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The Tiny Tesla Coil – DIY

T.K. HAREENDRAN (HTTPS://WWW.ELECTROSCHEMATICS.COM/AUTHOR/HAREENDRAN/)

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Over time, I have noticed so many electronics hobbyists(/)asking how to build a small Tesla coil with parts laying
around. I’ve seen various methods proposed, including MOSFETs, dedicated controller chips, etc. However, I
have found that the simplest way is the best. The following tiny Tesla coil circuit requires a few components and
demands only average skills to build it from scratch. The given circuit is, in fact, a little slayer exciter — one
simple solid-state alternative of the Tesla coil.

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First, note that there are a handful of hobbyists who have tried this idea already and have failed to get good
results just because of a few subtle mistakes that usually occur. In this DIY article, you can learn how to avoid
such mistakes. Now let’s leap into the Tesla coil world with an inexpensive circuit!

You’ll need:
BD 243C transistor (or D882-Y transistor)
TO-220 heatsink
1-uF (105) ceramic capacitor
10K ¼-W carbon resistor
3-mm generic blue or red LED (Vf = 1.6 V)
5’ x ¾-inch PVC pipe
30-SWG magnet wire (enameled copper wire)
8-mm hookup wire (with 21-SWG single conductor)
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1K ¼ carbon resistor and 3-mm generic red LED (for power indication — optional)
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Build It
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To begin, you’ll need to wind out two coils — the secondary and the primary. Remember, you’ll need to be
precise and accurate; otherwise, the coils won’t function properly. First is the construction of the secondary coil
(L2). For L2, just take the 5-inch PVC and line up the magnet wire across about ¼ inch from the bottom until
you reach about ¼ inch from the top. Be sure to wrap the wire tightly, straight, and without gaps/overlaps.
Once you reach the top, leave a couple of inches of additional wire, cut, and strip both ends to make clean
electric contacts.

(/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/2-teslacoilwindingdata_ckt.jpg)

There are only a few electronic parts, so building the circuit on a piece of veroboard is pretty simple. Just follow
the circuit diagram to build the electronics, and connect its point marked as “L2” to the bottom end of the
secondary coil (L2) as indicated in the circuit diagram. Making the primary coil (L1) is very simple. For L1, just
wrap ve turns of the hookup wire loosely around the secondary coil and connects its end points to the L1-1 and
L1-2 terminals of the circuit. Because the diameter of L2 is ¾ inch, it’s good to wind L1 with a diameter of about
1 inch.

Next, check all connections twice, keep the secondary coil upright, power up the circuit carefully from a 12-V/1-
A DC adapter, and move the primary coil slowly from the bottom of the secondary coil (L2) toward the top. Fix
the primary coil (L1) at a position where you get the most glow from the blue/red LED. If the LED never glows,
just swap the connections of the primary coil and retry until you get the positive response. Finally, mark that
exact position (the sweet spot) and glue the primary coil there permanently after wrapping enough Te on tape
between L1 and L2. You can now run the system and watch as uorescent lamps and neon bulbs light up like
magic once placed near the close proximity of the secondary coil. To avoid overheating, only run your Tesla coil
for short
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(/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/3-teslacoilexperiments_lab.jpg)

The Resonance
One very important and tedious step in this project is the winding of the secondary coil. You didn’t have to be
very precise with the turns, but it should have a minimum of at least 250 to 300 turns. Ensure that you’re
wrapping the magnet wire tightly without any gaps and overlaps. If this step is skipped, your laziness will
render the coil useless. Fortunately, such extreme care is not very necessary for the primary coil. See the next
photo — my quick prototype runs smoothly with a “loose,” three-turn primary coil!

(/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/4-primarycoil_turn.jpg)

Admittedly, extreme simplicity of the electronics comes with an inherent dark side. Here, the failure rate of the
driver transistor is very high, and if you raise the supply voltage, it will most likely break abruptly. The slayer
exciter circuit also causes a lot of heating in the driver transistor because the transistor expends most of its time
in active mode, not in saturated mode. Note the following steps that you can take to dramatically improve your
driver’s lifespan:

Use a beefy heatsink for the driver transistor.

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Replace the LED with a Schottky diode like the 1N5817.
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Try a suitable top load (see next photo) for the secondary coil to reduce the resonance frequency and to improve the
overall performance. It can be a disc- or spherical-shaped object. I tried a 3-inch steel washer in place.

  (/)

(/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/5-topload_ball.jpg)

Frankly, I’m not a Tesla coil guru, but I was pretty happy with the end result even though it wasn’t quite
nished. The coils (L2 and L1) had to be tweaked to ensure optimum performance. Aside from that, while I did
get rst results, there is a lot of improving to do. I plan to build a very compact Tesla coil that will be easy to take
places for demonstrations if needed. Stay tuned for useful updates from me. And nally, give this project a try
and let me know how yours comes out by posting pictures, comments, and suggestions in the comment section
below!

Warning: This is a high-voltage circuit, so make sure you always know what you are
doing. The resultant voltage is not lethal, but always remember not to touch the coil
while it’s powered up!
 

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