Thanks to Michael Chen for sending in his DIY Tesla Coil Build. His DIY Tesla Coil Instructable takes you through all of the steps he took to build it. He is still working out some bugs in his electronics since he is able to fry some components if he isn’t careful but it does seem to work great when it is working. Only take on a Tesla Coil project is you know how to safely work with high voltage since it can seriously hurt you if you are not careful.
You can also vote for this project on Instructables if you think it is good enough to be a winner, see the vote button on the top right of the page.
“A Solid State Tesla coil is made by four main parts: the primary coil, the secondary coil, the topload, and the control circuitry.
The Secondary : The secondary is the long, orange cylinder. It is actually a white PVC pipe covered by a lot of enameled wire. One side is connected to ground, high voltage comes through the other side.
The Primary : The primary is powered by the control circuitry and it generates the magnetic field that the secondary uses to create the high voltage. It is the few turns of thick wire at the base of the secondary coil.
The Topload : The topload is the metallic object at the top of the secondary coil. It provides a capacitance to the Tesla coil.
The Control Circuitry : The circuits that make the tesla coil work at the correct frequency and duty cycle; based on Steve Ward’s design. “
