Will a DC to Pulse Width Modulator work for SS Tesla Coil?

[Brian Wood]

I am making a small solid state tesla coil. I have the secondary coil, toroid and primary coil but am not sure what to do for a control circuit. I was planning on using two 9 volt batteries for power. Would a DC to Pulse Width Modulator work? This is the one I was thinking of - http://www.cablesandconnectors.com/PIX/velk8004.jpg
Will this work with batteries? Also, will I need anything else?

PS- I was planning on adding a MIDI Interrupter using fiber optics later on for playing MIDI files on my tesla coil and possibly plugging in a keyboard.

 

[Baluncore]

Welcome to PF.
A Tesla coil needs to be a resonant oscillator to be efficient.
For that reason it should be self resonant rather than driven at a fixed frequency.

A low power TC will need to be smaller with less winding wire and so will operate at a higher frequency than normally expected. Unless you are careful it will probably generate radio interference.

 

[Brian Wood]

So, how do I make it self resonant? I am very new and did not understand much.

 

[meBigGuy]

There are many many tesla coil sites on line that specialize in explaining the operation and different approaches. One you have reviewed those, you should come back and ask specific questions.

I think you can use PWM to excite the resonant circuits and control the frequency of the sound.

 

[Brian Wood]

Can you just tell me if I need the part or not for what I am doing? I don't really understand the self resonant thing and when looking up how to make a sstc, it always says to use a control circuit.

 

[Baluncore]

Can you just tell me if I need the part or not for what I am doing?

Not required.
First make your coil and find out how little power it needs to produce the required result. Then select a low power exciter.

Google; ' low power tesla coil '

 

[sophiecentaur]

So, how do I make it self resonant? I am very new and did not understand much.

If that is your position, I would say you have two alternatives. Either you can learn EE from scratch (it is pretty near impossible to jump in half way through). Perhaps with an 'amateur constructor's' approach, starting with building simple circuits and then working up to where you want to be. That could take less time than a formal approach to get where you want. Or you could follow the detailed instructions on one of the websites, referred to earlier (or even buy a kit).
A kit would be the quickest way to get a working Tesla coil.

 

[Brian Wood]

Can you guys recommend some control circuits or whatever will work. I am looking for one that is on the cheap side like u dear $50 but still good quality. Another option I saw is that there is a TeslaTronix kit for $40 for a SSTC. Would the control circuit in that be good? Would it contain everything I need?
http://www.teslatronix.com/single-kits/

 

[Baluncore]

You are way better off going for a kit than trying to engineer one for yourself.
Ask yourself why you want to build a Tesla Coil. Google ' Tesla Coil ' and you will get the information you need.
It seems pointless to ask on a general forum when there is so much specific Tesla Coil data out there on other sites.
Do you really need to run a TC from a couple of 9V cells or are you intending to make a handheld weapon?