Discharge of a Tesla coil

The Sparkling Tesla Coil


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Photo 1  Photo 2    Photo 3   Photo 4    Photo 5   Photo 6
Audio-Demonstration    Video-Demonstration
Photos: © Eckhard Etzold, 1992

Click on any thumbnail graphic for a full size picture. Click photo to see a big one! Discharge of a Tesla coil with approx. one million Volt. The length of sparks amounts to between 45 and 50 cm. On the right is a note stand. Deafening cracking (RealAudio required) and an importunate ozone smell permit only short demonstrations.


Click photo to see a big one! Click photo to see a big one! Left: Corona discharge into free air. Right: Spark discharge on the grounded note stand. You can take a fork or a spoon made of metal into the hand and thereby approach to the upper end of the Tesla coil. If the arc skips on cutlery, you will feel only an easy tickle. Since Tesla currents along-flow due to their high frequency only on the body surface, it does not come to pain sensations or cramps. With lower frequency the currents occurring here can quite amount to the repeated of the deadly amperage.


Click photo to see a big one! Click photo to see a bigger one! Left: Even a preserving jar inverted over the upper end of the coil is for Tesla currents no obstacle. Discharges pass through by the thick glass as if it would be air. Right: A piece of wood lying on the top of the coil. The sparks burned lines and traces on the wood before its inflamed -
By the way: The effects represented here as the base being situated Tesla system is a reproduction from a book for children and young people: Heinz Richter, Electro-technology For Boys, 10. Edition, Stuttgart 1970, P. 246-259.


Click photo to see a bigger one! Click photo to see a bigger one! A "domestic" version of a tesla coil are the wellknown plasma balls. They generate a high frequent tension of about 600 up to 20,000 Volts at 30 to 50 Kilocycles per second. The discharges happen into a glass ball with a gass like argon or neon at low pressure and generate a plasma which shines in different colours. The power consumption is low with some Watts and there is no danger of burnings and electric chocks if one touch them.


Photos: © Eckhard Etzold 1992
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By the same Author: Artificial Lightnings and Radio Attempts. Nikola Tesla invented the Radio
Vintage Electronics: Metz Farbfernseher "Capri Color 6285" of 1969
Vintage Electronics: Restauration of a Grundig Zauberspiegel, Type 349, built: 1957

Internal Links: The Tesla Workstation with the connection diagram
Artificial Lightnings and Radio Attempts, shortened text of the first Tesla report in German Radio, January, 9th, 1993
External Links: Tesla-Page of the TU Munich
Tim's Tesla Links
High Tension-Page of Jochen Kronjaeger
Stefans Tesla coil pages
Tesla-Page of Christoph Baumann
Tesla Coil Madness with Tesla Coil Chat Room

 

Visit my Homepage.

Danger: Tesla coils produce high voltages that can be fatal. The author disclaims any responsibility for injury as a result of information contained at this web site.


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Impressum, http://bs.cyty.com/menschen/archiv/spark_.htm, Stand: 29. November 2000, ee