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Tesla Coil Safety
Obviously these devices are cool, but they are not suitable for
children, or anyone who acts like one (which is why sometimes my
parents fear for
my safety). First off, the entire primary circuit is charged with
high voltage, and hundreds of amps from them big capacitors.
There are several dangers associated with tesla coiling, electrocution,
radiation, noise, toxic gasses, fire, explosion, and
RF
interferance.
Electrocution:
this is by far the biggest concern with any
high voltage project. 35 mA is
enough to stop a human heart if voltage can penetrate (about 35
volts will penetrate human skin, and 10,000 will penetrate just about
anything). One time I had un unfortunant encounter with the
sparkgap of my small coil, I am lucky to be alive, my hand tingled for
2 days later. Knowing this, the peak
currents in teh tank capacitors can reach hundreds of amps! As
for the long flowy purple arcs, they are less dangerous, but still not
entirely safe to touch. they are in teh megavolt range, and can
have substancially high peak currents, but the RMS current is generally
fairly low. If one is holding a metal rod, TC voltage can be
painlessly passed through teh human body, as the frequency is to high for our
nervous systems to feel. if you are using a very low power coil
this trick can be done completely safely, because the current density
is low due to being spread out throughout your hand and body, but do
not try it anyway, please. also note, because of the high
frequency, the voltage can surface trac, or crawl a lot farther that an
arc can reach, so you can get zapped touching a insulator quite a few
feet away.
Radiation:
The sparkgap along with grounded
arcs are extremely bright, minimize exposure, you may even want to wear
sunglasses, there is a lot of ultraviolet radiation from that high
current plasma. I have
gotten some reasonably bad flash burn from the spark gap, so
don't
be stupid and stare at it.
Noise:
Ear protection is an absolute must, remember thunder is loud, and
where you have lightning
you
will have thunder,
even if the discharges are
artificial.
Toxic Gasses.
The UV light emmitted by the arc produces
ozone and nitrous oxide
(O3, and NO2 which are toxic gases) by ripping apart oxygen molecules
at the seams and allowing the free radical oxygen to find new
partners. Always use ventilation or work outside.
Fire:
The Arcs from the coil are hot, thousands of
degrees, if they are striking the ceiling or wall, they may catch it
fire. do this simple experiment, put a moist piece of wood on top
of your top load, and sit back, relax and watch it burn, then try to
tell me striking the wall is safe!
Explosion:
Ok, some people have reported things like
power resisters and capacitors exploding, you must also watch out for
the possibility of igniting nearby flammable things (gas, oil,
whatever), as you are likely running this in your garage. You
would probably be Ok to strike a can of paint as it is well grounded,
but do not try it, it is not worth the risk.
RF interferance:
Please
note: This device does NOT
comply with part 15 of FCC rules, as operation is NOT subject to the following two
conditions
(1) This device may not cause any interferance, and
(2) This devicwe will accept any interferance recieved.
knowing this, I sent the FCC an e-mail and asked if it was legal to
operate a tesla coil, and they told me I was fine as long as nobody
complaned, then I would be held accountable for my interferance if I
did not fix it.
Home, Hobbies, Tesla Coil.
* Supposedly if a person
sticks his head
inside the magnetic field of the primary coil, the neurons in his brain
fire in synch with the coil, so don't do that, otherwise it is
magnetically safe for humans!
Scott Bogard. 2007