Tesla coil help

Thread Starter

Peter basolo

Joined Nov 24, 2014
38
so I made a miniature Tesla coil and all the parts seem to be accurate to a larger scale one but nothing happens when I apply power
 

DerStrom8

Joined Feb 20, 2011
2,390
Good day, Peter!

There is far more to building Tesla coils than simply making it look right. The most important thing is that the primary tank circuit resonates at the same frequency as the secondary tank circuit. If it's off even a little bit, it may not work at all.

Could you post photos and diagrams of your setup? What are you using for power supplies, the tank capacitor, etc? I won't be able to help without knowing your specs.

As tom_s said, Tesla coils are very dangerous. Without knowing how Tesla coils work or the dangers involved, you are risking your own life and property. I am willing to help you, but you must take every precaution to keep yourself and others safe. You may not get a second chance.

Regards,
Matt
 

Thread Starter

Peter basolo

Joined Nov 24, 2014
38
Here are some picks I switch between the double a's and the power supply so I posted both. As I said earlier I went small scale my reasoning for such is that I don't want to get hurt haha.
 

Attachments

DerStrom8

Joined Feb 20, 2011
2,390
Most of those images are so small I can't tell what I'm looking at! :eek:

I can see several issues though. First of all, your secondary is a mess--The wire should not be overlapping, and there should be no gaps between each turn. Second, the topload is much too sharp, and you will have lots and lots of corona loss. Third, I do not see your capacitor bank. Fourth, your primary is much too close to your secondary. Fifth, I don't see a high voltage power supply (which is required to fire the spark gap). Sixth, I don't even see a spark gap.

I could go on. It seems like you're missing some of the key components to the coil's operation. I suggest you do more research on how Tesla coils work before attempting to build one. If you don't understand their theory of operation, there's no way you'll be able to build one, and certainly not one that works. I don't want to discourage you, but you MUST do more reading first. I suggest you put this up on a shelf and do a significant amount of googling before taking it down again.

Feel free to post back here when you have a better understanding of how Tesla coils work.

Regards,
Matt
 
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