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My 811a Vacuum Tube Tesla Coil

video My 811a Vacuum Tube Tesla Coil

This is a video of my dual 811a power triode Vacuum Tube Tesla Coil based on Steve Ward's VTTC1 design. The secondary is a 3 inch PVC pipe wound with 850 turns of 24 awg magnet wire. The primary coil is 20 turns, with a 1000pf tank capacitor. Currently I am achieving 4-5" sparks, with minimal tuning and adjusting.

EDIT: Now I am getting 7-8" streamers!!!

26 comments

Dec 21, 2011. 4:56 PMZappingLover1337 says:

i couldn't make mine so i bought this

Jan 25, 2012. 9:08 PMxerverian says:

wHEN DO YOU BOUGHT?? IN aMAZON?

Dec 27, 2011. 10:35 PM

Teslaling (author) says:

You know, if you put some aluminum foil on it, you can draw some arcs!

Just be very careful!

Oct 22, 2011. 4:22 AMnikolateslahimself says:

Yay! im not the only kid who has made tesla coil

Nov 23, 2011. 8:41 AMhighvoltageguy says:

sure not im nine

Nov 24, 2011. 5:29 AMnikolateslahimself says:

nice!

Nov 24, 2011. 9:21 AMhighvoltageguy says:

i know it is weird but its true

Nov 24, 2011. 3:55 PM

Teslaling (author) says:

That's awesome! I was 11 when I built my first coil and 13 when I got this one running.

Nov 27, 2011. 6:58 PMZappingLover1337 says:

im 11 and im making mine now so awesome knowing you started then for u but now for me!!!!!!!!!!

Nov 28, 2011. 8:32 AM

Teslaling (author) says:

Cool! Have fun and good luck!

Nov 25, 2011. 9:10 AMhighvoltageguy says:

I have made a instructable on my tesla coil be sure to take a look i would appriceate that so much. thanks christian

Nov 25, 2011. 9:02 AMhighvoltageguy says:

yeah i just seem to like electronics and im in primary school and they all think im a nerd but i dont care BTW thanks for the reply.

Nov 25, 2011. 10:32 AM

Teslaling (author) says:

If other kids call you a nerd, don't get mad at them because it just means that they are admitting you are smarter than them. I personally know that it is hard being called a nerd or a geek especially by the "cool kids" but when I stopped and thought about it, they knew I was smarter than them and they were jealous so they had to find a way to make fun of me for it. Your coil looks pretty cool. I have some suggestions for you:

Make a primary coil with a bunch of turns so that you can tune the coil. Connect one wire with a clip lead. Starting at one and a half turns (where you have it now), incrementally (1/4 or 1/8 of a turn each time) move the clip lead along the wire and try the coil. You want to look for improved output. If it gets worse as you go out, go back to the original spot and move inward.
Smooth out the spark gap electrodes. The corona will deplete the charge and cause it to fire before the capacitor is fully charged.
PUT A 10M OHM RESISTOR ACROSS THE CAPACITOR!!! This is to bleed the charge after you turn the coil off; without it, somebody could be in for a real surprise.

Nov 25, 2011. 12:21 PMhighvoltageguy says:

yeah thanks for the advice those electrodes are gonna have a dremel to them.

Nov 27, 2011. 7:03 PM

Teslaling (author) says:

Cool! Let me know your results!

Nov 28, 2011. 8:10 AMhighvoltageguy says:

man the results are awsome u can make a arc like a metre long and its cool
beacause they arc to my finger with no pain.

Nov 28, 2011. 8:29 AM

Teslaling (author) says:

WOW! That's amazing! You are using a 15kv Neon Sign Transformer, right? I ask because my wimpy little sgtc throws 20cm arcs but I'm only using a 6kv transformer.

A word of advice about touching the arcs is while it may be painless, there is a very good chance that you may get rf burns from it so be careful!

Nov 28, 2011. 8:53 AMhighvoltageguy says:

yeah i was always careful about RF burns and im not sure why it makes so
big arcs maybe just good luck.

May 14, 2011. 11:07 PM

spark light says:

Nice job!
Did you use the primary resonant type circuit?

Jun 3, 2011. 12:23 PM

Teslaling (author) says:

Yes and no, I used a feedback coil to switch the tubes based on the secondary coil's resonance frequency, but I do have a tuned LC circuit as part of the primary as well.