Synchronous Rotary Spark Gap Demonstration

[@consciousenergies]

The mad scientist laugh is standard issue with that wardrobe lol. Beautiful work and great output for sure.

[@SteveLane]

Had to be done haha! =] Thanks, onwards and upwards... =D

[@DelormeLotisman]

Paradise for my ears

[@Hvtesla]

Hello Steve, One half of the two Phils here: Nice to see another SRSG coil on the UK scene. We (myself and the other Phil) will (all being well) have a permanent 100 bps coil as well next year as 100 bps is something we have both been keen to try as well. I have 'dabbled' with it on the 200 bps Phoenix, and I admit to preferring the sound of 100 bps, also as seen in yours the streamers take on a "lazy" appearance, rather then the frantic activity of higher bps coils. That's a nice phase controller setup you have, much tidier than my own workmanship I have to say. Instead of the sophistication of a delay in switching in the phase, on mine I use a switch - and then often forget to do it! (dam coil isn't running well today...) If you ever move away from the NST to a ballasted supply, take a look at Richie's Resonant Charging work, where you match inductance and cap value to the bps rate being used rather than mains frequency. His webpage on it is incomplete (2nd page was never completed by him) but he posted a full explanation on TCML (on 16th June 2001 - but the links to his quoted graphs are dead) However the whole TCML transcript and the missing graphs are available on my site. Nice SRSG terminal posts - I think I've seen that design before somewhere..............................Aluminium is much easier than copper that's for sure. Phil (the grey haired old bugger of the pair with a stick)

[@Terrywoodrat]

Very nice sound too. Hella nice SRSG.

[@SteveLane]

Thanks! I do love it when it has that pipe-echo sound at 200Hz. I'm guessing that comes from either the topload or the secondary... or both?

[@edmclaughlin4923]

Very Cool Steve. Nice!

[@poikaa3]

Reminds me of..... Wait for it...... "It's Alive!" Nice job too!

[@pradaprimat8624]

Amazing, are you still working on these circuits?

[@SteveLane]

I usually exhibit these tesla coils once a year at Welland Steam Rally these days, around that time I'm tweaking these circuits to see if I can get a bit extra output from them.

[@engincoskun6620]

Classic type spark gap I am making Tesla Coil. I have a few questions to ask you. I would appreciate if you help. I use a 15 kV 30 mA Neon transformer for the input. I used a ceramic type capacitor for the primary capacity. capacity 25 kV 30 nF. Capacitor information 6 pieces 10nF 10 kV. 6 pieces 10 nF 15 kV. If I connect a parallel 10 Megaohm resistor to each capacitor for fast discharge, will the tesla work correctly? Will it be enough for insulation if I cover the capacitor leg connections with silicone? Spark gap distance 13 mm is enough? I used 10 mm copper tube in the primary coil. I wrapped 10 turns. How many mm should the connection cable between the capacitors and the copper tube? I have 1 mm copper wire for the secondary coil. How many times will the number of turns of the secondary coil be? There is a 50mm diameter and 400 mm long plastic pipe. How many turns should I spiral to resonate correctly? When the process is finished, what is the spark length in the end when testing? Which equipment do we need to cool when we make this circuit? Does over-winding of the secondary coil cause overheating? Is it necessary to cover the secondary winding with varnish? If you answer this e-mail, I would appreciate it if you could help.

[@SteveLane]

Hello Engin! All very relevant questions when designing a tesla coil there is indeed a lot to consider and quite often changing one thing will effect another to a point where it drives you insane! However, you are in luck because some very clever person realised this problem and so then created calculation software to help design your Tesla coil whilst maintaining your sanity. The software is called "TeslaMap", there are numerous versions, each slightly different, but generally they will all do the basic design and calculations for you. It is also worth mentioning another Tesla coil design program called "JavaTC", as an alternative if you prefer. All the best with your TC!

[@DolezalPetr]

man that is one sexy tesla coil, love it

[@ridefast0]

IMHO - You must be using a great TC tuning technique! Also, your 30nF cap is at 1.5 times the resonant cap size so you are heavily resonant charging and could be drawing 209mA from your '50mA' NST. So input current could be 10000/240 times 209mA or 8.7A at 240V so input around 2100VA. Power somewhere around 1kW to 1.5kW estimated. Should be enough to sustain about three feet of arc? Great system throughput!

[@SteveLane]

Ian, sorry for the late reply. According to Teslamap 6.2.2, the 37mA NST would require 30.7nF on a Sync Rotary Spark Gap (ignoring the short circuit current at the time). Admittedly I did swap to a 10KV 50mA NST during testing prior to Cambridge Teslathon which did increase the arc output, despite requiring a 54nF capacitor since the short circuit current would be now 65mA... In hindsight I should have used the secondary short circuit current of 48mA with my 37mA NST to work out my optimum MMC capacitance. The main reason for increased output in the above video would be the repair to the damaged topload, since I did not have any spare foil tape at the teslathon. I did not make any changes to the tuning from what we had worked out ourselves. On the down side I have already reverted the Tesla Coil back to it's original Static Spark Gap with 37mA NST and 20nF MMC, which also is calculated wrong, needing a 24nF MMC... haha! Will keep this in mind when I come to build the large SRSG it was intended for. =]

[@Alexelectricalengineering]

Awesome !! Thumbs up !!

[@mentessemlimites66]

👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

[@antonywilliams7086]

how much would it cost for you to build me one ?

[@Milky332]

GOSH

[@dedskin1]

looks liek you have bunch of Variacs that just sit around, can you send me one ill pay for it via PAY PAL

[@SteveLane]

Hi Pavle. I have a few... where do you live? Could be expensive shipping!

[@dedskin1]

Im in Europe , yes its gonna be expensive shipping , i just published a video of Amplifier Repair( goo.gl/Q1JNEc ), camera went out of memory before i showed what i did but its enough for you to see why i need Variac , i love electronics but dont have the hard cash needed for some of the gear, so i made my self a current limiter just not to die while working , shown in video on top of old Scope , and i ordered a Power Regulator based on TRIAC , its a Ligh Dimmer Circuit basically with more power , but that also is not as good as Variac . But in any case im in Europe/Serbia , my mail is dedskin at gmail . So we can PM there if you have something light for me , i dont need a lot , just to be able to work on basic amplifiers and stuff and not die :) I work as Audio Producer , for a long time, decades even, so i get paid over PayPal , but if your variacs are expensive plus shipping i dont know if i will have that much at the moment , but i do have constant income so maybe we can work something out . I did purchase stuff from USA before , it was not that expensive shipping , because it was not VIA AIR it was a boat i think , took 2-3 weaks to come . Anyways im grateful in any case , variac or no variac, i just see you have a lot of them , i work with electronics but cant afford my self some expensive unit, watched your video on INSANE LINEAR VARIAC, blew me away