would actually start building the coil and see how it goes during construction.

Do you and joeybab3 have the same coil? That's cool. Let's see some results guys!

 

[joeybab3]

The manual looks pretty straightforward, I skimmed the trouble shooting pages. I would actually start building the coil and see how it goes during construction.

Do you and joeybab3 have the same coil? That's cool. Let's see some results guys!

Yeah we do, i actually rotated those jumpers so many times they broke lose XD now i ordered a replacement parts set to see if that works..

 

[Down with Umbrella]

Quick question coilers. I hate to say it but I'm starting to get board. I've taken some great photos of my coil but I haven't contacted any of the streamers. I don't dare to get close. I was thinking about building a chicken stick in a welding glove with wire running to a separate RF ground. Should give an illusion of touching the streamers. Thoughts?

 

[Sigurthr]

Quick question coilers. I hate to say it but I'm starting to get board. I've taken some great photos of my coil but I haven't contacted any of the streamers. I don't dare to get close. I was thinking about building a chicken stick in a welding glove with wire running to a separate RF ground. Should give an illusion of touching the streamers. Thoughts?

Refresh my memory, was your TC powered by a MOT(s) or NST? If it is NST feel free to touch the output, it'l smart but not much of a real hazard. Just don't do it for long periods or often, haha. If it is MOT powered use a chicken stick as any ionization path between primary and secondary makes the secondary carry lethal current.

You should grab a bunch of fluoro bulbs and have fun with that, plus they make good chicken-sticks as they're inherently somewhat current limiting.

 

[Down with Umbrella]

My coil has 2 NSTs: 15kV/60mA total.

Well I got brave today. (Earlier, before I read the above post)
I set a breakout point on the toroid so the streamers were directed away from by body. With a bare hand I reached out holding the xenon tube closer to the coil.
JUST THEN A STREAMER REACHED OUT FROM THE TOP LOAD AND NAILED MY RIGHT POINTER FINGER. Ouch. I was kneeling down and felt it enter through my right hand and exited through my right knee. My poor finger is still numb.
I know the output isn't lethal but it's bite is as bad as its bark.
I have a new respect for this coil. :evil:

 

[Sigurthr]

Haha, glad to hear it was NST driven.

Yeah, the discontinuous (pulsed) nature means that your nerves will feel the current.

Now, if you graduate on to CW coils (SSTC, VTTC) you can have all the bark without any of the bite!

 

[Down with Umbrella]

Now, if you graduate on to CW coils (SSTC, VTTC) you can have all the bark without any of the bite!

Did you say you build flyback transformers? Soon I'm moving from Maine to Illinois where I'll have an apartment with a roommate. I want to go solid state soon. Any pointers where to start for a medium size coil?
My account got approved at 4hv. I might poke around there for SSTC parts. I also want to use an ac variac to control the output.

 

[Sigurthr]

Did you say you build flyback transformers? Soon I'm moving from Maine to Illinois where I'll have an apartment with a roommate. I want to go solid state soon. Any pointers where to start for a medium size coil?
My account got approved at 4hv. I might poke around there for SSTC parts. I also want to use an ac variac to control the output.

Fiddy makes the transformers himself. I just designed them and the drivers that run them. Go to him for boards/transformers.

Flybacks =! SSTC though.

The general path for making a SSTC is find a schematic you feel you can actually build, order parts from Digikey, build the driver according to the schematic, and then build the matching or appropriate resonator (pri/sec).

Should picking a schematic, doing a parts layout, picking parts, and constructing a board feel overly daunting... I did design a solution for that and still have boards ready for purchase. Sigurthr Enterprises: The USSTCC: Universal SSTC Logic Controller Go here, download the info file, and give it a good read through. It shows what all is required. The TL: DR is buy a board, order the listed components, install the components, solder it up. Wind a GDT (easy, and I have a youtube video for the hardest part of it), make a (half)bridge inverter based on my drawings, wire it all up.

 

[DashApple]

I do advise a variac when making an SSTC and a scope if you can both are very helpful and make things soooo much easier : P

This was a small coil made using 30p plastic mosfets : D ( the rest I had before hand )

IMG_0168[1] 279 by TwirlyWhirly555, on Flickr

and my new flyback fullbridge : D , currently running at 32 Volts 10A

IMG_1069[1] by TwirlyWhirly555, on Flickr

 

[Down with Umbrella]

Ya, great info guys! A scope is definitely on my to buy list. I think I might pick one up soon. I might go with a 4 channel digital but I haven't done the research yet on to which exact one. Any suggestions? I feel like I've asked before in this thread but I forget the feedback.

 

[Sigurthr]

Avoid any of the "DSO Nano" type things, they max out around 100KHz and that's no where enough for SSTC work. A cheap 20MHz analog 2channel scope or better is all you really need. You can certainly do non-experimental SSTC work just fine without a scope though.