Wiring layout
Below are a few simple wiring layouts for Tesla coils.
| In the above diagram it may be seen that the main spark gap and the main cap can be swapped round but it has been found that by placing the main gap across the transformer it affords more protection to the transformer. To add an other level of protection to the transformer you can add a proper grounder safety gap, see below. |
| Each side of the safety gap should be spaced the same distance. The connection in the middle of the gap should go to the RF ground. If an arc passes from the toroid back to the primary then the safty gap should fire and any high voltage surge will go to ground and not in to your transformer. You can also add a gap across your cap, This will limit the voltage build up in the cap and my save it from an over voltage situation. This gap does not need to be grounded. |
| The circuit below uses two high voltage capacitors, one across each leg of the primary tank circuit. This circuit is called the "Tesla equa-drive". When Tesla built many of his coils he liked to see a symmetry in all the coil components. |
| The last circuit diagram just switches the main spark gap and the high voltage cap around. |
