solid state tesla coil
DESCRIPTION
Guide to make a solid state tesla coil.TRANSCRIPT
http://www.instructables.com/id/Solid-State-Tesla-Coil/
Food Living Outside Play Technology Workshop
Solid State Tesla Coilby Michael Chen on September 25, 2011
Table of Contents
Solid State Tesla Coil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Intro: Solid State Tesla Coil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Step 1: Tesla Coil Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Step 2: Secondary Coil (Part 1 of 4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Step 3: Secondary Coil (Part 2 of 4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Step 4: Secondary Coil (Part 3 of 4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Step 5: Secondary Coil (Part 4 of 4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Step 6: Toroid (Part 1 out of 4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Step 7: Toroid (Part 2 out of 4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Step 8: Toroid (Part 3 out of 4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Step 9: Toroid (Part 4 out of 4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Step 10: Primary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Step 11: Control Circuitry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Step 12: Test it . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Step 13: Links and References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Related Instructables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
http://www.instructables.com/id/Solid-State-Tesla-Coil/
Intro: Solid State Tesla CoilA solid state Tesla coil is one of the kinds of Tesla coils available. It has several advantages over the more common spark gap tesla coil. They are less louder thanconventional Tesla coils, yet they can still achieve a respectable output. They can also be made to play music through its spark, which is a cool effect. Examples of thistrick can be seen by searching for musical tesla coil or singing tesla coil. They are also more friendly to nearby electronic apparatus, although caution should still beapplied.
In the following instructable, I will show you how to make a solid state Tesla coil, as well as several helpful tips and hints that will come handy during its construction. Itake no credit for the original design, which is Steve Ward's, with some small modifications "here and there."
While fiddling with the antenna, I accidentally burnt both of the Mosfets, so bear in mind this design is far from perfect. I'm still posting the instructable, assome of the techniques I used may be interesting to some. Try at your own risks. Results may vary.
If you like this instructable, please rate it and vote my instructable for the contest.
Step 1: Tesla Coil Parts
A Solid State Tesla coil is made by four main parts: the primary coil, the secondary coil, the topload, and the control circuitry.
The Secondary : The secondary is the long, orange cylinder. It is actually a white PVC pipe covered by a lot of enameled wire. One side is connected to ground, highvoltage comes through the other side.
The Primary : The primary is powered by the control circuitry and it generates the magnetic field that the secondary uses to create the high voltage. It is the few turns ofthick wire at the base of the secondary coil.
The Topload : The topload is the metallic object at the top of the secondary coil. It provides a capacitance to the Tesla coil.
The Control Circuitry : The circuits that make the tesla coil work at the correct frequency and duty cycle; based on Steve Ward's design.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Solid-State-Tesla-Coil/
Step 2: Secondary Coil (Part 1 of 4)First, the coil former must be prepared. The coil former is the hollow tube in which the enameled wire will be wrapped. The external diameter of the pipe should be 4.5 in.(11.48 cm). In my, case, I used a 4 in. PVC pipe. PVC pipe sizes are not the outside diameter size, so be wary. A 4 in. PVC pipe has a 4.5 in. outer diameter,which is the diameter required. If a 4 in. PVC pipe cannot be obtained, one must use any non conductive hollow cylinder with a 4.5 in. outer diameter.
Usually, PVC pipes will come with a non-straight edge, specially if it is a leftover. To straighten it out, place the pipe inside the flange (see picture). The irregular side mustbe slightly past the flange's edge(picture 2). Then, with a hacksaw, the irregular edge is cut, using the flange's border as a nice, straight guide.
One can observe the irregular side cut off on picture 3, leaving a nice straight edge in the pipe's end. Now, the flange can be removed for the next step.
Image Notes1. 4 in. PVC Pipe (It's outer diameter is actually 4.5 in.)2. Measuring tape3. Sandpaper (120grit, although anything around it works just as fine)4. Hacksaw
Image Notes1. Flange2. Irregular, non-straight edge
Image Notes1. Irregular edge chopped off.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Solid-State-Tesla-Coil/
2. Nice, clean, straight edge
Step 3: Secondary Coil (Part 2 of 4)Now, the secondary former must be cut to the appropriate size. From one end of the winding section to the other end of the winding section, 17 inches must be available.In addition, the former must be able to accommodate two flanges. In my case, each flange had a height of 2 inches, so:
17 in. + 2 in. + 2 in. = 21 in.
Be wary, as the specific height of the flange may vary according to where you buy it, but the principle remains the same. Place the flange so that the required number ofinches are in between the flange's edge and the pipe's end and then cut the pipe using the technique described in the previous step.
Image Notes1. My flange's height is two inches, but yours may vary.
Image Notes1. Position the right edge of the flange 21 inches (or what you require dependingon the flange) from the pipe's end.
Image Notes1. Finished piece, confirm measurements before continuing.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Solid-State-Tesla-Coil/
Image Notes1. Cut in the right side of the flange.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Solid-State-Tesla-Coil/
Image Notes1. Secondary with only one flange (not glued yet)
Step 4: Secondary Coil (Part 3 of 4)The next step is to glue one flange to the pipe. To do this, place the flange above a disposable surface, and cover only the interior surface of the flange with glue.Regardless of the PVC cement instructions, do not cover the pipe's surface with glue.
Depending on the specific PVC cement you use, it might have negative dielectric properties (it may hurt performance). Besides that, a perfect seal is not needed.
After placing the glue on the flange, place the pipe inside the flange, pushing the extra glue downwards towards your disposable surface. Getting glue on the outside ofthe flange will not decrease performance, but getting it on the pipe, specifically on the winding area, might.
Sorry for the fuzzy pictures.
Image Notes1. Disposable surface2. PVC cement3. Flange
http://www.instructables.com/id/Solid-State-Tesla-Coil/
4. Pipe
Step 5: Secondary Coil (Part 4 of 4)The final step of this subsection is to wind the secondary. There is no quick way and easy way to wind the secondary without a lathe or similar acting jig, but they can bewinded by hand. The materials are, of course, the pipe, 30 AWG enameled wire, and time, lots of it.
First, have something to hold the wire that permits it to spin freely. This can range from a small, eager kid to some books and a stick. I recommend you to (before startingthe Tesla), try to break a small section with your hands for you to know what is the maximum force you can apply without breaking it. (Although not exact, an idea doeshelp)
Enameled wire is sold by weight, not by length. You will need slightly less than 3/4 of a pound, or almost 1/4 of a kilogram. The exact weight, assuming perfect winding(which probably will not happen) is 0.246 kg. To start winding it, you may either glue a few turns of wire with super glue, or place some electrical tape sticky side up tohold the first turns.
It is extremely important to avoid spaces between wires, as well as overlapping turns. One overlapped turn will not ruin the entire coil, but try not to make a bad job inhere, it will be worth it. You can use electrical tape to hold the wire if you are stopping halfway through the coil for any reason. If for any reason, you break the wiremidway, it is best to start over.
When you finish, add a bit of glue(epoxy, hot glue, etc) to hold the last few turns. Varnishing the secondary coil after winding is extremely recommended, but notnecessarily needed. For a note, mine is not varnished.
Attention
If the difference between summer and winter temperatures is large in your region, varnishing the secondary is a must. Metal expands during summer and contracts duringwinter. If not varnished, you could end with an unusable pile of twisted wire by summer.
The secondary coil presented below is a compromise between speed and quality. For maximum quality (and slowest time), check the links at the end of this instructable.
Image Notes1. My wire-holding jig.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Solid-State-Tesla-Coil/
Image Notes1. Enameled wire (30 AWG)2. Tape (optional)3. Pipe (with flange already glued)
Image Notes1. Want to stop? Use tape!
http://www.instructables.com/id/Solid-State-Tesla-Coil/
Image Notes1. First few windings
Image Notes1. More windings.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Solid-State-Tesla-Coil/
Image Notes1. Tadaa! A finished secondary coil.
Step 6: Toroid (Part 1 out of 4)To make the toroid, you will need aluminum duct, a plier, wire, and a second flange. First, cut the aluminum ducting so that it can do exactly a full revolution to the flange.Then, cut a piece of wire whose length is slightly larger than the aluminum duct. Using the pliers, bend the wire to bring the two edges of the aluminum duct as close aspossible.
Make sure the wire is inside the toroid; having it in the outside would be detrimental to the Tesla coil. The missing slice can then be covered using either aluminum tapeor scraps of aluminum duct.
Ideally, if you can find a piece of tube with a diameter just smaller than you aluminum duct's diameter, you should glue it as described in one of my links at the end of theinstructable, titled A new 8.5 x 34.5 Toroid for the 'Phoenix' . Since I could not find this material, I had to use a wire. It will still be okay as long as the wire remains in theinside of the toroid.
Image Notes1. Aluminum duct2. Pliers
Image Notes1. Wire2. Wire
http://www.instructables.com/id/Solid-State-Tesla-Coil/
3. A Flange4. Wire
Image Notes1. Use the plier to bring the edges of the toroid closer.
Image Notes1. As close as you can
Step 7: Toroid (Part 2 out of 4)Now, glue the toroid to the flange using hot glue. Avoid using any other glues without checking flammability first.
Paste the toroid to the flange well, going around the circumference. Depending on how you are going to connect the Tesla secondary to the toroid, you can glue theremaining notch in the ducting either now or later in the process. Please see the next step for further clarification.
Image Notes1. Hot Glue
Image Notes1. Gluing the toroid
http://www.instructables.com/id/Solid-State-Tesla-Coil/
Image Notes1. Toroid glued
Step 8: Toroid (Part 3 out of 4)Before continuing, the way to connect the secondary to the tesla coil has to be thought out. If you have either conductive glue or aluminum tape (glue preferred), you canskip away this step.
Being too cheap to buy these. I decided to make a screwed connection. I drilled a hole through the flange and the aluminum ducting. Afterwards, I inserted a screwthrough the aluminum ducting from the inside of the aluminum duct towards the flange, and used nuts to hold it . See pictures for an explanation. This is not ideal; but itworks good enough.
Then, I placed the toroid over the secondary and attached the wire to it. Some of you may ask: How did the cable got from the outside to the inside of the pipe? The way Iused was to drill a small 1/16" hole through the pipe. Bear in mind that drilling a hole limits the maximum arc length of the Tesla coil to the separation between this holeand the base of the secondary; any greater would arc inside. Nevertheless, I consider 17 in. arcs good enough for me.
If using conductive glue, just glue the secondary cable to the outside of the toroid. After finishing this step, use hot glue to close the notch that remained in the toroid ifyou have not done so already.
In all cases, remember the secondary cable has an enamel coating. Remove it with sandpaper before connecting.
Image Notes1. Screw, nut, and secondary cable.2. Screw head is inside here.3. undefined4. Notch already glued.
Image Notes1. Screw and nut
http://www.instructables.com/id/Solid-State-Tesla-Coil/
Step 9: Toroid (Part 4 out of 4)
The final step in the tesla coil construction is to fill the top hole of the toroid with aluminum. If you can obtain a pie pan that fits in the toroid's inner circumference, use it. Ifnot, take a pie pan and cut a circle that can fit in the toroid. Place the toroid in its final position on top of the secondary, and hot glue the flange to the pipe.
Then, place the cut pie pan on top of the toroid and glue it with hot glue.
Important
Solid state Tesla coils require a breakout point to work properly. A breakout point is a pointy object that protrudes from the toroid. I have decided to not place a fixed oneso that experiments using different breakout points can be made, but never run the tesla coil without a breakout point. For example, a screwdriver placed on top of thetoroid is commonly used.
Image Notes1. Toroid (top section unglued)2. Pie Pan
Image Notes1. Top section (already glued)2. Secondary
Step 10: PrimaryThe primary of a Tesla coil is made by another coil of wire. Fortunately, it only requires ten or less turns of a thick wire (16AWG or thicker).
Just wind a ~16 AWG wire ten times around the lower part of the secondary. Hold it temporarily with tape, as the precise number of turns may be adjusted later on ifdeemed necessary.
The number of turns affects how much current passes through the circuit (see next step for the circuit). The less turns, the longer the arcs, but the hotter the MOSFETswill get. Ten turns is a good starting point, then one can reduce the number of turns until the MOSFETs start getting warm.
If the number of turns is too low, the MOSFETs will blow up eventually; on the other hand, if you have too many turns, the performance will be sub-par to what isachievable.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Solid-State-Tesla-Coil/
Step 11: Control CircuitryI strongly recommend you to employ Steve Ward's design. (Scroll to the bottom of his page for his final design).
...But, sometimes you will not be able to find some components. For example, I could not find locally the UCC37322 or UCC37321. So, I made my own variation of hiscircuit. See the schematic below. \
In this instructable, I will not teach you to make a circuit out of a schematic; if you can't read them you should try simpler projects first. A disadvantage from my spinoff isthat there is no isolation; bear this in mind when working. This is why I recommend Steve's Design if possible.
You may build this circuit in a strip board, veroboard, printed circuit board, point to point, etc; but do not use a breadboard (Protoboard); there is too much parasiticcapacitance.
Image Notes1. The Mosfets must have a big heatsink. Use what you can find, and adjustprimary turns accordingly.2. 12 VAC3. Antenna and Interrupter4. To the Tesla Coil Primary
Step 12: Test itConnect everything and plug it in.-The bottom part of the secondary goes to ground. Mains ground works out at this power level, but do not have sensitive stuff plugged nearby. A dedicated ground isideal, though.
Hopefully, you will get the Tesla Coil working. If it doesn't, read below:
-Sometimes one needs to connect the primary the other way around; see if swapping the connectors solves the problem.
The Tesla Coil has capacitors that will remain charged after you turn it off. Be sure to discharge them before fiddling with the circuit, and double check thatthey are discharged before poking anything.
Bonus: Add some salt to the breakout point and the streamers will be orange instead of blue. Unfortunately, I did not take any photos of this before the MOSFETS died.
Step 13: Links and ReferencesUseful links, better methods (although more time consuming), and references
Stephen Kludge: "How to build the perfect secondary coil"http://www.capturedlightning.org/hot-streamer/stk/tc/coilbld.htm
"A new 8.5 x 34.5 Toroid for the 'Phoenix'"http://www.hvtesla.com/toroid_2.html
Steve Ward: "Solid State Tesla Coils"http://stevehv.4hv.org/SSTCindex.htm
Disclaimer: I am in no way associated, in any way, with any of the authors linked. If any of the authors would want their links or respective information taken down, pleasetell so.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Solid-State-Tesla-Coil/
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Comments
1 comments Add Comment
florinandrei says: Feb 7, 2012. 5:01 PM REPLYGreat instructable re: the mechanical part. The electronic part needs a bit more pampering.
What is the "interrupter"? Is it some kind of signal you need to apply? What's the frequency, amplitude, etc?
Is your schematic a "singing" coil? If so, where does the audio signal go?
The main IC (the one that feeds the MOSFETs) is not labeled. What is it? What does it do?
Various capacitors don't have the max voltage indicated. While this is not important for the low voltage parts of the circuit, I'd imagine it's kind of a big dealwhen it comes to the output stage. :) Same goes for resistors, if more than, say, 0.25 W is required. Please indicate the wattage where it's important.
It would help to add a few words about the main parts of the circuit. I.e., this is the start-up stage, it performs such-and-such function; this is the output stage,its function is to feed the primary; yadda-yadda.
I can't figure out what the antenna does, but perhaps I need to re-read the rest of the article.
Thanks!