Tesla

[progbuddy]

Not the car, for once...

Here's something I wouldn't want a computer 200 feet away from... Maybe a mile will do :p.

http://www.electricmuseum.com/exhibits/tesla/index.shtml

[simon275]

Had some of those at school pretty neat. Getting someone to hold onto one. Then turning it on. They wouldn't get zapped but if they touched anyone else :twisted:. These where on the lower power ones though.

Don't try this without teacher or professional supervison.

[DaJe]

I think I'll build one, and then post video.

[progbuddy]

I think I'll build one, and then post video.

COOL! :) Just don't zap yourself, and work with ONE HAND ONLY. If you use two, then the current could pass through your heart, and that would be bad. Be careful, and have fun!

[DaJe]

Electricity is one of the things I enjoy. I perhaps want to learn how to make my own circuits and such as well. So maybe I really will save up some money and build a tesla coil out in my yard. And when working with something liek this, I would be sure to have the highest level protection while doing anything.

[Maz]

do your homework, then go to 4hv.org. if you ask a friendly question they (mods included) will bite your head off.

i had once posted and got about a dozen responses telling me that I dont have any clue what i am doing, and that my theory would never work. I went back 6mo later and found someone actually did use my idea. (which was using inductance and reluctance in one projectile to increase efficiency.)

anywho they are very intelligent assholes to say the least. ask for advice on building a mini Tesla coil.

[progbuddy]

do your homework, then go to 4hv.org. if you ask a friendly question they (mods included) will bite your head off.

i had once posted and got about a dozen responses telling me that I dont have any clue what i am doing, and that my theory would never work. I went back 6mo later and found someone actually did use my idea. (which was using inductance and reluctance in one projectile to increase efficiency.)

anywho they are very intelligent assholes to say the least. ask for advice on building a mini Tesla coil.

LOL. Its Gilbert Gottfried's forum.

[Spawn-Inc]

Not the car, for once...

Here's something I wouldn't want a computer 200 feet away from... Maybe a mile will do :p.

http://www.electricmuseum.com/exhibits/tesla/index.shtml

i think you mean you WOULD want a computer 200 feet away from.


those things are cool and safe if you know how to use them too!

[DaJe]

No, he feels that 200 feet is too close for the computer to be.

[Slug Toy]

Had some of those at school pretty neat. Getting someone to hold onto one. Then turning it on. They wouldn't get zapped but if they touched anyone else . These where on the lower power ones though.

you might be thinking of van de graaff generators. same goal, different method of getting there.


COOL! Just don't zap yourself, and work with ONE HAND ONLY. If you use two, then the current could pass through your heart, and that would be bad. Be careful, and have fun!

you know, at the voltages these tesla coils put out... i dont even think it would matter. above a certain threshold, even air starts conducting, which is why you see the huge sparks. it wouldnt matter how many appendages you hold on with... if its going to fry you... you're toast.


on a lighter note, these are an awesome project. ive made a couple myself. many moons ago... when i was slightly more destructive than i am now. the only thing that limits the voltages you can get out of those things is the materials. eventually, you start melting the insulation off the wires (if there is any insulation) and various parts just start vaporizing. i pushed the envelope up past... well i dont remember the exact number, but i think it was past 500kv. at that point i was having trouble with the spark gap generator disintegrating.

frequency can have some very interesting effects, providing you know what you're doing. building a tesla coil in increments and/or powers of a certain length, and then tuning the current to a similar harmonic (constructive or destructive) can be cool. it has the potential, i would think, of causing interesting magnetic interference, although i never pulled that off. i did collapse a tower though because of the coils contracting from a huge capacitor discharge i tried out... or rather... i shattered the tower because it was pretty old pvc.

[gaz_the_chav]

Wow that is very interesting. I can't say that I would pay for one but possibly make one would be cool.

+rep for very interesting thread

-gaz

[DaJe]

For my own safety, would anyone care to direct me towards some instructions and information that they kow to be factual and credible?

[Maz]

the forum i noted is credible, they have a project section where you can look over other people's coils.

[Eclecticos]

That dude Chris Angel the magician on T.V late a night purposely shocked himself with that same thing. They had to take him to the hospital he was wearing a full chainmail suit in the hope it would keep it for shocking any particular part of his body. A Nut case. . does some kewl magic tricks though.

I think the show is called Mind Freak. Check it out.

[Slug Toy]

For my own safety, would anyone care to direct me towards some instructions and information that they kow to be factual and credible?

hmmm... deja-vu. i could have sworn i posted a link before... but now im not sure. im kind of tired.

try this link.

http://www.powerlabs.org/tctheory.htm

that should be a good read. plenty of other projects on that site too. there are quite a few more than the last time i visited, looks like its been a busy year.

[GT40_GearHead]

That dude Chris Angel the magician on T.V late a night purposely shocked himself with that same thing. They had to take him to the hospital he was wearing a full chainmail suit in the hope it would keep it for shocking any particular part of his body. A Nut case. . does some kewl magic tricks though.

I think the show is called Mind Freak. Check it out.



the ONLY way the chainmail would have protected him is if it would have been grounded, then it would have formed a Faraday cage (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faraday_cage)

but it looks like the fool didn't do his home work ! lol..... OOOUUUCH

[OvRiDe]

Saw this today .. figured it should be added to the thread.. Car Alarm Tesla style!! :)

http://tesladownunder.com/Tesladownunder's%20Car%20Theft%20Pevention%201000. jpg

http://tesladownunder.com/tesla_coil_sparks.htm#Tesladownunder%20Car%20Theft %20Protection

[Slug Toy]

ya ive seen that one. i think the guy is in australia. he knows what hes doing, to the point that he can control the emissions. only downside is you cant drive because you have to be plugged in to an outlet. you definitely cant run something like that off a battery and expect to get anywhere. its very cool anyways. id like to be there in person to see it working.

[DaJe]

Too bad it only shows a full ring around the car due to a long exposure time. Would kick more ass if it was a full ring at all times.

[Maz]

he is a member on that forum i mentioned. seriously, just check it out.

[progbuddy]

ya ive seen that one. i think the guy is in australia. he knows what hes doing, to the point that he can control the emissions. only downside is you cant drive because you have to be plugged in to an outlet. you definitely cant run something like that off a battery and expect to get anywhere. its very cool anyways. id like to be there in person to see it working.

It could run off a battery. You would just need a VERY large converter. Car batteries can pull about 700 amps at 12 volts. Just have to convert the amps to volts, and you'll have a tesla coil running off a battery.

[Slug Toy]

It could run off a battery. You would just need a VERY large converter. Car batteries can pull about 700 amps at 12 volts. Just have to convert the amps to volts, and you'll have a tesla coil running off a battery.

well im not saying you CANT... you just cant for very long. sure, a battery can probably run a tesla coil for a couple minutes at most, but the power needed by a 200kv coil far outweighs the power available in a battery. it could easily be 2 megawatts or more.

[progbuddy]

well im not saying you CANT... you just cant for very long. sure, a battery can probably run a tesla coil for a couple minutes at most, but the power needed by a 200kv coil far outweighs the power available in a battery. it could easily be 2 megawatts or more.

I boiled water with a "AA" battery :). Happened instantaneously. I also oxidized steel in about 9 seconds with a car battery, then set it on fire. Batteries supply some serious amps.

[Slug Toy]

I boiled water with a "AA" battery . Happened instantaneously. I also oxidized steel in about 9 seconds with a car battery, then set it on fire. Batteries supply some serious amps.

well you dont need serious amps to do either of those really. you can burn up steel wool with a AAA. i think what happened with the water was electrolysis. not the same as boiling. i still maintain my claim that tesla coils will kill batteries very fast. i figure probably within 3.6 seconds for the big setups actually.

[Tesladownunder]

I am Tesladownunder. Thought I'd pop by.

Re the car battery. Just need 2kW to be comfortable. This would be 200A or so. Most inverters over 1kW run on 24 V, however. So not an easy drop in but certainly not impossible. Only 3HP worth of power. Easier to sling a 5kW petrol generator in the back of the car.
But heck, this isn't a serious anything, just a cool picture now seen by perhap 500,000 people.

That pic was also shot in video for the Discovery Channel, Canada two days ago at my place in Bunbury, Australia. The producers say they can frame shuffle to get that effect live. I did try shuffling 100 frames of a video to do that myself but my software and equipment didn't make a good go of it.

The video I made of it is here on YouTube (http://youtube.com/watch?v=9nRqbQr7VGk)

I prefer the Red version....
http://tesladownunder.com/TduCarTheftPreventionRedDark600.jpg

[DaveW]

I am Tesladownunder. Thought I'd pop by.

DUDE. You need to stick around and mod something. PLEASE. :D

-Dave

[tybrenis]

DUDE. You need to stick around and mod something. PLEASE. :D
-Dave

I second that!

[Tesladownunder]

DUDE. You need to stick around and mod something. PLEASE. :D
-Dave

Better than modding is making. Modern electronics is far to clever to be usefully modded apart from relatively minor tweaks or change the exterior. Not to say that can't be fun though but I prefer making things that are exclusively mine.
On reflection, I have modded a number of Microwave ovens into high voltage supplies and Tesla coils. Making a Tesla coil out of a microwave was challenging. Particularly taking apart a capacitor and rearranging foil/insulator rolls and voltages to get suitable values.
In the last week I completed this. Gives 8 foot sparks.

http://tesladownunder.com/DiscoveryBigTCFiring600.jpg

TDU

[DaveW]

Better than modding is making.

Modding is just an umbrella term. A lot of the stuff you'll see here is made from scratch, bar the actual components themselves. :)

-Dave