Thursday, September 8, 2011

Tesla coil primary deck progress

primary_deck_slotted.JPG

Due to being unemployed for three months and my arthritis acting up badly, I've been largely ignoring hobby projects lately. I've always got an excuse. But today I finished cutting and routing the slots in the primary deck.

The slots are for access to the primary windings from below. One of the things that has always bothered me about most Tesla coils (including mine) was that the adjustable primary tap connection was nearly always brought out from below the primary deck around the edge and over the top. This had two effects: it wasted inductance in the primary circuit (ie; stray inductance which does not contribute to the magnetic field of the primary) and it created a convenient high spot from which corona leaders could start - a place for the secondary streamers to strike.

I have a little cleaning up to do, then I'll touch up the varnish in the slots, do some more finishing work on the bottom, and then mount the primary supports, and finally re-coat the whole top deck.

More as it happens. Stay tuned...

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