This time we will look at how you can make a Tesla coil from available materials and with minimal effort. The author decided to use plumbing fittings as structural elements. This will quickly assemble the device with a minimum amount of effort.
At the cost of the necessary fittings cost 200 rubles. To buy everything at once, it is advisable to choose a larger store. With luck, you can buy all this in a couple of minutes. Some other details will also be needed, which will be discussed below.
Materials and tools for homemade:
- a pipe measuring 40x0.25 m;
- high voltage varnish;
- ring (adapter) to the pipe 40 mm;
- for the smooth end of the cast-iron pipe, a 50 mm coupling will be needed;
- copper wire type 0.14 mm PEV-2 (you can search in your the garageworkshop, etc.);
- rubber cuff 50 mm in size.
How everything should be can be seen in the photo
Homemade manufacturing process:
Step one. We wind the high-voltage coil
The main high-voltage coil is wound on a pipe, for this a 0.1-0.15 mm wire is needed. The author used a 0.14 mm wire for such purposes, this activity can be considered the most tedious and painstaking. You need to wind the coil carefully and accurately, making each new round close to the previous one. For such purposes, you can use special fixtures. Total auto I’m used to making two copies, as one often has a buyer, and the second remains for the collection.
Step Two Isolate the high voltage coil
To isolate the coil, the author applied modern technologies, namely, high-voltage varnish. Also for such purposes there will be the necessary wide heat shrink. In total, the varnish must be applied in two or three layers. Each layer must be dried for at least 20-30 minutes. According to the author, the varnish is applied easily and well, and it looks beautiful. With this approach, the design becomes very durable. Lacquer is also not expensive, the bottle costs 300 rubles.
Caution
When working with varnish, you must follow all necessary safety measures, since it is quite toxic. A minute later, the author began to have a headache, and the cat began to vomit, breathing in pairs of varnish. In this regard, work must be carried out either under the hood or on the street, but this only if the weather is good.
Subsequently, heat shrink is put on and the coil is seated with a hot air gun. Work must be carried out carefully, starting from the middle and moving to the edges.As a result, everything should turn out tightly and evenly.
Due to the fact that the cat was breathing in poisonous fumes of varnish, I had to pump it out with milk. And the author was treated with beer.
Step Three The final stage. We make an inductor and assemble the structure
This part of the assembly is the most critical. It is necessary to make 2-4 turns in the first third of the high-voltage coil. To create an inductor, a piece of annealed copper tube with a diameter of 8 mm will be needed. Thanks to this approach, a minimum inductance and excellent characteristics of home-made work are ensured. Three turns must be wound into grooves on a rubber cuff. In order not to break the tube, it is necessary to collect sand into it. Then he carefully gets enough sleep. As a result, after assembling the generator, it will look like in the photo.
The most expensive element in this design is a copper tube. It will cost about 150 rubles. It can also be purchased at a hardware store.
Some nuances of the assembly
One of the features of the generator can be considered the contacts of the inductor. They are made from a piece of annealed copper strip, and insulated with heat shrink. Due to this, the design has a small inductance, and this in our case is a very important parameter. All contacts in the system are made as short as possible, and copper plates are used as material, due to which various losses are reduced.
An adapter-ring is put on top of the device, with it a copper round contact is pressed, to which the upper wire from the high-voltage coil is soldered. The structure is poured on top with liquid rubber. In the center is a mini-jack.
Step Four We connect and test the generator
You can feed this miracle of technology in different ways, but the author decided to do it according to the scheme that can be seen in the picture. You will need several resistors, a suppressor and a field effect transistor. Denominations can be seen in the diagram. The transistor must be equipped with a radiator. According to the author, the circuit is not very durable, but it will show how the device works, and the necessary details are inexpensive.
As a result, if everything is done correctly, the generator should immediately work. If the generator does not work, then the contacts of the inductor must be connected vice versa. Generation comes from 5-7 Volts. At 6V, the generation is stable, and at 12 around everything starts to glow. Due to the fact that the transistor is very hot, the author has established forced air cooling. As a result, everything turned out pretty reliable, and the generator can work for hours on 12V. For the coil, you need to use a powerful power source that can give out at least 2-3A.
Dangerously
When testing the Tesla generator, it is important not to forget about safety measures. In a radius of up to 2-3 meters from the generator, they can easily fail electronic devices, that is, mobile phones, watches, etc. are better to take away. Such a device does not have a very strong effect on humans due to the “skin effect”. It is important to ensure that during testing there are no birds, cats, dogs and other animals, as well as people with an unhealthy psyche near the generator.
A video of the generator can be viewed.