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ABS tubes (the black stuff)

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LAN_403

Electroholic

Wed Jul 26 2006, 05:22PM

Registered Member #191 Joined: Fri Feb 17 2006, 02:01AM
Location: Esbjerg Denmark
Posts: 720

I got a 75mm dia ABS tube.
It's black, so I'm wondering if I can still use it as a secondary coil form.
anyone tried it?

dan

Wed Jul 26 2006, 06:17PM

Registered Member #223 Joined: Mon Feb 20 2006, 06:42PM
Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Posts: 125

I have built a Telsa Coil using black ABS pipe with no problems. I have heard that they are black because they contian carbon but my poorly tunned 12'' TC can put out 14-16'' sparks and I haven't had problems with the secondary arcing over. I'm not sure how lossy it is but as long as you sand off the writing it should be ok. The ink they use to write on the pipes can be conductive at HV.

Steve Ward

Wed Jul 26 2006, 09:10PM

Registered Member #146 Joined: Sun Feb 12 2006, 04:21AM
Location: Austin Tx
Posts: 1055

Its probably best to stay clear of black plastics if you can. I think the grey stuff might be OK, but white or green is best. I dont know if i would risk it, when PVC is so easy to get at any hardware store.

Tom540

Wed Jul 26 2006, 10:29PM

Banned on 3/17/2009.
Registered Member #487 Joined: Sun Jul 09 2006, 01:22AM
Location:
Posts: 617

I used a black ABS pipe for mine. I Did have a problem with some arcing but it was from secondary to primary. My primary was also ABS and it made a carbon track and wouldnt stop arcing. Everything was fine after a made a new wider primary but just to be on the safe side go with another type of plastic if possible. At home depot they just dont have PVC in the same diameters as they do ABS. Which is why I used ABS.

Terry Fritz

Wed Jul 26 2006, 10:30PM

Registered Member #393 Joined: Tue Apr 18 2006, 12:30AM
Location:
Posts: 297

Hi,

I have black and white ABS plast caps here. I tested them with a leak detector type small handheld Tesla coil. They seem identical and the black is no more conductive than the white.

There is drain tubing common now that is white on the outside and black on the inside. This is definitly conductive! In general, greasy black plastics that leave a mark when rubbed on paper or carbon filled. There may be differences too in who makes the plastic.

So black might be fine but white always is. If it collects static electricity like mad, that is a very good sign too. Nobody like to recommend the black plastic because we never are fully sure.

Cheers,

Terry

Electroholic

Thu Jul 27 2006, 12:20AM

Registered Member #191 Joined: Fri Feb 17 2006, 02:01AM
Location: Esbjerg Denmark
Posts: 720

thanks guys, i guess i will give it a go.

Liquidspaceman

Mon Dec 28 2009, 03:05AM

Registered Member #2573 Joined: Sat Dec 26 2009, 06:55PM
Location: Sacramento
Posts: 3

From the Lagoon of Liquidspaceman...

I am just starting my first TC. I don't have a background in Electronics at all. I am building one for a music demonstration. My background is in music. I too just purchased a 2' pc of black
abs. I saw a link, from one of the threads here, to coat the pipe first with the polyurethane. Will that help?

...Liquidspaceman, over and out

brtaman

Mon Dec 28 2009, 07:19PM

Registered Member #2161 Joined: Fri Jun 05 2009, 03:36PM
Location:
Posts: 247

I too will confirm that I have had good experience with black ABS. I was hesitant at first, but there seems to be no noticeable problems, even running extremely high coupling etc.

this secondary is made on thick walled black ABS.

So if you have it give it a shot, I find it works great for CW (thick walled) as it is quite a bit more heat resistant than my other secondary forms. I would
not hesitate to use the material again on another secondary.

Best Regards,
brtaman

Liquidspaceman

Mon Dec 28 2009, 09:57PM

Registered Member #2573 Joined: Sat Dec 26 2009, 06:55PM
Location: Sacramento
Posts: 3

From the Lagoon of Liquidspaceman...

Thank you brtaman for responding to my question! And Electroholic for starting this thread!
I just bought the DRSSTC miniBrute Reference book, by Daniel McCauley and was unclear about a few things. So, I'm very glad I found this forum so as to ask questions here and not bother him with a bunch of petty questions from a newbie. I do have another question though. I was able to find some wire, but it is 29AWG, not the recommended 30AWG. Is it okay to have the same amount of windings as the 30AWG?
I don't understand those templates where you plug in numbers, because I don't know what all the numbers are. Thank you.

...Liquidspaceman, over and out

HV Enthusiast

Tue Dec 29 2009, 03:43PM

Registered Member #15 Joined: Thu Feb 02 2006, 01:11PM
Location:
Posts: 3068

Liquidspaceman wrote ...

From the Lagoon of Liquidspaceman...

...Liquidspaceman, over and out

You are permitted to ask any questions you'd like, no matter how simple. I will answer them to the best of my ability. Either use the STICKY miniBrute thread or contact me via email.

29 AWG will work fine, although you do want to modify the winding length slightly due to the larger wire. Basically it will mean a longer winding length for the same frequency.

Find and download the free WinTesla. You can punch in the dimensions of the wire size, coil form, etc... and then you'll be able to see what adjustments are necessary to maintain the proper resonance frequency per the reference design.

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