My Spark-Gap Tesla Coil
This was my first coil, and required a fair bit
of research before building it. It follows the same principles as Tesla's
original coils and turned out to be very impressive when running.
The spark gap acts as a very high power high voltage switch which triggers
itself as the voltage across it rises to it's breakdown point, it does this
around 50 times a second. Each time it fires, it discharges the stored energy
in the tank capacitor into the primary coil. It is this rapid pulsing which
sets up the high voltage gain in the secondary coil. This is a very simplified
description as the full operation is quite complex.
To stand a fair chance of it working, I used new components wherever possible
and done as much testing as possible before connecting everything together.
The Input Filter And Safety Gap...
The Power Supply And Main Gap...
The Topload and Coils Together...
The Completed Tesla Coil Setup...
The Results
15/12/2003
First Light. |
10/01/2004
Second Light With a Picture . |
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24/01/2004 More Testing and Pictures. |
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28/02/2004
The Nottingham Gaussfest. (This links to a site run by one of the leading forces in the UK coiling scene, Derek Woodroffe) |