I've got a coil ready I'm just not sure what voltage to put through it and what circuitry to use.

 

@Aiden Roberts , what kind of Tesla coil is it? Can you post the circuit please? Can you post photos of your setup?

Tesla coils are very complex devices. I can't tell you how to drive it without an idea of what your setup is.

Matt

 

All I have right now are a few wires, a power supply and a 0.25mm copper wire 800 turn secondary, I was mainly wondering about how to setup the circuitry.

 

All I have right now are a few wires, a power supply and a 0.25mm copper wire 800 turn secondary, I was mainly wondering about how to setup the circuitry.

You're not giving nearly enough information. You need to find a design you like first. Solid state Tesla coils are not simple devices, I hope you realize that. You can't simply put together a circuit and expect it to work right off the bat without some serious tweaking. SSTCs are very picky.

What size Tesla coil are you building (diameter, height)?
What power supply do you hope to use?
What voltage output are you shooting for?
What parts do you have at your disposal?
What is your budget?
Where are you located (important to determine safety precautions and legal stuff)?
How experienced are you with electronics?
How do you plan to connect the circuit together? Do you have a PCB supplier? (DO NOT USE BREADBOARDS OR PROTOBOARD)
What are you using for a primary coil?
What are you using for a topload?
Where are the pictures (I asked this in my first question)?

All of these questions are very important to answer before I can tell you "how to hook up the circuitry". There are thousands of designs out there, and you need to use one that will work with your setup.

I'll tell you the truth, so far you don't strike me as having enough electrical experience to safely build a Tesla coil. I mean no offense, but Tesla coils are dangerous and if you refuse to answer questions and do research on your own, you're not going to be able to build one. Every Tesla coil is different, and thus requires different circuitry.

If you can't prove to me that you know what you're doing, I'll request that this thread be closed. Tesla coils should only be built by people who are experienced with electronics and are knowledgeable about high voltage safety.

 

I understand I'm not being very helpful, its true I don't know much about electronics and maybe I've bitten off more than I can chew but I came here for advice on how to start so no, I don't have pictures as I haven't started yet. I just wanted a little advice, not criticism. maybe I'll start with something a little easier... Thanks anyway

 

Read this before you plan anything

Tesla Coil Design, Construction and Operation

and this if you decide to continue

Designing your Tesla Coil

 

Read this before you plan anything

Tesla Coil Design, Construction and Operation

and this is you decide to continue

Designing your Tesla Coil

Thank you for the help, maybe I'll come back to the world of tesla coils another day. I guess I'll look on that website A_Maine96 mentioned for something easier in the meantime. I'll definitely give that stuff you mentioned a read too!

 

I understand I'm not being very helpful, its true I don't know much about electronics and maybe I've bitten off more than I can chew but I came here for advice on how to start so no, I don't have pictures as I haven't started yet. I just wanted a little advice, not criticism. maybe I'll start with something a little easier... Thanks anyway

Derstrom8's just being cautious and doesn't want anyone to get hurt and people tend to get hurt a lot with these DIY ones. He's responded to a LOT of tesla coil questions I've seen lol and knows this well. Thing is tesla coils are old tech but are still quite complicated for us non-formally educated peeps, I still have issues with understanding resonant inductive coupling

 

I understand I'm not being very helpful, its true I don't know much about electronics and maybe I've bitten off more than I can chew but I came here for advice on how to start so no, I don't have pictures as I haven't started yet. I just wanted a little advice, not criticism. maybe I'll start with something a little easier... Thanks anyway

Hi Aiden,
Once again, I did not intend to insult or criticize you in any way. I just know how complicated and dangerous these things are, and am always very hesitant to help unless the person building it has a lot of experience. They are not good projects for newbies, as much as I wish they were

Derstrom8's just being cautious and doesn't want anyone to get hurt and people tend to get hurt a lot with these DIY ones. He's responded to a LOT of tesla coil questions I've seen lol and knows this well.

Thank you Marcus, I appreciate your kind words. You are right, my main concern is the personal health and safety of the person building the coil. I need to be sure that they know what they are doing in order to be sure that they will not be harmed.

Thank you for the help, maybe I'll come back to the world of tesla coils another day. I guess I'll look on that website A_Maine96 mentioned for something easier in the meantime. I'll definitely give that stuff you mentioned a read too!

That sounds like a good idea Tesla coils require a lot of research and electronics knowledge, so I definitely recommend working from the bottom up. Learning the basics is always a good place to start.

Regards,
Matt

 

I understand, I guess I was just a bit judgemental seeing as I had my hopes set on a SSTC but that day will come... In time

 

I understand, I guess I was just a bit judgemental seeing as I had my hopes set on a SSTC but that day will come... In time

I can understand that completely. I was in your shoes once. All I wanted to do was design and build a solid state Tesla coil, but every time I looked at a schematic I was overwhelmed by the number and arrangement of components, and had no idea how it worked. It took a lot of research learning what each individual part did before I could understand how they worked together to drive the Tesla coil.

I am most certainly not saying you can never build a SSTC, but it is imperative that you learn the basics of Tesla coils (preferably spark gap Tesla coils) first, Understand how they work, perhaps build one or two (I am less reluctant to help someone design a SGTC provided they understand the dangers and know how to keep themselves safe). Once you understand how the original style of Tesla coil works, then you can move on to more complicated methods of driving them. SSTCs require a firm understanding of basic electronic circuits (logic gates, MOSFET drivers, H-bridges, power electronics, oscillators, comparators, rectifiers, etc). Once you understand those, then you'll be ready to tackle the design of a SSTC.

Matt

 

Yes well if you don’t know what voltage to put through it and what circuitry to use,
you also don’t have a coil ready
Don’t be put off, there are designs out there you can safely arc to your body.
Here’s one:
http://80.82.21.93/sstc2/SSTC2_en.html

 

Yes well if you don’t know what voltage to put through it and what circuitry to use,
you also don’t have a coil ready
Don’t be put off, there are designs out there you can safely arc to your body.
Here’s one:
http://80.82.21.93/sstc2/SSTC2_en.html

I disagree with the above statement in bold. There is always the chance of RF burns at the very least when touching the output of a Tesla coil, solid state or not. Many people claim they're safe to touch, but anyone who actually understands the properties of Tesla coils and the arcs they produce knows that this is a load of rubbish and it should not be touched. Period.

 

It kind of is The neons are standby lighting for my Tesla coil.
The interior lighting for the lab on my scale model original Wardenclyffe site pictured below.
The lab will house the electronics, and for standby (the thing has power available but not turned on),
I’m hoping the neons will give the effect of lighting inside the lab.
I’m only interested in the lab and the side shed. There’s extra buildings around it now I plan to simply omit.

I’m still working on an enclosure for my last project, but this is next

 

Everything discussed in the original thread was relevant to solid state Tesla coils.
Mods I suggest you read the entire thread in context and put it back.
It doesn’t make sense to say you should learn this and that first, and then have the safe stuff moved out.
http://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/threads/joule-theives.115374/
It’s my post about the model that is not relevant.
It’s not the fact that the neon goes inside a model that makes it relevant, but the fact that it’s an oscillator,
the next part will be a H-Bridge, and the next part will be a half stripped IF coil with the known f=455kHz,
and therefore must be coupled with a tuned primary to be able to couple.
The pulsed neon circuit is enough to find a resonant frequency, but not yet push-pull the tuned coupling.
That might not be a solid state Tesla coil, but it is all the same principal.

It is beneficial for do-ers for years to come when the results of that experimentation is dumped in the right place.

“SSTCs require a firm understanding of basic electronic circuits (logic gates, MOSFET drivers, H-bridges, power electronics, oscillators, comparators, rectifiers, etc). Once you understand those, then you'll be ready to tackle the design of a SSTC.”

“I still have issues with understanding resonant inductive coupling ”

 

Some of what was discussed in the original thread was NOT (directly) relevant to Tesla coils. It focuses on some of the concepts behind general electronics that can be applied to Tesla coils, but is not directly Tesla coil related (making it off-topic). By your reasoning, someone could come in and ask how to light an LED using a MOSFET as a switch and you'd still call it "relevant to Tesla coils" because Tesla coils also use MOSFETs. Sorry, but Joule Thiefs are a separate topic of their own.