Ideas for a tesla coil

Status
Not open for further replies.
R

RayRay1132

Member
It's about that time of year where my parts cabinet is overflowing with junk again, and I want to make another tesla coil with the stuff I have on hand. I already have the coil and matching caps and the transformer but I don't have any diodes.(I do have a surplus of mercury arc rectifiers though) I was wondering how well a set of mercury rectifiers would work in place of a standard diode. Never seen it done before so I figured I'd ask lol.

Thanks in advance -Ray
 
Sort by date Sort by votes
All of my early Tesla Coil builds were an old neon sign transformer (15 KV 30 mA) a home brew capacitor, spark gap and the actual hand wound HV coils. I guess I don't see the need for diodes or DC? Pretty crude as can be seen here. I have seen newer transistor types using a simple transistor oscillator to drive the primary but not anything requiring a HV diode? I guess if I wanted HV Diodes I would gut a microwave oven.

Ron
 
Upvote 0 Downvote

Yeah, but your logical.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
i used to build mine with oil furnace transformers, but pretty much the same circuit. i made my own HV caps out of plate glass, and aluminum foil. don't know why anyone would use HVDC in the primary, although it might work ok if you were using a rotary gap as opposed to a continuous spark gap.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
RayRay1132 said:
Yeah he is lol, I'm out here trying to
Click to expand...

Then if I was you I 'd do more research before doing much more. Even if you needed DC using a mercury rectifier doesn't work well unless used on 3Phase input. Each zero crossing needs a new rectifier ignition voltage when doing single phase.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Like I said earlier you need to do much more research on this if your building a Tesla coil, and not something that gets called a Tesla coil on Youtube. A true Tesla coil is AC not DC, so no need for a rectifier.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
shortbus= said:
Like I said earlier you need to do much more research on this if your building a Tesla coil, and not something that gets called a Tesla coil on Youtube. A true Tesla coil is AC not DC, so no need for a rectifier.
Click to expand...
As I mentioned earlier mine (first) used a Neon Sign transformer, 15 KV 30 mA. Good thing I never managed to kill myself. Seriously!

Ron
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

N
  • Question
Significance of resistance of the wireless power transmitter coil at resonance frequency
Replies
2
Views
734
danadak
C
  • Question
Stepper motor solution for a coil winding machine.
Replies
7
Views
2K
MaxHeadRoom78
G
Is there such a thing as a 2 way switch for a 1/8" phone jack?
Replies
18
Views
843
ZipZapOuch
  • Question
Filtering for a signal level detector
Replies
13
Views
3K
throbscottle
H
  • Question
Fixing the dimmer unit for a Vava light
Replies
5
Views
907
HosHos
H
Menu
Log in
Register
Cookies are required to use this site. You must accept them to continue using the site. Learn more…