Secondary Coil Update

[sparkydownunder]

Howdy Guys

Just checking in with an update on my secondary coil.
The coil has been wound and is looking alright. Initially i tried winding over a thin layer of bisphenol epoxy. This made things extremely difficult for the first 150-200 turns, giving some small high spots (eep) I gave up and wound the rest straight on the PVC (seriously, 0/10 would not recommend). Also, while the second coat of epoxy insulation was drying one of the winders I share the shop with was grinding next to the coil and contaminated some of the epoxy so the finish isnt fantastic. Because of all of this I think the final project will need a new secondary but this one will do for design and testing for the time being.

I was hoping for some advice on my terminations. Ive attached a picture of my LV connection. I'm thinking of doing the same at the HV end but I am worried about it acting as a break out point. Any ideas? (i want to make the top cap of the coil removable hence the termination and not just going straight to the topload).
 
Anyways, thanks everyone for the advice along the way, it is so nice to see some progress with this project after so much research and planning.

SDU

[DownwithUmbrella]

Wow! Gotta love a freshly wond secondary, in my opinion the termination looks good. As you know any sharp point at the top of your secondary has a possibility for a bit of corona but to solve this in the past ive sanded down the corners of the nuts or used a bit of non conductive epoxy or silicon depending on how I attach the topload.
Great work Sparks down under.

[Mads Barnkob]

Your bottom connection looks as sturdy as it should be, not that it should really be stressed, its more just you need some material to mount a heavy earth connection into, so this will do fine!

For the top connection, for a smaller coil like this, I have previously used a banana plug and two homemade parts in brass.



Did you see all the examples from my different secondary coil terminations in the bottom of this article? http://kaizerpowerelectronics.dk/tesla-coils/drsstc-design-guide/secondary-coil/

I was not aware that winding on top of a layer of varnish was that big a problem, maybe epoxy is just too thick for that and you can only use a thin polyurethane layer? I did however never try that myself.

[sparkydownunder]

Yep, i think it was just the thickness of the epoxy causing trouble. Maybe some thinner spray on varnish would be better, oh well.
I based my secondary on your guide, but because of the questionable quality of my winding i want to make my end caps easy to remove should i replace the secondary.
Thats why i was looking to modify your design with a connection (which will then be routed to a banana plug similar to yours)