Secondary end caps sealed?
Polishedball, Mon Oct 12 2015, 02:10PMi tried searching and hope I didn't over look this basic question. Do the end caps plugs of the secondary need to be sealed completely. I would like to use the insert drain strainers and nylon screws to mount it to the base and also the toroid as I don't have handy a jig saw or router to cut inserts.
I attached a picture of what I would like to use.
Thanks
Re: Secondary end caps sealed?
Sulaiman, Mon Oct 12 2015, 02:53PM
None of my TC secondaries had sealed ends
and many published designs also do not,
so no problem expected.
Sulaiman, Mon Oct 12 2015, 02:53PM
None of my TC secondaries had sealed ends
and many published designs also do not,
so no problem expected.
Re: Secondary end caps sealed?
Hazmatt_(The Underdog), Tue Oct 13 2015, 02:55AM
Sealing is a bad idea.
If you go back to the old TCML (ancient now) they point out that sealing leaves residual gases inside the secondary form, some of which are typically VOC's ( Toluene and Xylene to name two ) can remain trapped inside the cylinder and are explosive under the right conditions.
So trapping air and flammable vapor in your secondary is not a good idea, one spark (wonder where that's gonna come from) and you may turn your coil into a potato gun! or worse.
Hazmatt_(The Underdog), Tue Oct 13 2015, 02:55AM
Sealing is a bad idea.
If you go back to the old TCML (ancient now) they point out that sealing leaves residual gases inside the secondary form, some of which are typically VOC's ( Toluene and Xylene to name two ) can remain trapped inside the cylinder and are explosive under the right conditions.
So trapping air and flammable vapor in your secondary is not a good idea, one spark (wonder where that's gonna come from) and you may turn your coil into a potato gun! or worse.
Re: Secondary end caps sealed?
Signification, Wed Oct 14 2015, 09:42AM
I remember reading research notes on Tesla, by Richard Quick, who was considered the Tesla Guru, that end sealing was very critical. the writings went into great detail, but I do not recall. The exception was a tiny hole drilled in the bottom seal to prevent the aforementioned, "potato gun" effect.
Last I heard, Quick went into some isolated to recreate Tesla's tower work. --haven't done it in a while, but try googling "Richard Quick + Tesla" and see what pops up.
Signification, Wed Oct 14 2015, 09:42AM
I remember reading research notes on Tesla, by Richard Quick, who was considered the Tesla Guru, that end sealing was very critical. the writings went into great detail, but I do not recall. The exception was a tiny hole drilled in the bottom seal to prevent the aforementioned, "potato gun" effect.
Last I heard, Quick went into some isolated to recreate Tesla's tower work. --haven't done it in a while, but try googling "Richard Quick + Tesla" and see what pops up.
Re: Secondary end caps sealed?
nzoomed, Wed Oct 14 2015, 09:24PM
I was going to seal mine, is this really bad?
It seems most people are doing it.
nzoomed, Wed Oct 14 2015, 09:24PM
I was going to seal mine, is this really bad?
It seems most people are doing it.
Re: Secondary end caps sealed?
Hazmatt_(The Underdog), Thu Oct 15 2015, 12:23AM
I use acrylic end T plugs, but they are not air tight, they just slip in.
Hazmatt_(The Underdog), Thu Oct 15 2015, 12:23AM
I use acrylic end T plugs, but they are not air tight, they just slip in.
Re: Secondary end caps sealed?
dexter, Thu Oct 15 2015, 05:39AM
i only use 1 endcap at the top
for the bottom the "endcap" is mounted on the frame and the secondary just slides in and out.
This way the coil is easily detached at any moment
dexter, Thu Oct 15 2015, 05:39AM
i only use 1 endcap at the top
for the bottom the "endcap" is mounted on the frame and the secondary just slides in and out.
This way the coil is easily detached at any moment
Re: Secondary end caps sealed?
Hydron, Sat Oct 17 2015, 01:18PM
I second the above idea, worked well for me.
I glued the top endcap on, bottom endcap had plenty of friction to hold the secondary in place. Used big nylon bolts to bolt the bottom cap to the frame, so no metal inside the secondary.
Hydron, Sat Oct 17 2015, 01:18PM
I second the above idea, worked well for me.
I glued the top endcap on, bottom endcap had plenty of friction to hold the secondary in place. Used big nylon bolts to bolt the bottom cap to the frame, so no metal inside the secondary.
Re: Secondary end caps sealed?
Patric, Sat Oct 17 2015, 04:44PM
I poor a couple cm paraffin in the top end cap.
Patric, Sat Oct 17 2015, 04:44PM
I poor a couple cm paraffin in the top end cap.
Re: Secondary end caps sealed?
nzoomed, Sun Oct 18 2015, 10:19AM
I was going to ask more about this in a new thread because im probably doing mine wrong.
Ive seen others who have appeared to screw in a piece of solid PVC or other plastic on each end using nylon screws to hold it, similar to this:
The main issue im having is mounting the secondary to the base and toroid.
I was thinking of setting a stainless bolt in the bottom and covering it in epoxy on the inside to insulate it, i was going to do a similar thing to the top, but with a cage nut that would be covered in epoxy to insulate and then use a threaded rod to slip through the top toroids and a wingnut to hold it all together.
Will this be enough insulation?
I was also going to epoxy my end caps on to the coil to seal it.
nzoomed, Sun Oct 18 2015, 10:19AM
I was going to ask more about this in a new thread because im probably doing mine wrong.
Ive seen others who have appeared to screw in a piece of solid PVC or other plastic on each end using nylon screws to hold it, similar to this:
The main issue im having is mounting the secondary to the base and toroid.
I was thinking of setting a stainless bolt in the bottom and covering it in epoxy on the inside to insulate it, i was going to do a similar thing to the top, but with a cage nut that would be covered in epoxy to insulate and then use a threaded rod to slip through the top toroids and a wingnut to hold it all together.
Will this be enough insulation?
I was also going to epoxy my end caps on to the coil to seal it.
Re: Secondary end caps sealed?
Sulaiman, Sun Oct 18 2015, 10:27AM
any steel near your primary will get surprisingly hot, better to use nylon screws/nuts or adhesives.
Sulaiman, Sun Oct 18 2015, 10:27AM
any steel near your primary will get surprisingly hot, better to use nylon screws/nuts or adhesives.
Re: Secondary end caps sealed?
dexter, Sun Oct 18 2015, 11:03AM
this how i mount my secondary coils to the frame
dexter, Sun Oct 18 2015, 11:03AM
this how i mount my secondary coils to the frame
Re: Secondary end caps sealed?
nzoomed, Sun Oct 18 2015, 09:17PM
Well i guess thats possible, because its essentially an induction coil.
What about all the screws holding my primary coil mounts to the base?
They are scattered everywhere, but it seems lots of people do this.
I think i might get my friend to 3D print me a bolt out of nylon or PET-G for the base.
nzoomed, Sun Oct 18 2015, 09:17PM
Sulaiman wrote ...
any steel near your primary will get surprisingly hot, better to use nylon screws/nuts or adhesives.
any steel near your primary will get surprisingly hot, better to use nylon screws/nuts or adhesives.
Well i guess thats possible, because its essentially an induction coil.
What about all the screws holding my primary coil mounts to the base?
They are scattered everywhere, but it seems lots of people do this.
I think i might get my friend to 3D print me a bolt out of nylon or PET-G for the base.
Re: Secondary end caps sealed?
Hydron, Mon Oct 19 2015, 11:15PM
I used nylon bolts for everything near the primary, but I suspect that small screw for primary supports etc are fine.
Check out Hi-Q components ( for nylon bolts etc, I got M4, M5 and M12 (!!) bolts and nuts from them for reasonable prices.
The M12 especially were useful for securing end-caps etc, and I also used them to rig up a secondary height adjustment system to allowing coupling to be changed (though I'd probably skip that next time, too much work for little benefit). Note that the M12 bolt price is cheap (not much more than a buck a pop) up to a certain length, then gets much more expensive, at least when I ordered mine.
Hydron, Mon Oct 19 2015, 11:15PM
I used nylon bolts for everything near the primary, but I suspect that small screw for primary supports etc are fine.
Check out Hi-Q components (
for nylon bolts etc, I got M4, M5 and M12 (!!) bolts and nuts from them for reasonable prices.The M12 especially were useful for securing end-caps etc, and I also used them to rig up a secondary height adjustment system to allowing coupling to be changed (though I'd probably skip that next time, too much work for little benefit). Note that the M12 bolt price is cheap (not much more than a buck a pop) up to a certain length, then gets much more expensive, at least when I ordered mine.
Re: Secondary end caps sealed?
Antonio, Tue Oct 20 2015, 12:29AM
There is no need to seal the coil for electrical reasons. A breakdown along the coil would prefer to occur at the outer side, close to the wires, not inside. Closed ends may simplify the assembly, but it's enough to make two plugs, one below where to fix the coil and another above, to fix the terminal. It may be a good idea to avoid metal screws, but at not insane power levels I doubt that they can cause any problem.
Antonio, Tue Oct 20 2015, 12:29AM
There is no need to seal the coil for electrical reasons. A breakdown along the coil would prefer to occur at the outer side, close to the wires, not inside. Closed ends may simplify the assembly, but it's enough to make two plugs, one below where to fix the coil and another above, to fix the terminal. It may be a good idea to avoid metal screws, but at not insane power levels I doubt that they can cause any problem.
Re: Secondary end caps sealed?
nzoomed, Tue Oct 20 2015, 04:13AM
Thanks for that, i will check them out!
A single m8-m10 bolt is probably strong enough for what im doing.
nzoomed, Tue Oct 20 2015, 04:13AM
Hydron wrote ...
I used nylon bolts for everything near the primary, but I suspect that small screw for primary supports etc are fine.
Check out Hi-Q components ( for nylon bolts etc, I got M4, M5 and M12 (!!) bolts and nuts from them for reasonable prices.
The M12 especially were useful for securing end-caps etc, and I also used them to rig up a secondary height adjustment system to allowing coupling to be changed (though I'd probably skip that next time, too much work for little benefit). Note that the M12 bolt price is cheap (not much more than a buck a pop) up to a certain length, then gets much more expensive, at least when I ordered mine.
I used nylon bolts for everything near the primary, but I suspect that small screw for primary supports etc are fine.
Check out Hi-Q components (
for nylon bolts etc, I got M4, M5 and M12 (!!) bolts and nuts from them for reasonable prices.The M12 especially were useful for securing end-caps etc, and I also used them to rig up a secondary height adjustment system to allowing coupling to be changed (though I'd probably skip that next time, too much work for little benefit). Note that the M12 bolt price is cheap (not much more than a buck a pop) up to a certain length, then gets much more expensive, at least when I ordered mine.
Thanks for that, i will check them out!
A single m8-m10 bolt is probably strong enough for what im doing.
Antonio wrote ...
There is no need to seal the coil for electrical reasons. A breakdown along the coil would prefer to occur at the outer side, close to the wires, not inside. Closed ends may simplify the assembly, but it's enough to make two plugs, one below where to fix the coil and another above, to fix the terminal. It may be a good idea to avoid metal screws, but at not insane power levels I doubt that they can cause any problem.
Thats always good to know. Will save me much time and expense!There is no need to seal the coil for electrical reasons. A breakdown along the coil would prefer to occur at the outer side, close to the wires, not inside. Closed ends may simplify the assembly, but it's enough to make two plugs, one below where to fix the coil and another above, to fix the terminal. It may be a good idea to avoid metal screws, but at not insane power levels I doubt that they can cause any problem.
Re: Secondary end caps sealed?
Signification, Mon Oct 26 2015, 03:07PM
In this article
take a look at the mentions involving moisture and endcaps--what do you think??
Signification, Mon Oct 26 2015, 03:07PM
In this article
take a look at the mentions involving moisture and endcaps--what do you think??
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