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Hi Mike, Congratulations to both of you! For low power spark gap coils, smaller diameter wire often works better, since the larger number of turns reduces the frequency of the coil. This allows you to use a larger tank cap which can provide more energy each time the main gap fires (larger "bang size"). Sparks also tend to be longer for lower frequency coils. 26 AWG should work just fine. If your cousin is connecting his saltwater caps in series, then bleeder resistors might make sense. However, if he is only connecting the SW caps in parallel, bleeders are really not necessary since the winding of the NST will normally discharge the caps. If he does decide to use bleeders, he'll need to connect a number of resistors in series or get special high voltage resistors to withstand the high voltage. He can certainly try out his coil without the bleeder resistors. If he's concerned about the caps holding a charge, he can always discharge them with a piece of HV wire after he's shut off power. A safety gap is easy to set IF you have a variac. Simply disconnect everything else, and then connect ONLY the safety gap across the NST. If you are using a center ground safety gap, connect the center terminal of the gap to the case of the NST. Slowly bring up the voltage on the primary of the NST with the variac. You want to adjust the safety gap so that it is just beyond the point where will arc over at the maximum voltage from the variac. Once the safety gaps have been set, do NOT change them. If the safety gap(s) begin firing when you are using your coil, reduce the main spark gap setting and/or make sure that your coil is in tune. Good luck and best regards, -- Bert --
: Hi Bert,
: I have sucessfully completed and run 2 TCs. Now my younger (10th grade)
: cousin has also built his 1st TC. However, I have noticed that he has used
: 26 gauge wire for his secondary. Is that OK? He has a saltwater cap but he
: wants to use bleeder resistors with it. Is it possible to do so? I told him
: that he should put in a safety gap, but neither him nor I know how to set
: it to the correct setting.
: He has not run his TC as yet, but is very eager to do so. So could you
: please tell me if it will work properly?
: Thanks a lot!!
: Mike
:
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