Game changing tesla coil secondary winding suggestions

[Michelle_]

Hi,

I'm so excited about how well this works that I wanted to share my idea.

If the coil is slightly tapered it will self tighten as you wind and it makes it WAY EASIER. I haven't seen many (or any?) tapered secondaries online but javaTC allows you to calculate the secondary with two diameters so it seems like no problem.

I also made a small lip for the first winding to start on with a small passage for the wire which gives it a hard stop that is also perfectly round, for it to start tightening against. The passage is radiused as to hopefully not strain the wire.

I used PETG as the material because it has a high melting point, is strong, and can be 3D printed thin; a lot thinner than typical PVC pipes. PLA should work fine too but I had translucent PETG which looks cool.

Even if the 3D printer's maximum height is less than the coil you want, you can slice the coil into multiple parts and bond them later. Even cyanoacrylate superglue's melting point is higher than PVC for example if you want to bond them that way.

The first coil I made even though it was small was a pain in the ass to wind (and had even bigger wire than this one). This tapered coil which is 3" diameter on one end, 2" on the other, 10" in length will result in 1000+ turns of 32awg wire and is very easy to wind by hand with the wire spool run through a vice then wrapped around a spindle to keep the tension and angle.

I was also able to print a post for my printed toroid to mate to. The toroid itself I'm trying adhesive aluminum tape that I've poked a million times with a needle to ensure connection between layers. Even before the poking it seemed to have OK continuity. After a few more layers I'm going to try to rub the surface smooth. I'm not sure how effective this top load will ultimately be but it's just an experiment and can easily be removed as it just presses onto the post.

If anyone wants an .STL of this or a similar secondary let me know because it will take me no time to change any of the dimensions on my base model.

[alan sailer]

Looks nice. Hope it works as well as it looks.

I have made about ten toroids using aluminum tape over aluminum ducting. The ducting was bent and glued to a wooden center disk. Then the
corrugations of the ducting were filled with Bondo and rotary sanded to smoothness allowing for clean wrinkle free adhesion of the aluminum tape.
I never did anything special like poking holes with a pin. I also never noticed any performance difference between the final toroid and the toriod
with corrugations. I think you will b fine...

Cheers.

[Michelle_]

Looks nice. Hope it works as well as it looks.

I have made about ten toroids using aluminum tape over aluminum ducting. The ducting was bent and glued to a wooden center disk. Then the
corrugations of the ducting were filled with Bondo and rotary sanded to smoothness allowing for clean wrinkle free adhesion of the aluminum tape.
I never did anything special like poking holes with a pin. I also never noticed any performance difference between the final toroid and the toriod
with corrugations. I think you will b fine...

Cheers.

Thanks for the feedback, that's good to know it will probably work. I'm hoping to build a presentable looking spark gap unit. I think 32awg is on the small side but I really wanted a green coil lol. At this rate I can easily make another version with larger wire if needed but we'll see how it goes.

[Michelle_]

Well it's not perfect (I should have sanded it especially where I bonded the second piece) but I don't think it's terrible for my 2nd ever attempt at winding a coil. Hopefully I don't ruin it tomorrow when I try to coat it with epoxy (never done that before either). The wet looking stuff is superglue to keep it from unwinding.

[sky-guided]

I quite like the visual effect of your taper, especially with the green magnet wire!

[Benbmw]

I wonder if a conical secondary like this (mounted with the small diameter down) could help distribute the coupling to the primary more uniformly? You could potentially get tight coupling with reduced risk of racing sparks on the lower section of the secondary.

[Michelle_]

I quite like the visual effect of your taper, especially with the green magnet wire!

Thanks!

If you want to see how it turns out I made this thread:

https://highvoltageforum.net/index.php?topic=2942.msg20982;topicseen#new

I'm kind of obsesed with the green color right now especially with the glossy coat, but I'm going to redo/make another one with a more even coat now that I have a motor for my winder.

[Michelle_]

I wonder if a conical secondary like this (mounted with the small diameter down) could help distribute the coupling to the primary more uniformly? You could potentially get tight coupling with reduced risk of racing sparks on the lower section of the secondary.

Interesting idea, I suppose one could mount it in any orientation and increase or decrease the taper. I have an idea for a tapered oval shape and some other weird ideas as well that I'm going to try when my blue wire gets in from China. Honestly I just like making the secondaries haha.

[alan sailer]

You are half way there to a Nikola Tesla tribute coil.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wardenclyffe_Tower

Cheers.

[Michelle_]

You are half way there to a Nikola Tesla tribute coil.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wardenclyffe_Tower

Cheers.

lol now that's a tempting idea.

I am actually considering making a pyramid but I don't know if it's a good idea, I think I could do it though if the edges were round enough. Like I mentioned above I'm thinking of making something more airfoil shaped, but I don't know yet. If there's anything anyone wants to see feel free to make suggestions.

[Michelle_]

I’ve been reading up and I guess Tesla had a wild idea that the great pyramids were energy generators, I have some matte tan colored PLA and “natural” colored wire so I am thinking about making a pyramid Tesla coil with a gold foil pointy top load. I bet this is a bad idea but I’m pretty sure it’s never been done before and at the least I think it would look awesome. I can enclose the electronics in a pyramidal base that just makes the whole thing look like a huge pyramid and make the primary internal to the secondary. I think the aspect ratio should be a little taller than the actual pyramids for winding purposes and there will need to be filleted corners as well.