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My First SMALL DRSSTC (Now with 4X Secondary Length Performance)

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Dr. H.

Sun May 24 2009, 06:00PM

Registered Member #931 Joined: Mon Jul 30 2007, 05:25PM
Location: Bulgaria
Posts: 486

Are those spacers going to take all the current from the caps ? I suggest you to change them with brass ones. Other than that - really sweet desing

Cheers

Herr Zapp

Sun May 24 2009, 06:17PM

Registered Member #480 Joined: Thu Jul 06 2006, 07:08PM
Location: North America
Posts: 644

Phillip -

That's a nice looking, compact full bridge module.

Just out of curiosity, where does the 500A capability come from? The IXYS datasheet for this IGBT shows a maximum pulse current of 300A for 1ms.

Regards,
Herr Zapp

Phillip Slawinski

Sun May 24 2009, 06:27PM

Registered Member #1732 Joined: Thu Oct 02 2008, 02:34PM
Location: Huntsville, AL
Posts: 112

Herr Zapp wrote ...

Phillip -

That's a nice looking, compact full bridge module.

Just out of curiosity, where does the 500A capability come from? The IXYS datasheet for this IGBT shows a maximum pulse current of 300A for 1ms.

Regards,
Herr Zapp

Steve has tested these to 600A, with no problems (so I'm told). I'm going to run less than that due to the highish Fo of my coil.

@ Dr. H
Yeah, I know I should change those out to something more conductive. I'm already using tin-plated brass screws to connect to the standoff. Finding a brass standoff that is 1/4-20 is going to be tough though. I hoping hysteresis losses will not really be an issue, as most of the RF will be passing through the RF bypass cap.

Phillip Slawinski

Tue May 26 2009, 10:49PM

Registered Member #1732 Joined: Thu Oct 02 2008, 02:34PM
Location: Huntsville, AL
Posts: 112

I assembled the MMC and enclosure, the enclosure is vented to allow the capacitors to cool off. I did a fit check on the main enclosure, and everything fits perfectly. I plan to use well insulated primary wire to prevent flash-overs. I've also decided to put the driver in a shielded box. With the previous bridge there was not enough room to do this.

Killa-X

Wed May 27 2009, 12:38AM

Registered Member #1643 Joined: Mon Aug 18 2008, 06:10PM
Location:
Posts: 1039

Very nice looking coil, and results. I hope also to start learning how to do PCB, I got one made but I just need to dip it in solution. This way, when I can make a SSTC, I can do the same :)

Keep up with the clean-work. Makes a project look neater and more-time spent. Maybe at the end you can be all fancy and add LEDs!

Out of random, If I had a mini 1X6 inch tesla with >34awg wire, as a first coil, Would you recommend using thick magnet wire, or copper tubing? I noticed our gimmens hardware store has a good selection of coiled, copper tubing with a 2mm or so hole in it. Seeing you use it, I'll keep it in mind when I find the time to do a 4X24 or so tesla.

StevenCaton

Wed May 27 2009, 03:25AM

Registered Member #1845 Joined: Fri Dec 05 2008, 05:38AM
Location: California
Posts: 211

Phillip, Excellent work. When I look at what you've done now compared to what I saw at the Teslathon all I have to say is,,, What a Difference!!!

Phillip Slawinski

Mon Jun 22 2009, 02:28AM

Registered Member #1732 Joined: Thu Oct 02 2008, 02:34PM
Location: Huntsville, AL
Posts: 112

It's been a little while since my last update, but that's because I've been quite busy. I've tossed out the last secondary, and I've tossed out the last bridge. As it turns out the PCBs, although very nice looking failed miserably when I tried to run them. I didn't notice how thin the traces were and they burnt off, and blew up two 60N60s in the process

I've since remade the bridge using copper plate, there is no way these components are going to burn in half. This new bridge is not so pretty, but hey it works, and since this is all hidden inside an opaque black box it really doesn't matter. I also replaced the capacitor board with solid copper, and put some copper strip over the standoffs that connect to the +/- rails on the bus.

My new secondary is the nicest secondary I've made yet. I fed the wire inside the form to copper discs to reduce the e-field there. There are baffles inside the secondary at the top and bottom, these are sealed air-tight. The secondary windings are 3.5" x 12". I used #34 wire, and the Fo with topload is about 150kHz.

Here's a capture from my new scope (TDS2024B) of the Primary Current, Bridge Output Voltage, and Gate Signals:

This is what the inside of the box looks like. I've decided I'm going to increase the size of the box by about an inch vertically and horizontally.

Okay, finally the most important images, SPARKS! In these images the upper right target is 32" away. The box is somewhat closer, and the sparks will just hit that instead of the target if I move it farther back.

Dalus

Mon Jun 22 2009, 06:42AM

Registered Member #639 Joined: Wed Apr 11 2007, 09:09PM
Location: The Netherlands, Herkenbosch
Posts: 512

Nice to see you have your room filled with plasma again. One of the nicer small coils I've seen on the forum, also preforms very well. Great build!

Phillip Slawinski

Thu Jul 02 2009, 04:42AM

Registered Member #1732 Joined: Thu Oct 02 2008, 02:34PM
Location: Huntsville, AL
Posts: 112

I recently went to fellow Coiler's home for a visit and we captured some video of the coil in action. Check it out - > video.

Phillip Slawinski

Wed Jul 08 2009, 04:48AM

Registered Member #1732 Joined: Thu Oct 02 2008, 02:34PM
Location: Huntsville, AL
Posts: 112

I've been tweaking the coil and I managed to coax 18" more inches out of it :) I've got this coil pumping out 50" sparks now, which is over four times the secondary length (12"). Don't believe me? Check out the photos below.

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