Tesla Coil video

[LonelyQ85]

hi

in this video you controlled the output .. is it a variable resistor, because when you turn the switch on, all the power from the input works to come up with a certain output..but as i can see you were controlling the Arcs ... HOW??

thanks.. i saw all your video about building a tesla coil, and am thinking of building one that i can touch with my hands .. i dunno it feels cool

thanks again

[ct92404]

It's a variable transformer ("variac"). I use it to control the voltage going into the power transformer on the Tesla Coil. The spark gap needs a certain minimum voltage to work, that's why you can see me turning the knob on the variac to slowly bring the voltage up, and then suddenly the Tesla Coil starts working.

[ct92404]

BTW...never let the arcs from a Tesla Coil hit your bare hands! You can draw arcs if you have something metal in your hands, but don't let the sparks hit your hands directly. The current itself is high frequency and it won't shock you...but if you get hit directly by a SPARK, it can cause burns and it hurts like hell.

[kashish07111988]

That was amazing

You don't find good demonstrations easily, this clears so many doubts

Thank You so much : )

[vinee94yo]

What`s the amperage on that thing

[voon100]

Nice video. Tell me aren't you endangering your TV and Stereo by operating the TC so close?

I ran a fairly TC large upstairs room and it set off my house alarm downstairs and it messed up the alarm system and had to be replaced. Now I get so worried about other electrical equipments nearby when operating a TC.

I want to know what happens if an iron core is placed inside the coil and filled the whole coil in oil. What would the performance be like?

[vinee94yo]

does the Tesla coil always give out a high frequency,so that that mean i could touch a Tesla coil with a rod?Because I would like to try this for the science fair.

[CrashByron]

ct92404,

I would like to make a small coil like the one in this video. Do you think you could help me design one? I have the power supply, 6Kv 30ma neon transformer and a 12kv 60ma trans. Also have some high voltage ceramic doorknob caps. I have an acrylic tube for the secondary, 2 inch diameter. Just don't know where to start? Could you help or at least send me in the right direction? Thanks, Rob.

[ct92404]

Sure, check out my videos. I have a two-part video showing how to build a Tesla Coil. It covers all the basics. For now, you should build a small one using your 6kv 30ma transformer. The 12kv transformer would be a bigger, more complicated project because everything would have to be insulated for the higher voltage and able to handle twice as much power, especially the spark gap.

[ct92404]

...You'll probably want to start with the secondary winding first, because you will sort of build the coil around it. That 2-inch tube will work fine, although I've found that acrylic is kind of hard to wind on because it's so slippery. You'll want to use 26 or 28 gauge magnet wire, about 750 turns. Check out the videos I made to see if they help you. Let me know if you have any questions.

[toomyg155]

I was wondering ct92404 could I use a flyback transformer for a power supply for a small TC?

I have a working flyback transformer video on my channel if you could check it out and let me know

[mikeccuk2006]

protoss's proton crystal energy station LOL

[boxa888]

technically you could say the terran created it lol. cause we are technically the terran in the game lol. the greatest terran, which would be tesla.lol

[toomyg155]

That TC sounds very loud on you video!

[ct92404]

oh heck yeah, it's loud! I can run it without earplugs, but after playing with it for a while, I do get a headache sometimes.

[toomyg155]

How long did it take to build that TC?

[ct92404]

I don't remember exactly, but I think it took me about 4 or 5 days to build it and then get it tuned right. The only thing I really hate about building Tesla Coils is winding the secondary! That's a pain in the butt! I did it by hand, and it took like 3 hours! I just taped the wire whenever I needed to stop and take a break, but it took forever and my hands were all tired and cramped up afterward.

[toomyg155]

You should do a video on good ways to wind coils if you make another TC

[CrashByron]

does running this put feedback through your house power and cause problems with electronics?

[ct92404]

Yeah, sometimes there can be high frequency kickback. It used to make the doorbell and phones ring! But I put a line filter on the AC input line on the Tesla Coil, and I didn't have any problems after that. I wouldn't run it on the same outlet where you have a computer plugged in though.

[teddybear114]

have you ever considered builiding a larger tesla coil, especialy since you have so many power supplies and transformers.

[codemsan]

same thing im sayin!

[WideOpen411]

reminds me of the prestige, good job

[stiny91]

what did you use for your toroid? i'm currently making a tesla coil, and I really can't decide what to use for my toroid. also, can you send me some pictures of the schematics you use for your TCs? thanks!

[ZAKK9090]

Awsome videos. Just watched all of your tesla coil vids. I'm fascinated by them and by what they can do.... The thought occurred to me towards the end of this video of what might happen if you put a battery (just an average fully-charged AA battery) on or near a tesla coil. I was thinking that it may explode or something like that.

[nerodesign000]

I really appreciated this video. I'm normally into plasma discharge lamps but the Tesla Coil certainly has me fascinated. Your Tesla unit is pretty compact and i like the lowered risk factor due to the high frequency output. The compact size makes this one ideal for the 'home lab'. Have to get one now! Many thanks for the demonstration. Very cool!!

[kloudtana]

shouldn't you do that in like, your garage or something?

[overcaffein8d]

if you put an incandescent lightbulb in the microwave for 5 seconds, it lights up purple-ish b/c of the argon. but don't put it in any longer or it will explode.

[ct92404]

I've heard that if you put a helium balloon in a microwave, it will glow...which in theory makes sense because helium is an inert gas and will ionize and conduct high voltage. But I've tried it and couldn't get it to happen.

[overcaffein8d]

that's the idea... but i suppose it would help if the balloon was clear, so you could see it.

don't put hydrogen in there though... scary thought

[Wanessie]

I want a tesla coil in my garden....

[hvhaxor]

my room lookes exactly the same but atleaset u have a floor :-)

[faro0485]

Pretty, it looks alive

[dbhtc]

What are the specs of the coil?

[ct92404]

Transformer: 6kv at 20ma (furnace ignition transformer)

Primary winding: 5 turns 14 awg stranded

Secondary winding: diameter is 1.4 inches, length is about 13 inches, about 750 turns 28 guage magnet wire.

Capacitors: old stock commercial glass capacitors. Two 10kv .01 mfd capacitors in series for .005 mfd total capacitance.

Single static spark gap.

Resonant frequency is approx 1.5 MHZ

Output voltage is approximately 100,000 volts

[dbhtc]

Ah cool. I've made a few different coils, my latest being a "Mark II" version of a small one I made a while ago. There's a video of it (and my larger one) in my channel if you're interested :)

[bossmantd]

yukster.. have you ever heard of the HAARP project?

google it. they blast the ionosphere with 1.3GW (they want to double it up to 2.6 GigaWatts. The idea is to control the weather anywhere on the planet by using the ionosphere to carry to signal (microwaves)and heat up a perticular region of there choosing. (the air mass that is). they want to be able to create Hurricanes. google it.

[zao275]

yes, very well done. Keep these high-quality videos coming bro!

[DirkJCaboose]

thats fucking awsome!!!

[big20052005]

well done thank you

[vukster]

why am I paying for electricity if the Tesla coil is capable of transmitting wireless energy??? ANYONE?

[singleproppilot]

Three reasons:

1. The strength of a magnetic field reduces over distance when it travels through air, so you'd have to build a HUGE coil to transmit over distances.

2. Magnetic interference will disrupt or even destroy most electronic devices. Don't fire up a Tesla coil anywhere near your computer!

3. Even if those problems could be overcome, you'd still have to pay for the generation of the electricity, which is the most expensive part. Transmission via wires is cheap.

[ct92404]

Actually, the energy isn't really transmitted by a magnetic field, but more by high frequency radio energy. Although you could say RF is a high frequency magnetic field, so maybe I'm just arguing about someting academic here. Anyway, Tesla actually did manage to transmit wireless energy for several miles, so it is possible. But you're right that the power still has to be generated, and broadcasted energy could damage sensitive electronics.

[vukster]

Tesla would have achieved wireless transmission of energy if JP Moron had not pulled his funding. Tesla's tests in Colorado Springs were the precursor to his unfinished Wardenclyffe tower in NY.

He was not working on any type of wireless telegraphy, that was a smoke screen. Tesla hypothesized that he could transmit UNLIMITED amounts of power to any place on earth with virtually no loss using the entire PLANET to conduct electricity!!!! He proved that Earth itself was a conductor!

[LMF5000]

Well done - you explained very very well; very professional demonstration. Impressive, but won't you get internal burns if things go wrong when you touch a spark?

[ct92404]

Thanks for the comments. Yeah, you can't touch a spark directly. You can draw sparks with a metal conductor in your hand and you won't feel any shock, because of the high frequency. But if you get hit directly by a spark, it can cause RF burns.

[Penfish2k]

Very well done Chris. Looks like youve been doing this sort of thing for awhile, you seemed very professional when talking about this kind of thing. A couple of my friends and I have been talking about a possible tesla coil design in electronics engineering, so your video was truly an inspiration. Keep up the good work!

[firewalker57]

I love it - fascinating stuff .. I actually live close to where wardenclyffe and shoreham thanks

[Doping1234]

nice vid!

btw:I think its not so healthy to sit so close to a tesla coil because when a spark meets metal the metal emits X-Rays which causes cancer

[ct92404]

Well, the coil by itself does not generate X-Rays. At least mine doesn't. But some of the light bulbs and tubes I have glow a green color and actually do set off a Geiger counter...but it's very soft, low-level X-Rays.

[po0lshark6]

thats pretty sweet

[MistarX]

No, thank you.

[TheBypasser]

will you guys ever quit with sparkgaps on so small coils? SGTC is for 5+kW, not less, or it's just a waste of power and a hell's load of noise, both hearable and electric! Use tubes - I have a 22cm streamer and have no overheating even after 40 minute-long runs!

[derocov]

Ah, man! Insane. Thanks for a great entertaining video. Be careful!

[mikesdell]

awesome Demo! Ever played around with micro wave oven transformers? oh, im sure! Great Tesla coil! Be safe

[RotogenRay]

Haha! You just look like an expert, Chris. I thought your gap was louder than that. I could not see any secondary arcing, and you have that tube over it anyways. I love it how you said "Ok, now I'm gonna bring the voltage up slowly..." like you're in complete control. I just kinda switch mine on and hope for the best...

I should really do a how to make a tesla coil video...

[ct92404]

oculus1857, I have been working with high voltage for years now.  I am fully aware of what I'm doing, and I take all the proper safety precautions. I've been working with things like this since about 1998.

[oculus1857]

you know things like safty glasses, not doing this in a messy living room having someone help you, just in case, are probly good things to do here. Call me 'Crazy', but it's all fun and games until someone loses an eye or a house burns down.

[weirdo558]

looks like ur secondary is arcing to itself, also it looks like the torroid needs a breakout point

[ct92404]

No, I have the secondary covered with an acrylic tube (which the primary is also wound on), and what you are probably seeing is the relection from the spark-gap.

[tylerlavite]

nice !! im working on building one right now

[ct92404]

hehehe...bauerb2, you should have seen the ammeter jump when I first switched on the variac. That thing has a monster inrush current and I've tripped circuit breakers just powering up, with no load on it.

[bauerb2]

very nice. check out my tesla videos driven from a flyback transformer.

watch out for secondary strikes...

[townsendc]

Very cool. You build yourself?

[theycontrolus]

freaking awesome. i like the bulb demonstrations.

[vjnomad]

make a video of how to build one....