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: I'm in the process of building my first Tesla coil and am very excited to be
: doing so. I went out and bought a section of white pvc pipe for the
: secondary and out of cosmetic desire, I spray painted it matte black. As
: soon as I finished winding the wire onto it and varnishing it I read not
: to use anything black for the secondary as it could contain carbon or
: other interfering materials. Now I'm worried. Should I buy more magnet
: wire and wind up a new coil or will this one work without negative effect?

Hi Chris,

Since you've already wound the coil on the painted form, you might as well try it out... :^)

Not all black paint is conductive. You might have been lucky and used paint that is not conductive. If the paint is indeed conductive, you'll likely know quite soon as the winding begins to arc to the the form when you fire up the coil.

Good luck - please let us know how it worked out.

Bert