mini solid state tesla coil

7/21/2019 Mini Solid State Tesla Coil

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http://www.instructables.com/id/Mini-Solid-State-Tesla-Coil/

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Mini Spark Gap Tesla Coilby Somersetcommunitycollegeon May 5, 2009

Table of Contents

Mini Spark Gap Tesla Coil .......................................................................................................

Intro: Mini Spark Gap Tesla Coil ...............................................................................................

Step 1: Items you will need ...................................................................................................

Step 2: Flyback Driver .......................................................................................................

Step 3: Tank capacitor & Spark Gap ............................................................................................

Step 4: Primary Coil ........................................................................................................

Step 5: Secondary coil ......................................................................................................

Step 6: Toroid .............................................................................................................

Step 7: Hook It Up And Make It Happen! .........................................................................................

Related Instructables ........................................................................................................

Comments ................................................................................................................
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Author:Somersetcommunitycollege

I have an associates degree in electrical tech also getting another degree.

Intro: Mini Spark Gap Tesla CoilRight after I got done making the Plasma speaker I wanted to work on something else that had to do with a high voltage flyback transformer. I searched on the internelooked at videos on you tube on how to make them. I am going to show you how I made a decent SSTC that makes about 4 inch arcs. This is a good way to have botworking plasma speaker and a mini tesla coil just by adding a few extra parts!
http://member/Somersetcommunitycollege/http://member/Somersetcommunitycollege/


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Step 1:Items you will needFlyback driver:

TL494 chip200uF (or 220uF) electrolytic capacitor47nF 250v capacitor100nF capacitor

10nF capacitor2.2K resistor10 ohm resistorUF4007 diode10K potentiometer22K potentiometerIRF540 MOSFETLarge heatsinkFlyback transformer (you can get one from an old CRT.)12v power source for TL494 oscillator12v to 40v power source for the flyback transformer*All the parts (Excluding the fly back, heatsink, and the power supplys, ) I got off of mouser for 12 bucks.*

Tank capacitor & Spark Gap:

8 -- 3000V .047uf CDE HV Meallized Polypropylene Film Capacitors8 -- 10 Mohms 5% Carbon Film resistors2 -- Screws for spark gap

*Pricy, caps was 2.22 each on mouser*

Primary Coil:

10 ft soft copper tubing ? OD ( 7 bucks at lowes or you can get 12awg solid wire, it will also work!)

Secondary coil:

PVC 1.5 d x 4 w pipe (2 bucks at lowes)27AWG enamel-covered solid-conductor copper wire ( Got from radioshack comes in a pack of 22, 27, and 30. Get three of them! Or if you can find them cheapersomewhere else get em! They are 6.59 each

Toroid:

1 Ft 2.5 in drain pipe (lowes 2.15 a foot)Aluminum plated tape (7 bucks at lowes)Wood or cardboardNylon bolt and nut

washer


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Step 2:Flyback DriverEarlier I told you I got done building a plasma speaker, well I had some spare parts left over so I decided to use the them. In NO way I am taking credit for the design othis circuit a boy by the name of Plasmana designed it! I will give the schematic and the link to his page

http://www.instructables.com/id/Build_A_Plasma_Speaker/

Hook everything up like it says, to test and see if the tl494 is oscillating put a speaker where the fly back is and change the voltage to 12V, you should hear a loudscreech, if nothing play with the pots or look over your circuit. One other reason I wanted to use the Tl494 as a driver is because I thought it would also produce musicfrom the arc. I was soon let down when the sound was coming out of the fly back and the arc from the tesla coil was the sound of the spark gap. If anyone knows howaudio mod this I would love to know! The flybacks secondary from the plasma speaker schematic is the HV DC from the tesla coil schematic.

The cam didnt pick up the screeching you can barly hear it

Also there is another driver that works well to but im not going to go into it. ill give the schematic its called ZVS driver.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Mini-Solid-State-Tesla-Coil/step2/Flyback-Driver/http://www.instructables.com/id/Build_A_Plasma_Speaker/


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Step 3:Tank capacitor & Spark GapFor the tank cap I made a MMC (Multi-Mini Capacitors) I used 8 3000V .047uf CDE HV Meallized Polypropylene Film Capacitors. The reason we need to use eight isbecause we need to raise the voltage rating of the caps because the fly back will give off a massive amount of voltage! So we need to put the caps in series! So lets dsome math 3000v x 8 = 24000v this should be good! Once you put them in series the capacitance will go down so .047uf / 8 = .0058uf or 5.8nF. Once you have them series we need to put the 10Mohm resistors across each of the capacitors to drain the voltage out of the capacitors. A good website to visit is

http://www.tb3.com/tesla/capacitors/capacitors.html

VERY HELPFUL! The spark gap is two screws put threw a box, the closer they are the more the arcs going into the air are ( The lightbulb I put on top move the arcsclose together to get it) the long apart they are the longer the arcs will be in the air! Play around with them to get it the way you like it! Also the transformer I am supplypower to the flyback, I put a meter to it and it says 32 V dc but when I take another reading when its turned on it reads 8 v dc. Its out of a TV, i need a bigger transform

WARNING! BE SURE NOT TO TUCH THE CAPS WILE THEY ARE IN USE I TOUCHED THEM TWICE! ONCE BURNED MY FINGER AND WENT NUMB FOR ALITTLE WILE! TWICE HIT MY LEG AND ABOUT KNOCKED ME OUT! IT SHOCKED THE HELL OUT OF ME!!!! BE CAREFUL!!!
http://www.instructables.com/id/Mini-Solid-State-Tesla-Coil/step3/Tank-capacitor-Spark-Gap/http://www.tb3.com/tesla/capacitors/capacitors.html


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Step 4:Primary CoilThe Primary coil is the that goes around the outside of the secondary coil. I am using 10 FT 1/4 OD copper tubing made in a cone shape. Before I got the tubing I wasusing 12AWG solid copper wire wrapped around a 2.5 piece of PVC. If this is all that you can get then that will be fine. I find the arcs are bigger at the third or fourth tuof the primary coil. Its best to use alligator clips on the wires to adjust the turns. The primary coil will be hooked up at one side on the tank capacitor and to the other sof the spark gap.

Step 5:Secondary coilThe secondary coil is the long vertical coil rising from the primary coil. This is where you spend a good chunk of time winding the coil. The secondary coil should be 5times bigger than the diameter pipe you are using so I am using 1.5 in diameter then the length of the coil should be 7.5 in. I got my magnetic wire from radio shackremember it comes with 22, 27, and 30 gage wire. You are only going to use the 27 awg wire, it should be green. You are going to use all three of the rolls of wire! Thiwill make the coil to turn out at 8 in which will be fine! I drilled 4 small holes at the bottom of the pvc pipe. Run the wire in then out, in the out and back in. There shoulda little bit of wire sticking out the bottom of the pvc pipe. This will be connected to earth ground! After you have done that then start to roll! When your rolling the coil anrun out of the first roll, put a piece of tape holding the wire to the pvc pipe, get the second roll that you have and solder the two leads together (make sure you scrape osome of the enamel). Get as little solder on them as possible, and just keep on rolling! You can check and see if you have a connection with a meter. If you find wiresomewhere else and have enough then you can just skip this. After you are done rolling I drilled three holes where the coil ends and ran the wire in then out and back and up the tube. This will hold the wire so it dont come unwound! Cut off the remaining pvc pipe but leave about 1 to 2 inches above the coil!

I made another coil out of the 30 awg wire. You will have to add more turns on the primary


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Step 6:ToroidI thought about buying a toroid to put on the top of it but im not going to pay 1 to 2 hundred dollars for one so I made my own! So your going to take the 1 Ft 2.5 inch dpipe and curl it in on itself so it should be in a circle. Stretching it out a little bit will help i t some. Measure the inside diameter of the circle and cut a piece of wood orcardboard and place it in the center of the tube. It will look like a space ship when your done! Take the Aluminum plated tape and start taping from the bottom of thecardboard, around the tube, to the top of the cardboard (it is extremely sticky!). Get the tape as smooth as possible! Its easier said than done but get is as best as youcan! Once you got it covered with aluminum tape, Drill a hole in the center, put your nylon bolt threw the hole, place the washer and nut on the other side. Be sure toscrape the enamel off the wire to make a good connection with the toroid!


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Step 7:Hook It Up And Make It Happen!After that then your done! Hook it all up and play with it! You can see the arcs better in the dark than in the light I wish my cam could pick up the li ttle arcs. Im sure if I a better power supply to the flyback they will be more impressive! If theres any I left out or could make this better please give your input!

Sorry about the dark shot you cant see crap! my cam sucks!

The lightbulb is cool!

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Comments

50 comments Add Comment view all 52commen

Jimmy Protonsays: Feb 17, 2011. 6:54 PM REPJust a comment on the name, all Tesla Coils are spark gap (except solid state), it suppose to be the kind of gap.

spark lightsays: Mar 16, 2011. 8:57 PM REPnot all tesla coils are spark gap/solid state! You kids have no idea what vacuum tubes are these days, do you? :D

justjimAZsays: Dec 30, 2010. 5:29 AM REPI was just wondering if metallic spray paint would be conductive enough for this purpose? A can wouldn't cost much more than a roll of aluminum tape. Itwould be easier to keep it smooth.

Somersetcommunitycollegesays: Dec 30, 2010. 6:31 PM REPNot really for sure, I can get some and try it but I dont know how much metal is in the paint.

tzq33tdqsays: Oct 3, 2010. 4:57 PM REPthis is so cool i want to make one. how many volts is it and why is it so awesome?

deawon2says: May 17, 2010. 1:01 AM REPHi i've seen some pic's and vid's of tesla coils and i found out that you can make a ring of lightning instead of just sparks i thought this was achieved byputting an engine and a guiding 'lance' sort of speak (to guide your current) on top of your 'topload'. Can you please give me a little more info or even aninstructable if possible.Thank you.

grtz Deawon2

quantumkitttysays: Aug 29, 2010. 9:26 PM REPthe ring of lightning was actually just a lance-to-ground setup, and the effect was caused by a long exposure with the camera when taking the pic :D

Somersetcommunitycollegesays: Aug 18, 2010. 6:48 PM REPWelp im gonna put up a SSTC on here in a couple of days, need to stop being lazy.

kal00says: Aug 12, 2010. 2:43 PM REPHow can you get sparks to your hand and not get hurt?

Jimmy Protonsays: Aug 10, 2010. 2:59 PM REPcan you use microwave caps

pyrorowersays: Sep 8, 2009. 7:08 AM REPYou know those zappers people make from disposable cameras? I'm wondering if you remove the capacitor and attached wires to the points on the circuitboard that charged the capacitor if you could then use the camera as a sort of high voltage generator to power a small tesla coil. Anybody know?

BeanahVulgarissays: Jan 9, 2010. 2:27 PM REP

First of all, be carefull. Second, using more than 1 flash charger with i t's 300 volt outputs in paralell will create a generator that can supply more watts psecond that just one, (scale it up to charge something that needs more amps).

How to make this usefull... Charge a capacitor bank and periodically discharge it through a transformer. Dependant on how many watthours the stackeup chargers can give, you could run a tesla coil off of a huge bank of 1.5v sources (the chargers can use 2v but why push the horses to death when yocan just link up more horses to take the load?)..... maybe even the Baghdad batteries could be used! Or maybe even John Hutchinson's ammoshellcasimir effect batteries.

suggestion for the periodically discharging switch: In the spirit of ancient technologies, i suggest a rotating spark gap where a metallic star, attached to laquered shaft of wood, is rotated by a separate source (a dc motor or something) and thus if it is a 6 point star you would have 6 discharges per rotatioas the points brush up against contact flaps or something.

Completely possible to have done with just transformers and baghdad batteries to transmit radio or use for highvoltage lightning.... but thats getting offtopic.
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Xellerssays: Jan 17, 2010. 9:57 AM REPJust for fun, I once used a modified camera flash supply (minus the rectifier diode) and a voltage multiplier to power a small Tesla Coil. It wasn't tooimpressive, but it was very fun to draw 2" long sparks that were coming from a single 1.5 AA battery.

BeanahVulgarissays: Jan 18, 2010. 1:22 AM REPwow! did you have to periodically charge the cap bank for a good while?

Xellerssays: Jan 18, 2010. 9:28 AM REPActually, it was even more impressive because the capacitors fired about twice per second! Of course, the battery didn't last very long.... ;)

BeanahVulgarissays: Jan 18, 2010. 6:08 PM REPI'd love to try to hook up a large battery bank of potatoes or even "baghdad battery" bank. I've been trying to mess with circuits that pickup a static charge from the air. This is an idea dating back to Nikola Tesla's patent "Utilization of Radiant Energy"

The idea is using a teslacoil system in reverse (the HV terminals pick up HV static in the air and periodically discharge into a resonanttransformer that stores the energy in a battery or something).

Xellerssays: Jan 18, 2010. 6:54 PM REPUmmmm.... not to upset you, but that wasn't quite what Tesla's idea was.... What I've been able to achieve is transmission of energyfrom one resonant oscillator to another (at the same frequency) - that isn't quite the same thing as "[picking] up HV static in the air."

BeanahVulgarissays: Jan 19, 2010. 12:11 AM REPThe patent you want to look up is US# 685 957

Tesla understood the research of Kristian Birkeland in his experiments with his terella laboratory. He discovered the actionsbehind the aurora borialis and australus. Tesla knew that charge particles were bombarding the earth every day . He realized thaif the energy from the sun was only lets say positively charged particles, then the sun would charge negative and the energy woudiffuse through space as 1/R^2. If the negative and positive flowed together the net charge loss would be neutral and thus theenergy component would be kinetic. I dont know if he knew the magnetosphere split the charges into positive and negative but imsure he realized something like this was going on.Basically if the atmosphere consists of this charged strata, is there a way to harness it. Basically like harnessing the power of alightning bolt, but instead of harvesting the strike, you harvest the dipole the earth naturally has before the dielectric breakdownoccurs (the lightning).

The 4th Doctorsays: Sep 26, 2009. 10:15 AM REPno the spark gap would have to be very very small and precise for 300 volts and disposable camera circuits supply a very low amount of power :/

BeanahVulgarissays: Jan 17, 2010. 3:34 PM REP

well i was thinking more along the lines of the rotating metallic star hitting contacts or something. Sparkgap operating at 300V isnt enough i agree..unless its a very small delicately placed gap.

As for the low power, this is true. But to increase the power output you can link the 300Volt outputs in paralell. The acctual charging circuitry on theboard takes up something like a 10th of the space so size is not toooo much of an issue. (look up coilguns on this site and theres an instructable onremoving the small charging circuit on the flash camera circuitboard).

Technically you should be able to connect X amounts of these things in paralell to get Y increase in current at 300V. I've been trying to look into theuse of these power charge circuits as a power supply for a post apocalypse scenario (i liked playing fallout so i see it kinda as a hobby idea... ipromise im not crazy or stockpiling things in a giant fallout shelter.)

The 4th Doctorsays: Jan 17, 2010. 6:28 PM REPi think quite a few would be needed i doubt these things could crank 10 watts without blowing smoke, cant imagine it being practical. powersupply for post apocalyptic scenario you say, an inverter? same problem again

but i guess pretty large masses of em can be had fairly easily usually

BeanahVulgarissays: Jan 18, 2010. 1:21 AM REPInverter? nah, i've been thinking about ways around semiconductors for highpower systems.

And yes, it would probably take quite a few to get a good steady 10w/h out of it, but thats the beauty of the simple circuit... as many as youlike could be added.Its the 1.5V source im worried about lol... a huge HUGE bank of baghdad batteries or maybe John Hutchinson's casimir effect battery.

deawon2says: May 17, 2010. 1:12 AM REPIf you wanna make a post apocalyptic scenario maybe you could try a 'lightning machine'used for charging clouds with static energy at a certain place and then making them bump in eachother (basicly how lightning works,butguess you already knew) and then finding an effective delivery system for global coverage
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11/13


josh1324says: Dec 2, 2009. 2:39 PM REPDoes it hurt to touch the sparks?

BeanahVulgarissays: Jan 17, 2010. 3:56 PM REPyes.

Its kinda like bodies of water.

If im in a pressure chamber and the pressure of the water rises, i can take it.Thats like voltage.

But voltage with a path to flow is like being in that pressure chamber and then some one busts open the side of it with axe or sledge hammer or

something...... All of a sudden the water would rush through a path to the low pressure open hole. Being in this path i would get hit with a current of watand possibly shot out through the hole. weee!

So when you touch one terminal its like being in that chamber. When you touch a terminal of a different pressure/voltage you create a path throughyourself for the current to flow. You are in the path where high pressure meets low pressure.

I forget the acctual values of current that can kill a person. But even rediculously low amperages placed across the heart (from fingertip to fingertip) cankill a person or create toxins that are very very hard on the body. Just as a small example, if we are mostly water and putting positive and negative leadinto water creates hydrogen and oxygen gas, imagine what thoes chems can do to a person.

Tesla's high frequency high voltage systems dont hurt as much because of 2 things. 1, the higher the frequency the less your nerves can respond to thflucutating electric fields.2, there is such a low current that the wattage thats travelling through you is low (Watts= voltage*current)3, there is the supposed 'skineffect' where the flowing charge for high frequency currents seems to exist mainly on the surface of a conducting body.True for conductors but i wonder for organisms...

anyways, if i got anything wrong, other peeps pls pls correct. Thx.

(sorry about the longwindedness but hopefully that answers the 1 question that was asked and maybe afew more that arose.)

voltheadsays: Jul 18, 2009. 6:53 PM REPIf you want if to sing try replacing the spark gap with some xenon flash tubes from camera flash circuits. Hope it works

Xellerssays: Sep 2, 2009. 8:31 AM REPHow would that work? Modulation is only possible on solid state and vacuum tube Tesla Coils.

voltheadsays: Sep 2, 2009. 9:06 PM REPYou would need to have a bps of 20000 and vary the current with IGBTs. Also I have learned a lot more since I posted that comment. And some (lime) have a low budget so MOTs are the only option. MOTs can be ballasted resistively with a 150W light.

Xellerssays: Jan 17, 2010. 10:00 AM REPwww.instructables.com/id/Audio-Modulated-Solid-State-Tesla-Coil/

Xellerssays: Sep 3, 2009. 6:50 AM REPChanging the BPS rate does change the frequency that you hear coming from the sparks, but the reason that it is not done with SGTCs is that you increase the BPS, the energy stored in the tank capacitor in each cycle is lower and lower, and the capacitor is usually matched to thefrequency of the transformer and its voltage and current, so on some cycles, the transformer will charge the capacitor and then reverse polarityand discharge it. It might work, but at each frequency, the sparks would take a different appearance, even though the total energy in the circuitwould remain the same. Also, IGBTs are not practical with a SGTC due to the VERY high voltages and currents involved. You might be able to this with an OLTC, but I wouldn't expect good results. Also, MOTs are usually better ballasted using an inductive ballast, such as another MOTwith shorted secondary windings.

Somersetcommunitycollegesays: Sep 2, 2009. 12:54 PM REPIm trying to put together another circuit for this. I ordered the parts for it a couple days ago so it should be coming in soon, Im going to make a solidstate and improve the spark gap, I have a couple of microwave transformers around here somewhere, Know anything that i can do with them???

Xellerssays: Sep 2, 2009. 3:42 PM REPDon't use microwave oven transformers, yet. You should only do this when you are very confident in your constructions skills (verify this bybuilding a few smaller neon sign transformer or OBIT powered Tesla Coils first), when you fully understand the physics of the circuit (becomfortable with LC circuits and using calculators, understand quenching and damping effects within the circuit, and be able to understand thecurrent flow within the circuit), and when you have a large, clean area to work in. Even a ballasted microwave oven transformer is lethal. Also,you should collect more transformers, at least 3 for a ballasted antiparallel setup that should provide 4kV. You may also consider using a voltagmultiplier, to make the voltages easier to work with. A Tesla Coil built using microwave oven transformers is a big commitment, and will take a loof time and effort. I recommend that you set those transformers aside for the time being.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Mini-Solid-State-Tesla-Coil/?utm_source=pdf&utm_campaign=comments#DISCUSShttp://www.instructables.com/member/Xellers/?utm_source=pdf&utm_campaign=commentshttp://www.instructables.com/member/Xellers/?utm_source=pdf&utm_campaign=commentshttp://www.instructables.com/id/Mini-Solid-State-Tesla-Coil/?utm_source=pdf&utm_campaign=comments#DISCUSShttp://www.instructables.com/member/Somersetcommunitycollege/?utm_source=pdf&utm_campaign=commentshttp://www.instructables.com/member/Somersetcommunitycollege/?utm_source=pdf&utm_campaign=commentshttp://www.instructables.com/id/Mini-Solid-State-Tesla-Coil/?utm_source=pdf&utm_campaign=comments#DISCUSShttp://www.instructables.com/member/Xellers/?utm_source=pdf&utm_campaign=commentshttp://www.instructables.com/member/Xellers/?utm_source=pdf&utm_campaign=commentshttp://www.instructables.com/id/Audio-Modulated-Solid-State-Tesla-Coil/http://www.instructables.com/id/Mini-Solid-State-Tesla-Coil/?utm_source=pdf&utm_campaign=comments#DISCUSShttp://www.instructables.com/member/Xellers/?utm_source=pdf&utm_campaign=commentshttp://www.instructables.com/member/Xellers/?utm_source=pdf&utm_campaign=commentshttp://www.instructables.com/id/Mini-Solid-State-Tesla-Coil/?utm_source=pdf&utm_campaign=comments#DISCUSShttp://www.instructables.com/member/volthead/?utm_source=pdf&utm_campaign=commentshttp://www.instructables.com/member/volthead/?utm_source=pdf&utm_campaign=commentshttp://www.instructables.com/id/Mini-Solid-State-Tesla-Coil/?utm_source=pdf&utm_campaign=comments#DISCUSShttp://www.instructables.com/member/Xellers/?utm_source=pdf&utm_campaign=commentshttp://www.instructables.com/member/Xellers/?utm_source=pdf&utm_campaign=commentshttp://www.instructables.com/id/Mini-Solid-State-Tesla-Coil/?utm_source=pdf&utm_campaign=comments#DISCUSShttp://www.instructables.com/member/volthead/?utm_source=pdf&utm_campaign=commentshttp://www.instructables.com/member/volthead/?utm_source=pdf&utm_campaign=commentshttp://www.instructables.com/id/Mini-Solid-State-Tesla-Coil/?utm_source=pdf&utm_campaign=comments#DISCUSShttp://www.instructables.com/member/BeanahVulgaris/?utm_source=pdf&utm_campaign=commentshttp://www.instructables.com/member/BeanahVulgaris/?utm_source=pdf&utm_campaign=commentshttp://www.instructables.com/id/Mini-Solid-State-Tesla-Coil/?utm_source=pdf&utm_campaign=comments#DISCUSShttp://www.instructables.com/member/josh1324/?utm_source=pdf&utm_campaign=commentshttp://www.instructables.com/member/josh1324/?utm_source=pdf&utm_campaign=comments


12/13


Somersetcommunitycollegesays: Sep 2, 2009. 8:28 PM REPwell ill just work with what i got now. ill put what I got together and throw it on here and see what you all think! just gotta find the time withschool and all.....

voltheadsays: Sep 2, 2009. 9:14 PM REPYou are doing better than me. I keep meaning to make an instructable but I have not made anything cool yet. Good luck.

pyrorowersays: Sep 9, 2009. 5:34 AM REPBefore I build this and attempt to also modify it to "sing", there is one thing I am unsure of... After modifying the coil to sing, would thcurrent be higher than in the unmodified version?

Xellerssays: Sep 9, 2009. 1:32 PM REPFirst of all, you won't be able to modulate any sort of spark gap Tesla Coil, so don't expect to. Also, modulation does increase thcurrent in the coil. It only varies it, to expand or contract the plasma generated by the coil to oscillate air. We perceive theseoscillations as sound.

Somersetcommunitycollegesays: Sep 9, 2009. 7:04 AM REPI dont know I didnt test it with a meter, I really dont think you can make it sing unless you get rid of the spark gap and make it asolid state. I tryed the spark gap and you can only hear the music inside the flyback, Im trying a new circuit and got the parts intoday so im gonna try it out.

pyrorowersays: Sep 9, 2009. 4:54 PM REPWait, Xellers, I was not referring to making something like plasmana's plasma speaker If that's what your talking about... Imeant something like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiUlqecQKUo&feature=related

Xellerssays: Jan 17, 2010. 10:00 AM REPYou cannot achieve that sort of modulation using this sort of topology; you will need a full solid state coil as opposed to aSGTC with a solid state driver. As a sidenote, here is what I built: www.instructables.com/id/Audio-Modulated-Solid-StateTesla-Coil/.

Xellerssays: May 30, 2009. 8:56 AM REPThis is pretty good, but you might want to try to increase the power to increase the rate that the spark gap fires at. The best thing to try would be to get abigger capacitor.

Somersetcommunitycollegesays: May 30, 2009. 8:14 PM REPThanks, Yea I need a Power supply to supply the voltage to the flyback to get it crankin better. Also yea I need more caps I got the parts for the powersupply coming in the mail so ill order more caps next time. Also need to change the title to spark gap.

Xellerssays: Jun 14, 2009. 1:11 PM REPTry the ZVS driver. Of course, it is possible to improve this even more - I get about 3" white arcs from my 555 timer powered spark gap Tesla Coil (not the one on instructables, but another one). The real problem for me is the primary coil. With the one that I currently use, there is a lot of coronaldischarge between the lower secondary windings and the primary coil. Sometimes, an arc even develops.

Xellerssays: Sep 2, 2009. 8:32 AM REPActually, I meant 6" there.

Somersetcommunitycollegesays: Aug 16, 2009. 5:18 AM REPwell not been on here in forever seems like, been to busy trying to get signed up for school and everything. I have drawn up a better circuit that i will put upwhen i get the chance also got some bigger caps that im going to try. gonna build a bigger tesla coil when i get around to it but when i get back to schoolshould have more time to work on it.

james.mcglashansays: Jun 26, 2009. 10:19 PM REPdoes it hert when u touch the metal???

Somersetcommunitycollegesays: Jun 27, 2009. 11:22 AM REPnope

The 4th Doctorsays: Jun 12, 2009. 8:03 PM REPisent this a spark gap tesla coil, the driver for it is solid state but the tesla coil is a sgtc as far as i can tell nice though better then mine
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13/13

Somersetcommunitycollegesays: Jun 13, 2009. 12:17 PM REPYea your right I made the page at 3 in the morning dont know what i was thinking. really need to change the title

imakethingssays: May 18, 2009. 12:26 AM REPdoesn't it zaps you when touched?

Somersetcommunitycollegesays: May 18, 2009. 8:34 PM REPyup it will get ya, but it dont hurt..........that much.

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