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Messages - TiagoBS

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1
I did some more tests and it seems like I'm narrowing down the possibilities.

1 - When I touch the probe to pin 3 of the 555 on the left, it seems that the duty cycle is reduced and the coil stops having output and just lights up a small neon lamp. (without resonant capacitor)

2 - You can see the duty cycle being adjusted when I test pin 5 of the 555 on the left. Another point is that it is only possible to notice this change in the duty cycle after the potentiometer is turned around 60%.
However, you can see and hear the difference in output throughout all the potentiometer adjustment.(without resonant capacitor)
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3 - Touching the probe to any of the Mosfet Gates causes the duty cycle to increase again. (without resonant capacitor)
[Video]

4 - Adding the resonant capacitor to the primary and measuring pin 3 of the 555 on the left, it is possible to notice that the duty cycle varies between 500us and 750us. This change is possible to notice by turning the 20k potentiometer (now 50k) but only during the first 15% of possible regulation, after that the cuty cycle remains close to 750us for the rest of the potentiometer adjustment.

Apparently I have problems with my osiloscope and that's why I'm using this portable one.
Using this other oscilloscope I didn't notice that much noise and it's even possible to see the ramps.
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Perhaps some component of the switch is having problems?

2
Well, I did some more tests and discovered a few things.
The reason the output was very weak was due to the duty cycle potentiometer wire being broken and hidden under the insulation. However, I only discovered this because I checked the duty cycle time on the oscilloscope and realized that even at 20k it was no more than 10ms.
I switched to this potentiometer for a 50k one and now the output without the resonant capacitors is back to normal.

Despite having "solved" this problem, I wanted to understand what happened.

Now what I'm trying to solve is the fact that when I use resonant capacitors the coil has no output and just lights up a neon lamp.
I removed the TVS just in case, but the behavior didn't change.

3
Well, I was already moving towards finishing this project. But once again there was a problem.
The coil was already working well, the self-oscillatory circuit working as expected.
However, when I assembled the coil in its final configuration I had problems with secondary interference. So I made a grounded shield out of cardboard and aluminum foil to separate the secondary from the PCB. This solved the interference problem. To give a better finish, I designed and 3D printed a new shield. When I went to test this new shield, I removed the resonant capacitors, the coil remained working. So I added the capacitors again and when I connected the coil it blew both transistors and the fuse.

They were my last two 60N65SMD.
Now I'm doing tests with IRFP460.

I placed the new mosfets and removed the resonant capacitors and I also had to change the ucc37321. But this time the output was very weak, with a neon indicator I can see the coil oscillating according to the interrupter, but with no visible output, even at the highest duty cycle it is possible to see just a small spark. I tried adding the resonant capacitors but with them the coil simply doesn't work, when removing the capacitors it starts working again with a weak output.

By turning on just the low voltage circuit it is possible to hear the ucc clicking according to the interrupter, but the click seems weaker and less audible than before.

Does anyone have any idea what could be happening?

Some photos of how the coil looked:


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4
Quote
Yes.  I recommend a lower value such as 1k instead of 100k.  As low as you have around without exceeding power dissipation limit of resistor.  That will reduce sensitivity to both diode bridge leakage current or noise.

I replaced the 100k resistor with a 680ohm one and took this reading with the oscilloscope after the change. I don't know if this change affected it, but now the reading is much less noisy.

That looks like ring more than noise.  Perhaps a capture at 100ns/div would be better for showing noise.
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Quote
Noise looks worse during time when coil is running (driver chips switching state).  Suggests at least some of the noise is coming from driver chips.  Does your ECB have a ground plane?
It does not have.

Looks appropriate for a long (half cycle) on-time.  BTW, extending past 1/4 cycle usually does not add to arc length, but can make arc thicker by keeping it energized longer.
Might be a good idea to increase right 100k POT setting to reduce repetition rate.  Would allow playing with on-time while still keeping duty cycle low, so minimize stress on IGBTs and gate drivers in case of issues.
Do you mean changing the 100k potentiometer that controls the frequency for example with a 500k one?
And how would this affect the duty cycle and allow playing with on-time?

5
Well, I did more tests this morning. I can't find what I changed, but the coil is now working with the CT!


Looks like duty cycle adjustment has no effect.  Perhaps 100k POT to the right of right 555 is the wrong value or shorted.
Also, did you change which side of 12V transformer is being scoped for line voltage reference?  Does not match previous plot of pin 3.

Here are some captures of the duty cycle changing and also the noise in the signal.
I changed the pin that was measured from 3 to 4. I believe this caused the difference in readings.
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Looks good, other than noise.  What does this look like with horizontal expanded as much as possible, say 10ns/div or how ever fast your scope can go?  The noise is likely so high frequency that it is aliasing with scope sample frequency.  I'd guess either you are near some RF communication equipment or a part on your board is oscillating at high frequency (driver chips would be most likely for that).

Here is a capture at 10ns/div
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In this video the 74HC14 is self oscillating at 100khz. I read this in ZakW's thread:
Quote
Ideally self-oscillation frequency will be close to operating frequency, about 3x higher than now.  330pF would be roughly there.  However, better to go down to 220pF and increase R13 value to get back down to 450kHz.  Better to have some margin away from self-oscillation dropping out.  (Likely going to very high frequency rather than dropping out, too high to get through driver chip.  Could cause problems, so better to stay away from failure threshold.)
Since the coil oscillation takes over the self-oscillation of CH14, what is the difference between leaving it oscillating at 100 kHz and increasing it to close to the coil's operating frequency?

I also read the ramp on pin 6 of the 555 on the right
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And here is the reading of the mains phase that is going to the interrupter and the Gate of one of the transistors.
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Quote
Yes.  I recommend a lower value such as 1k instead of 100k.  As low as you have around without exceeding power dissipation limit of resistor.  That will reduce sensitivity to both diode bridge leakage current or noise.
I haven't changed the resistor yet. But I will exchange it and measure the difference

6
Quote
One phase of the mains voltage and pin 3 of the 555.
There are two 555 chips in the schematic.  Don't now how to interpret scope plots without knowing which 555 chip is being probed.  Perhaps call them "left" and "right" 555 chips per their position in schematic.  (Unfortunate that this schematic does not include reference designators, such as R1 or U1.)
I'm sorry about that. The measurements were taken at left 555.
Only the ramp waves were capture at 555 on the right.

7
Well, I redid the entire board just in case.
It's still working like it does on CW.

During the process I checked the noise as I added the components.
The measurements were made only with the two 555 and the UCC37322 (as I only got this chip in SMD and had to solder it permanently)
When all components are connected, all the measurements are very noisy (all tests were only with the logic part connected)


I took some readings from the oscilloscope.

One phase of the mains voltage and pin 3 of the 555.
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Pin 4 of the 555 at the highest and lowest duty cycle respectively.
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Pin 6 of the 555 (here with little noise)
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This reading here was done on the ground wire (disconnected from de board). Only with the positive test tip.
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My apartment is very close to one of the energy distribution stations in my city. Many high voltage cables pass through my street, both on lampposts and underground. I'm using a large metal fence as the ground. Maybe this is picking up some interference.
When I took measurements using the connected ground the noise seemed to get much worse.

TiagoBS,
Were you able to implement the components that I shared in my previous post? I added an updated screenshot as well. I ended up using a 220pf cap and a 11k resistor to get the correct oscillation frequency. 1nf should work it is just a matter of choosing the corresponding resistor value to achieve the desired freq.
Yes, I added the components and switched from the 74HCT14 to the 74HC14. I left a 100k potentiometer to change the frequency.
In this capture the card was showing a little more noise.
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At times the noise seems much more intense, changing the waveform. Here I took a measurement with the test tip loose with just the ground connected to the negative on the board.
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I can't quite read the low-res schematic image from LabCoatz.  The resistor on AC input after 1N4148 diode looks like perhaps 100k.  That may be too high if diode bridge has much leakage current.  I'd replace with 1k or lower and then scope again.  Diode leakage current and minimal load may be causing your line timing issues.
Here is a link with better resolution:
https://content.instructables.com/ORIG/FFF/UMFD/L1AQ3MJU/FFFUMFDL1AQ3MJU.png
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Is this resistor marked in yellow?

8
Well, today I did some more tests.

Starting with the full bridge.

This first image is the reading of the rectifier output (using the 12v transformer).
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Here after I put my finger between the bridge output. (It seems more correct).
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The following two images are readings of the negative output of the rectifier bridge and the two phases of the 12v transformer.
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I wanted to confirm whether this behavior is expected because when I carried out the same measurements in mains voltage (without the finger part) with the same bridge I got the expected result, but using the 12v transformer it did not.

After confirming this I will continue testing the other components to identify the source of the noise.

9
I did some more tests.

Why were you not able to measure the interrupter output?

Well, it looks like there's a problem with both 555s (It's not the first time this has happened). I swapped the two and was able to read these waves:
On one of the pins of the 100k potentiometer (interrupter frequency).
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These here are from the interrupter output:
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Low voltage transformer (Disconnected from PCB)
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Connected to PCB:
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I believe I need to resolve this noise issue before proceeding. It's disturbing all my readings.


The only other thing I can think of at the moment is related to the ZCD
Maybe I need to change some components on the board, maybe the 2N2222?

If I'm understanding your pictures correctly, one issue shows up there:  Shield for driver should be connected to ground including driver ECB ground.  Bottom of secondary should not connect to shield, not until after passing through CT.
I will make this change.


Noise is unexpected.  Is the H-bridge powered for this measurement of 74HC14-4?  Or is this with only logic powered?
Only logic powered.

That is more different than I'd expect, but perhaps reasonable.  74HC14 input threshold voltage is usually a bit below 2.5V (below half of supply voltage).  Your chips must be quite a bit below 2.5V.  Are you certain your chip isn't 74HCT14?
Wow, once again you got it right!
My chip is actually the HCT14. But I have some HC14 too. I'll make the change and test the result.

About the difference between the two, I found it briefly in a search that:
The basic difference is that HCT14 are designed to work at lower inputs (5v) and HC are rated for higher inputs (15v).

How does this affect the feedback operation?

This duty cycle error (not 50%) can be fixed by adding another resistor, either across D2 or from 74HC14-1 to ground.  That lowers the input signal level to be centered around 74HC14 input logic threshold.  Resistor value needs to be adjusted to get 50% duty cycle.
Did you identify this from the image with the blue wave?



10
Hey guys, thanks for the help!

I added the self oscillation circuit and was able to measure and vary this frequency (320khz). I added the other components as suggested too.
I also made a Faraday cage.

C3 = 200pf
R13 = 22K - (Potentiometer)


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I measure the frequency via pin 4 of the 74HC14, but in my last tests I was unable to read the signal (Likewise, I can't measure the signal from the interrupter), in addition to being very noisy signal.
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Measuring GS of the two IGBTs with just the logic part powered, these were the readings:
I don't understand why they are so different.
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When connecting the coil in this configuration it works as in CW. With only the logic part turned on I can hear the UCC clicking on the interrupter frequency. By changing the value on the frequency potentiometer I can notice the increase or decrease in the clicking sound.

If I disconnect the self oscillation circuit the coil doesn't work and I can't hear the UCC clicking. However, when I put my finger on R1 it works (like in CW). With just the logic part connected, by touching R13 I can hear the UCC clicking very quickly, like at 60Hz.

11
I made some tests and changes.

Quote
The other one I wound around a ferrite core I took from an old computer power supply (about 55 turns).
How do you know this core is ferrite?  Most supply toroid cores are powdered iron (or iron alloy).  The input line common-mode choke core will be ferrite, if that is what you pulled from supply.  Other cores are likely not ferrite and not suitable for CTs.
Any picture with CT actually connected?
Really I wasn't sure if this core was ferrite, so I used the core that came on a Chinese SSTC board. Originally this CT had 25 turns, but I redid it and now it has over 50.

With the 10k resistor between 74HC14 pin 13 and before the clamp diodes coil works as if it were in CW mode (using the new CT).

In other tests I kept the resistor but used the antenna instead of the CT. With this configuration the coil worked, but with a very weak output.


Without the resistor and with the new CT the coil didn't work, but I noticed that when turning on the main voltage sometimes I got a small discharge on the output, but the coil didn't keep the oscillations.



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And here it works with just the antenna.


Any other ideas of what could be causing these issues?

12
Hey guys, how are you doing?
I'm having the same problem on my RSSTC. Once again I'm following one of Zach's from Labcoatz tutorials.
Link: https://www.instructables.com/Building-the-Worlds-Easiest-QCW-Tesla-Coil-Staccat/

My circuit is working and I already got good results using the antenna, however I am having “bad” output with unstable BPS and pulse width.
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Because of this I would like to try using a feedback transformer.
On the PCB designed by him there is already a connection for the antenna and for the CT. The scheme is as follows:
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I tried using two different CTs (Also reversing the polarity). One of them I took from another SSTC (About 25 turns). The other one I wound around a ferrite core I took from an old computer power supply (about 55 turns).
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My coil is currently in this setting
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I'm using the CT at about that position.
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When I'm using just the antenna I can hear the ucc clicking at the frequency of the 555 interrupter, when using the CT I can't hear anything.
I found this topic and decided to ask here because it is something related. I don't have much experience so I might be missing something very obvious.

13
Solid State Tesla Coils (SSTC) / Musical Class-E SSTC [Help Tuning]
« on: March 27, 2023, 08:06:14 PM »
Hey guys, I'm starting this new project and would like some help tuning and understanding scope waves for CW and music operation.

I'm following this guide made by Zach from LabCoatz.
https://www.instructables.com/Making-the-Ultimate-Class-E-Musical-Tesla-Coil-Sin/

Currently my setup looks like this:
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I am using a 20A power supply with voltage adjustment between 17-31VDC.
I also wound this transformer on a old flyback ferrite core, didn't calculate anything just wound the primary and secondary and adjusted the number of turns until I reached 61vdc output after rectification.



Here's the first problem, the ferrite core is getting quite hot during operation. The transformer primary and secondary don't seem to get hot, just the core.
Any idea why?

Coil operation at 61vdc

Here are the coil specs:

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JavaTC recommends approximately 17nF for Resonant Tank Cap.
However, with this value it seems that the operation is not close to ZVS. Using 3.3nF plus transistor capacitance between DS on the other hand seems to leave the coil running close to ZVS but JavaTC calculates the primary frequency almost double the secondary.
What's wrong here?
In all tests I used 3 turns on the primary.


These are the readings I took while running.
Here using 17vdc
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And here using 61vdc
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I did the tests using three different transistors.
For all of them I had the best result using a 3.3nF capacitor between Drain and Source.

-IRF640N
-FGA60N65SMD
-K40T1202

When the coil is working with the interrupter at low frequency the transistors do not heat up, however when I go at higher frequencies or duty cycle I start to have heating problems.
Even so, it is possible to keep the coil running in CW for a few seconds.

-What I would like to understand is the behavior of the gate wave, why does it have all this ripple and why does it get worse with increasing voltage?
Another point is the audio quality, but I believe it is first necessary to solve the problem of correct functioning in ZVS.

Edit: I'm a data analyst with no electronics background, so I lack some of the basics, so I might end up asking the same question in different ways or I might struggle if the explanation is too technical. However I am very curious, persistent and I like to solve problems!
Thanks to everyone who can help.

14
I reached the 'end' of this project.

Since my first post in this thread it's been 209 days. I learned a lot of things, Tesla Coils are fascinating puzzles, solving the problems and understanding the principles used without having an electronics background was quite challenging!
I would like to thank davekni for all the help he gave me to complete this coil!

-The last changes were:
-A 1.8k resistor in place of the lamp to load the SSR.
-New Case to accommodate the PCB

Here's a picture of the final waveform (Although I'm still not sure if it's "ideal")
What does this purple marked overlay mean?
Would it be ideal not to have this overlap?
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And some pictures of the complete build.
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15
I made some changes to the project.
Now all the components are in a PCP that I designed and almost everything works just as I planned.


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Are you back to FET now?  Thought you'd changed to FGA60N65SMD IGBT.
I expressed myself badly, I'm using FGA60N65SMD and I have some K40T1202.


I'd be amazed if a neon lamp made any significant contribution to SSR load.  Generally requires an incandescent lamp of at least 5 watts.  You may be lucky enough that your coil circuit is drawing sufficient power at low voltage to keep SSR operating properly.
It's true, although the system works with a neon lamp, I noticed that this altered the functioning of the coil, even with two lamps in parallel, so for now I will continue using an incandescent lamp.

Regarding the waveforms, I think there was an improvement in the collector wave, but I can't say what those ripples are at the end.

I still haven't managed to make the transistor work in Zero voltage switching but I shouldn't be too far away, because the transistor heats up very little. The heat sink and cooler fan are more than enough to keep the transistor at low temperatures.


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As suggested I did all the simulations beforehand and made sure everything was correct, then I planned the board and my 555 switch. Now I can vary Duty Cycle and frequency independently. Then I used a 10k potentiometer to regulate the pulse time (about 17ms). The frequency now ranges from about one pulse every four seconds to hundreds per second.

Now the last problems I need to solve to focus on designing the case and finalizing this project!

I still need a ballast to regulate and prevent my transistors from being damaged. The coil works without a ballast, but I can't go to the maximum of the voltage regulator because the IGBT burns out.
I'm using several incandescent bulbs in parallel, and I wanted to reduce this package to just one component, so I tried using one of those inductors that are inside fluorescent tube ballasts, like this one.



But it didn't make any difference, with ferrite core, with half or without the core, it looks like the coil was working at full power (and burning my transistors). On my last test however, it got hot and started to smoke.
Measuring without the core this inductor has 0.20mH and 1.37ohms.
What am I doing wrong here, shouldn't this be reducing coil power?
What can I use in place of light bulbs?
Or what can I do to connect the coil directly to the mains voltage but reduce the chance of the transistor burning? (reduce coupling???)

And what can I use instead of a light bulb as a SSR load?






16
Hi, guys!
Updates on this project:

I made a lot of progress in building the case, the final structure is almost ready, I also made a new smaller board and changed the value of some components.
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Now I can see the waveforms with my new 2-channel oscilloscope!
I would also like to better understand what I'm seeing here, especially in the Drain wave. I'm suspecting that my Coupling Coefficient is too high, 0.346 and that is causing these distortions in the Drain voltage
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The coil is running at 479kHz, pretty close to what JavaTC calculated, 495kHz.

I studied a little the concept of Parallel impedance of L/C. Clearly I was going the wrong way. Now with the new adjusted values I came to this conclusion:

I decided to leave the primary with 3 turns, so the impedance was close to 5ohm, which I believe is within an acceptable value. JavaTC recommends 59nF for the resonant capacitor, however I am using a 68nF capacitor plus the DS MOSFET/IGBT capacitance. According to JavaTC this leaves me about 8% detuned. In order for the system to be tuned I am adjusting the height of the primary and observing the waveforms, although I don't quite understand what they say (Raising the height of the primary increases the necessary capacitance)
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The problems I have now and how I think I can solve it:
Problem 1: The tric BTA12-600B adjustable voltage regulator does not seem to be handling the circuit power.
Solution 1: Use a BTA16.
Problem 2: I am using a Chinese square wave generator module. This board has frequency adjustment and Duty Cycle, however I had to change the Trimpots by two potentiometers. The board worked after this change, but it was complicated to make the adjustments and after a while of use it simply stopped working correctly.
Solution 2: I'm going to build my 555-Timer to the specifications I need.

What am I going to do differently in version 2.0 of this project.
What pleased me most about this project was the size of the case, only 10cm X 10cm!
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Inside I have:
1 - Solid state relay
1 - 5cm x 5cm heat sink
1 - blower fan
1 - DC-DC Step Down
1 - Adjustable voltage regulator
1 - SSTC Board 5cm x 5cm
1 - 555-Timer Square Wave Generator Board
1 - Neon Lamp. (To Load the SSR)
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However, I believe I can reduce the package even further.
With a 7cm x 7cm board I believe I can fit all the SSTC components, Adjustable Voltage Regulator, 555-Timer and DC-DC Step Down, besides I think I can reduce the size of the heat sink.

I'm still having problems with ballast, but I'm going to fix the problems I already have. I want a reliable coil that I can use without much chance of losing my IGBTs

17
Quote
So, using a higher value for C would be bringing the primary impedance down, in this case, when using 68nF the impedance would be close to 2ohms, which I believe is bad for the IGBT, right?
Changing capacitance across IGBT changes both impedance and primary resonant frequency.  Frequency is defined by where impedance of L and C match.  Your calculations show mismatched impedances, so not at resonance.  Normal DRSSTCs usually start with primary frequency below secondary.  Many QCW coils start with primary frequency slightly above secondary to force initial upper-pole operation.  (Research coupled resonant circuits here or other internet places.  TC primary and secondary circuits are two coupled resonators.)

Quote
Is there any way to calculate the primary impedance "ideal" range in relation to the IGBT/MOSFET used, or is it just from experimentation?
Yes, 2 ohms is probably too low for your circuit.  For this class-E circuit, impedance is roughly peak Vce / peak Ice.
BTW, added Cce is in parallel with IGBT's internal Cce.  Use total for resonant calculations.


Well, I redid the calculations and with 4 turns and 25nF Cce the frequency of Primary and Secondary is very close. However, the impedance gets very low, which I believe is the principle behind DRSSTC.
If I use my circuit with this configuration, wouldn't the low impedance cause problems?



When changing the primary to 5 turns and Cce to 12nF (JavaTC recommends ~15nF to match the frequencies) the impedance is close to 4.8Ω. The closer to 15nF, the lower the impedance.



Can ClassE circuits work with such low impedances in the primary?
Or would the best strategy be to find a combination of Cce and primary turns to have impedance not too low (>5Ω<10Ω?A) and the frequency of the primary and secondary set as close as possible?


For this class-E circuit, impedance is roughly peak Vce / peak Ice.

Could you explain that part please?

18
I added two more lamps in parallel, making a total of 4.
The result is already beyond what I could have expected!



I used a FGA60N65SMD in place of the IRFP460.
With that inductance as a ballast I was able to use the adjustable voltage regulator and get swords like sparks.


I was also able to connect the circuit to the mains voltage without ballasts and use the interrupter. However, the IGBT burned out when I tried to go to the limit of the adjustable voltage regulator (that was possible using the 4 lamps as ballast).
The last spark.




Some changes I will make:
Add a new toroid.
Increase the primary coil from 3 to 4 turns.
Perhaps further increase the capacitance of C between Collector and Emitter*.
I will also redo the entire circuit in a smaller package to reduce unwanted inductance.

Questions:
The first one is related to the capacitance between Collector and Emitter.

Here is the data related to my primary and secondary set.



I don't know if I'm doing the calculations correctly.
My secondary's frequency is around 649kHz and the primary's inductance is around 1,387 microhenry. I believe that the capacitance value to be considered is in relation to the capacitor between Collector and Emitter, right?
So, using a higher value for C would be bringing the primary impedance down, in this case, when using 68nF the impedance would be close to 2ohms, which I believe is bad for the IGBT, right?
Is there any way to calculate the primary impedance "ideal" range in relation to the IGBT/MOSFET used, or is it just from experimentation?

Second question.
I don't intend to use a bunch of light bulbs in my circuit. So I'm looking for an inductor to replace the bulbs.
So I performed the measurement as suggested to have a reference of an inductor that would give me an approximate result.

Quote
I'm using two 100w lamps in parallel as a ballast, how do I calculate the value of an equivalent inductor?
No exact answer.  Incandescent lamp resistance changes about 15:1 between cold and hot (full voltage to lamp).  Exact resistance for your use is unknown, and changing some even during your half-cycles of enable.  First order:  Start with nominal lamp resistance at full power.  Calculate inductance that has same impedance as lamp at your line frequency (50 or 60Hz).  Use that inductance.


And from the Inductor Impedance formula (XL= 2πfL) from this post:
https://highvoltageforum.net/index.php?topic=1739.0
I got the following result:

Current of the lamps in AC and DC

4 lamps in AC - 3.2A
4 lamps in DC (Rectified with 1 diode 10A10) - 1.7A

Z = U/I
Z= 120V / 3.2A (Current of 4 lamps in parallel)
Z= 37.5 Ohms

Inductor Impedance
Zl = 2*PI*f*L

L = Zl/(2*PI*f)
L = 37.5 Ohms / (2*3.14*60Hz)
L = 37.5 / 376.8
L = 0.09952229
L = 99.5 millihenry
or
L = 185 millihenry, since the current of the 4 lamps in DC (After a single 10A10 diode) is close to 1.6A.

Are the calculations correct?

Third question:
This was the waveform I was able to measure between Collector and Emitter. I increased the value of C, however I didn't notice a difference in the format or in the maximum voltage value. What is this ringing voltage at the end of the wave?
Is this elevation at the beginning the ramp that allows sword like output?

19
Good news!


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I'm finally getting to an interesting result with this circuit!

I replaced the electromechanical relay with a solid state relay, and using 120vac with an adjustable voltage regulator I was able to change the shape and intensity of the discharges. Sword shape discharges with muffled sound!


When I'm measuring DS with my oscilloscope I'm not able to use the trigger function correctly I think, but I was able to identify times when the vmax was 198v (the top part of a sine-wave?).

Another way to look at class-E circuits such as this:  The drain (collector) waveform consists of only relatively-wide "spikes" that form the resonant waveform.  These "spikes" are the top part of a sine-wave.  The remainder of the sine wave is clamped to ~0V by FET/IGBT conduction.  If the "spike" voltage is too high, then the resonant capacitor (the drain-source or collector-emitter capacitor) needs to be increased to widen the "spike" and thus lower its peak voltage.  Or, operating current needs to be reduced to reduce spike voltage.

I will test larger capacitor values between DS. But I need to figure out a way to be able to see the still waveform on the oscilloscope screen.

By accident I discovered that the circuit is working without the ballast. In one of the tests, with a new transistor of a different brand I forgot to connect the ballast and the circuit worked at full mains power!
Although I haven't done more tests or used the relay to interrupt the signal because I think I have to optimize the values ​​of all components before that.

I also changed the primary from 2 to 3 turns and this greatly increased the size of the output, at the moment using 2 100w lamps in parallel I'm getting 10-11cm discharges.

Now I believe the next step would be to optimize the capacitor between DS.

Questions:
Why increasing the number of turns on the primary from 2 to 3 did the output increase and why increasing the height of the primary does the opposite?
I'm using two 100w lamps in parallel as a ballast, how do I calculate the value of an equivalent inductor?
For the solid state relay to work I had to connect a lamp to its output, along with the sstc circuit, is there any alternative to this problem?
So that I don't have to leave a light bulb plugged into it.

20
Hey, guys!
Updates:
I'm learning a lot with this new project, every time I make a change I have a lot of questions.

The changes I made were as follows:



I added a 10k resistor before the Gate, changed the Snubber to 15nF 10ohm and primary with 2 turns.

I tested several combinations and also tested some calculations (I'm basing it on Java TC's primary coil inductance value) and came to some conclusions (Although not sure). The capacitance needed to limit voltage spikes increases 4 times when the desired voltage is divided by 2. For example, by limiting the spikes to 180v my calculations showed a value of 2.4nF. Reducing from 180v to 90v the required capacitance is 9.8nF.
I'm just using these calculations as an estimate of values ​​because I'm not sure about the values ​​of the variables used.
[This conclusion may be too clear for more experienced coilers, but I'm learning on the fly in this project  :D]

In the tests performed I used 120vac mains voltage with a ballast instead of 27vdc as I was using.


I noticed that the output seems to be weaker, with thiner discharges.

As I am interrupting the circuit from a relay commanded by a 555 circuit I tried to use a 1000uF capacitor after the diode. In conjunction with this change I also started to interrupt the voltage going to the Mosfet Gate instead of the mains voltage. However, when doing this, the output was very weak, almost non-existent. I also noticed that with this change the coil now seems to work continuously with stronger pulses when the relay is activated (When a lamp is close, it remains lit and pulses with stronger luminosity when the relay is activated).

Questions:
I tried to add one more lamp in series with the one I used as a ballast and I didn't notice any difference in the result. Shouldn't the circuit show a difference in the output?

Can I wind up a transformer and use it as a ballast?
What measurements determine ballast in relation to output power? (Amps consumed in operation by ballast?)

Quote
I also did simulations in LTspice and EasyEDA, but I'm having a hard time finding equivalent components like MOSFETs, however I was able to simulate the voltage divider and see the waveforms.
Try a free program called "LTSpice_MOStool.exe".  I use it both at home and work.  Enter data-sheet parameters and it generates an LTSpice VDmos model.  A number of the parameters will require reading from data-sheet graphs, such as capacitances at different voltages and diode forward drop at different currents.  Fourth file down in this link is the executable to download:
https://groups.io/g/LTspice/files/z_yahoo/Util/Model%20Tools/Board%20Level%20MOSFET%20%28VDmos%29/Software

Thank you very much for the tip, I will test this software!

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