More tesla coil questions.

[[email protected]]

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.

 

[amdxjunk]

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.You might find your 40nf cap is to large.
Mike K.

 

[Don Klipstein]

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.

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 ([email protected])

 

[[email protected]]

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.