Help Needed: Building a Tesla Coil - No Arcs Coming Out Toroid

AI Thread Summary
The discussion revolves around troubleshooting a Tesla coil that is not producing arcs from the toroid despite the spark gap firing continuously. Key suggestions include checking the matching of turns between the primary and secondary coils, as well as ensuring that the frequencies are aligned for optimal performance. The user is testing the coil outdoors with a chicken wire ground and is uncertain about the tuning process, which involves adjusting the primary coil's turns to maximize output. Potential issues mentioned include a weak transformer, faulty capacitor, or possible shorts in the circuit. Overall, the conversation highlights the complexity of building and tuning a Tesla coil effectively.
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Hello all,
I am in the process of building a tesla coil and I need a little help.

I have everything completed enough that I can start testing it. I plug the coil in and the spark gap fires immediately and continuously, but no arcs come out the toroid.

I tried moving the toroid closer to the secondary coil and putting a piece of wire sticking out of the toroid, but there are still no arcs.

If anyone has any suggestions, they would be greatly appreciated.
 
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Do the turns match for both coils? Couldn't it be a problem of the frequencies not matching up? Or maybe you have a weak transformer? Where do you test your tesla coil? In a garage or something?
 
I have been testing it outside because I am using chicken wire as a ground. What do you mean about the turns matching up? Does the secondary need to have a multiple of the primary's coils? In my research I have never read anything about that, but I might just be missing it.
 
I remember reading about how the secondary and primary coils have to match in frequency. Meaning if one coil has a certain amount of turns, then the other must have a certain amount of turns to match the frequency. I know these tesla coils can be quiet tricky. (Had a mate of mine that did one for a science fair project a couple years ago, and the first one they made was a failure.)
 
I found that there was the term called "tuning" the coils, but can't really find anything beyond that.
 
What I have found about tuning the coil is that you adjust the amount of turns in the primary to get the greatest output from the secondary, but everything I've found about it has said to try one position and measure the arc length, then try a different position and so on, but that doesn't really work when there are no sparks at all.
 
Then there is something either wrong with your capacitor, or transformer. Or you may have a short some where in your circuit?
 

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