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Registered Member #9252
Joined: Fri Jan 04 2013, 06:27AM
Location: Andromeda
Posts: 253
So i made a mini sgtc just for plain fun. and it is done now.. 17 cm long and 1.5 inch wide. with about 14 cm wound with 32 awg wire. I had alot of that.. So i just used it lol.. so for the capacitor i turned a coca cola 1 liter bottle into a little capacitor... being powered by my dc flyback that i turned into ac. Check my high voltage thread for details of that flyback. And then i just.. ya know. There are 2 wires with hv in them. I got the capacitor. and the TC. So i connect the two wires. each to it's own terminal in the capacitor. The the primary coil of the mini sgtc. are really close togeather. That is the spark gap. THe flyback spits out 40-50 kv. at unknown ma. am not hoping for awesome performance with it though. so now i turn the power on. And the spark gap does not fire... and i am pretty sure i can run a tesla coil from ac. any reason?.. On my multi meter the capacitor seems fine. And when i charge it from static electricity on my crt tv screen. it sparks happily. so the cap is fine. I know the transformer is fine. And the tesla coil is as far as i know fine. So what the hell?
Registered Member #5300
Joined: Thu Jun 14 2012, 12:00AM
Location: California
Posts: 31
Arcingnoob wrote ...
No i can't post a pic. I described the whole setup.
Personally, I found your description a bit hard to follow. There could be any number of issues. A picture would greatly increase your chances of getting good help.
In the mean time, check that all your connections are very secure, and make sure everything is hooked up correctly. I would also do continuity tests on ALL connections, including top of secondary to base. Is the resonator grounded?
Registered Member #6038
Joined: Mon Aug 06 2012, 11:31AM
Location: Salado, TX
Posts: 248
Tough to understand the layout description. If you only have the capacitor connected across the HV output and the SG in parallel with the cap (no primary or secondary) and the SG still will not fire, then something is shorting or your capacitor is breaking down. 50kV is a lot to ask of a homemade cap running on AC. Remember the peak voltage is higher than the RMS rating.
Registered Member #9252
Joined: Fri Jan 04 2013, 06:27AM
Location: Andromeda
Posts: 253
Yep the top load to the end of the tesla coil connected. And no it isn't grounded. i expected the spark gap to fire atleast. So i could ground it. or perhaps just hold the ground wire of the tesla coil. in my hand. its a mini one. so no real danger. Yes the connections are secure. I just think. The ac flyback eats through all my capacitors.. i could see that the flyback arcs to the oil.. And arcs through the plastic.. Some water is over the foil. And the flyback happily arcs to it. I bet it's about insulation
Here is the set up again
The transformer we will call it a positive and negative leads for simplicity's sake So the positive and negative are connected to alligator clips.. to the capacitor bottle. THen to the primary coil. The primary coil has the input leads very close. thus acts as the spark gap. and is wound with 5 turns. ..
Registered Member #6038
Joined: Mon Aug 06 2012, 11:31AM
Location: Salado, TX
Posts: 248
Try putting the spark gap, primary coil and capacitor (your tank circuit) all in series. You primary is probably acting like a short circuit to the HV due to the low inductance at 60Hz.
Registered Member #3114
Joined: Sat Aug 14 2010, 08:33AM
Location:
Posts: 608
Arcingnoob wrote ...
Yep the top load to the end of the tesla coil connected. And no it isn't grounded. i expected the spark gap to fire atleast. So i could ground it. or perhaps just hold the ground wire of the tesla coil. in my hand. its a mini one. so no real danger. Yes the connections are secure. I just think. The ac flyback eats through all my capacitors.. i could see that the flyback arcs to the oil.. And arcs through the plastic.. Some water is over the foil. And the flyback happily arcs to it. I bet it's about insulation
Here is the set up again
The transformer we will call it a positive and negative leads for simplicity's sake So the positive and negative are connected to alligator clips.. to the capacitor bottle. THen to the primary coil. The primary coil has the input leads very close. thus acts as the spark gap. and is wound with 5 turns. ..
I would really like to see pictures but this is what I’m getting out of all this you need to disconnect one lead from the primary and put the spark gap between one lead of the primary not across a shorted primary
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Sgtc SG won't fire.
