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Registered Member #316
Joined: Mon Mar 13 2006, 01:30PM
Location: Marietta, GA
Posts: 212
The first primary on my 4" sgtc with MOT power supply was about 50 feet of that "copper" strap for holding pipes. At least I thought it was copper... It ran for thirty seconds, which was enough for the steel to melt the copper plating so it collected at the bottom edge of the primary and for my PVC primary supports to melt and catch fire momentarily... I wish I had pictures, but I was a bit more worried about the TC than getting the camera.
Registered Member #227
Joined: Mon Feb 20 2006, 10:47PM
Location: Cambridge Ontario, Canada!!
Posts: 127
I'm still kinna in the ignorant years but i guess I should stop now that I'm messing with MOTs... I used to have this plexy dome for blowing up 'lytic caps... then I got a 25v 1F sucker. OW! and blowing up 1/8w resistors with my 150vac variac. hehe. those made that scarry noise like when You got a cat (relitivly speeking) "cought up" in some power lines... BUZZZZZZZ
And don't get me going with mosfets Just remember they DO need heatsinks even if You dont have any, and You really want to fire the thing up, and it catches fire...
Here is my growing collection of dead, really expencive RMS multi meters... they were both blown the same way, my variac powered the mots but the variac was off, all the way up but off. on the variac and bam! the "cat" noise.
Registered Member #316
Joined: Mon Mar 13 2006, 01:30PM
Location: Marietta, GA
Posts: 212
CT2 wrote ...
My new tesla coil's bridge exploded the other day after I fed it with filterd DC, then i tried it again today... same thing happend. The mosfets blew up pretty good and the thing lit on fire, haha oh well guess i have to make another one now
Registered Member #103
Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 08:16PM
Location: Derby, UK
Posts: 845
I've just had a spectacular/odd failure in that only a single MOSFET has failed in my fullbridge, all other MOSFETs measure 7-8MOhm between source/drain, whereas this one measures only 10ohms between source/drain
I was running my coil from a 110V transformer, and it failed silently
Ah well... *goes to replace MOSFET*
EDIT : Replaced it, worked again. This time I decided to try the coil directly on the mains, and I got a video :
Registered Member #108
Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 11:44PM
Location: Billings, MT
Posts: 61
I havn't had too many spectacular failures but the first bottle cap I made a few years ago blew up on me. It was just a snapple bottle; not the best for homemade caps.
Registered Member #316
Joined: Mon Mar 13 2006, 01:30PM
Location: Marietta, GA
Posts: 212
haha that happened to me, too. It was a pretty forceful explosion and blew a quarter-sized chunk out of the side of the bottle, spraying oil and broken glass across my basement. I still don't understand what happened. Electrolysis and then an explosion?
Registered Member #89
Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 02:40PM
Location: Zadar, Croatia
Posts: 3145
Bottles are virtually indestructible, unless you polepig htem or charge to some huge voltage. They usually arc over from outside but if that is secured dielectric breech trough thick glass can be very nasty...
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Most spectacular failures
BUZZZZZZZ
Just remember they DO need heatsinks even if You dont have any, and You really want to fire the thing up, and it catches fire... 
