tesla coil secondary coil wrapped around primary coil

crockman1

what would happen if the secondary coil of a tesla coil was wrapped around the primary assuming they were both insulated? and if the secondary wire was half the gauge size of the primary then would the secondary have to be twice as long as the primary for the coil to fit when coiled around the primary?

imsmooth

secondary voltage on a tc can reach hundreds of thousands of volts. The lightning strikes will penetrate any insulation; after all, it jumps through air.

The coil will short, and you will probably destroy it.

crockman1

thanks for the info. can anyone explain why it will short out? and would the primary coil have to be half the gauge and length of the secondary in order for the secondary coil to be the same weight and length of the primary wire?

imsmooth

if the secondary arcs it will short across the primary, which is high current and burn out the secondary. Again, this is if you have them together.

If you go to << link deleted by Moderator >> there is an entire section devoted to tesla coils.

crockman1

so ittl just ark through the insulation? i got another question: does the secondary have to weigh the same as the primary in order for it to resonate correctly?

sophiecentaur

??? What would weight have to do with it?

The secondary will have hundreds more turns on it than the primary. After all, it's basically only a transformer. Look up the transformer equation and it tells you the voltage ratio is the same as the 'turns' ratio.
The tuning etc. also have an effect but it is still a transformer.
In all the Tesla transformers that I have seen,the primary is right at the bottom (earthy end) of the (tall) secondary, where the volts are not so high as to get through the insulation.

crockman1

what if the thing was highly insulated? i think im gonna build one. and what if the primary was coiled around inside the secondary former?