I have been building Tesla Coils
from the ground up for over 17 years. Everything I have built has
worked from the small desktop to this large coil. The coil itself
is not that large but the arcs are 8 - 10 feet long and loud. The
primary supply voltage is 250 at 100 amps, which is stepped up to
12,000 volts by a 33 KVA pole transformer. The capacitors are
hand made out of Plexiglas and aluminum foil to equal 0.200 mf.
The rotary spark-gap has 8 - 3/8" x 1" tungsten rod
contacts running at 1,900 - 2,000 rpm. They are connected in
series which gives a very pleasing sound and efficient power
transfer. The primary coil is constructed of 12 turns 3/8"
soft copper tubing. The secondary is wound on a piece of PVC pipe
12" x 36" with #15 gauge magnetic wire. The pop cans
serve as the high voltage terminal, I have now replaced them with
galvanized ductwork which has fewer protruding edges. This has
increased the arc length of up to 15 - 20 feet. (not shown)First try, neon transformers and no oil in the capacitors.
Second try, oil in the capacitors and a power pole transformer.
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Created on February 28, 1997
Last updated on February 05, 2004
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