Thanks Jay, glad you enjoyed it! I'll be optimizing this coil in the next video (and building an adjustable interrupter for it). Feel free to reach out and collaborate again some day, this was a really amazing experience that I'll never forget!
hello I can only do 1cm plasma at 150W what do I have to do to get more plasma? I have 450 secondary windings of 0.4 mm and primer 5 turns 2.1mm. That's how I get the best results.
Impressive ?? WTF?! I've seen ppl get several times the output from a 12-24V battery driven version drawing a fraction of the power of this mains powered one, check hyperspace pirate! Yes he did add some gate drive(just two transistor, no chip) and an interrupter though, but still.
3:25 - important safety issue - the secondary and the top load are connected to mains via just the 2k2 resistor, and if the gate isolation breaks down also via only the rectifier. I recommend using a Class Y safety capacitor to make it not horribly unsafe in case of an accident with the mosfet or when live and neutral are switched. Not all plugs/sockets are polarized properly, and outside of the USA often all plugs are non-polarized.
Correct. By the time I remembered, though, this video had been uploaded, so I just had to settle on posting an updated version to the accompanying Instructable.
Hey Zach, So i build my new coil. 1900 turns of 0.1 mm wire on a 50mm (diameter) pipe. It has a frequency of 380khz it's resistance is 650 ohm, didn't measure the impedance. The sparks i get from a 65 watt ballast are now over 10 cm in continuous mode (i still have alot room left for adding ballasts :D). Been experimenting with caps, primary turns/ height, ..... Now i found the sweet spot, i'm building the interrupter for it and then i will add a connection for audio input. So for anyone wanting bigger sparks at lower power consumption. More turns, bigger diameter, finer wire,.... it all contributes to that. So my piece of advice build a good secondary then build the circuit. I failed alot in the past just because i was to eager to try these circuits and neglected the secondary coil itself. That was a big mistake. It all starts with the secondary coil and not the circuit. So torturing yourself for hours will pay off in the end. If the secondary is no good. You can fiddle with the circuit all you want. It will not make a big difference as it will with a good secondary. Also the lower frequency the less stress for the components and especially the mosfet. I am going to try to parallel 2 mosfets with this circuit so power consumption is shared. It works wonders in a slayer exciter circuit so i will try with this one too. Just make sure all wires and lenghts to the mosfets are the same for both. I also found metal pill boxes and metal candy containers are good toploads. The 3d printed ones, taped in aluminium where no good and they destroy my rectifier diode every time. Surprisingly the mosfet and other components don't blow up. Always the diode this is ??? to me.
No problem! I just feel like the coil community needs how-to's more advanced than the common slayer exciter, you know? Sometime in the future, I hope to combine the dual-resonant SSTC (DRSSTC) and Tesla magnifier to make the world's first TRIPLE resonant SSTC. We'll see what the Internet thinks of that!
@@BackMacSci Bigger lightning bolts, my friend! I don't know when I'll be making that though, since I'm currently busy working on my bachelor's degree in chemical engineering and college just got back in session.
Finished my circuit and it ran for about 2 minutes and died. I assume the MOSFET died but it doesn't look damaged. I will order some new ones and try again. This is great fun and you have been very helpful! This is one of those rare instances where I didn't have to do tons of research to get an "easy" circuit to work.
I was looking for an easy tesla coil circuit, and by sheer luck i fell on this video. LabCoatz; you're an awesome guy and i cannot thank you enough for this informative and helpfull video. You are truly a legend. Hopefully, il upload a SSTC video on my channel *soon* haha HUGE thanks bro)
This is a lot of really great information, I once tried making a coil like this but failed because all the information was on some sketchy Russian site. It's great to have someone explain the circuit and all its parts.
In most of countries (Like mine!), the provided home electricity is 220 V-AC. So, it is convincing that you make a 220V SSTC and introduce its corresponding circuit diagram. Thanks for such an amazing videos.
Thanks for adding the chemistry component to your demonstration that got me thinking about using my own coil to demo light emissions in my chemistry class. Well done!
Glad I could help inspire you and others! I must say, however, that the colors are best seen with the thick, power sparks from an SSTC. The thinner sparks from a spark gap coil (or an interrupted SSTC variant) don't have the energy or density to produce much noticeable color, as my collaborative partner ThePlasmaPrince found out when he tried it on his SGTC.
LabCoatz never disappointed! you’re super thorough with your instructions! I enjoy how you answer allll the important, relevant questions, that likely anyone doing a diy build will end up having, then endlessly searching the internet, just to find the wrong or inaccurate information! 🤪 keep it up brrotherr!
Informative stuff and a great result. I would just add that to improve safety, you should really use an isolating transformer at the input. Could mean the difference between getting a nasty jolt and cardiac arrest....
Thanks! Later on, to eliminate the risk of getting a mains voltage shock from the secondary coil, I added a small (470pF) capacitor between the base of the secondary coil and the rest of the circuit. The capacitor passes the HF energy so the coil resonates, but blocks DC or lower frequency AC so it can't travel up the coil to give you a shock.
Really cool video LabCoatz, well done. Awesome to see you guys surpassed 1k subs. Keep putting these videos out and you will be at 1M in no time at all.
Hey! I just built this coil and I am LOVING it!! I can’t believe such a simple circuit is making these 4” arcs. Both of your Tesla coil vids have helped me out a ton, and I honestly can’t thank you enough! Also, I don’t mean to be rude or pushy, but do you have an idea as to when you’ll be posting the interrupter tutorial? I’d love to get mine playing some tunes lol. Thanks again! :)
Thanks, glad you like my videos! I'm not sure when the interrupter/upgrade video will be done, I have a few other videos in progress right now, so it may be a while. My next video (as of now) is a tutorial on a "true" SSTC (it will also be TH-cam's biggest Tesla coil collaboration as of yet!), and that will feature an interrupter and hopefully music-playing capabilities. After that, my next video should be about real plasma weaponry (not the showy, ineffectively weak stuff most TH-camrs like to show off), so stay tuned!
@@tzakl5556 I used an old toroidal transformer from an audio amplifier. It works well, but the mosfet instantly dies when you touch the arcs. I added an SPDT switch to allow me to switch between the high power audio transformer ballast and a 12v transformer from a wall adapter, which makes smaller arcs.
Just finished building this coil and it works great! I have about a 2 1/2 - 3 inch spark -Still have to mess around with some of the components to get it working at its best but this def the best video/ instructable on Tesla coils I’ve seen so far- keep up the great work and thank you!
Thanks! Next video's coming soon, it'll be the biggest coiler collab on TH-cam! I'm making full-detail video on building a "real" H-Bridge SSTC that can produce 12" sparks and shouldn't cost many people more than $75 to make. I'll even be giving away some PCBs when that vid comes out, so stay tuned!
Great video! Except for not going into any details about the ballast except that its necessary. Please put out another video explaining using a transformer or light bulb as a ballast.
Glad you liked it! I put all of the ballast details that you need in this video: it needs to be rated for mains voltage and draw less than 10A when powered (2A to 4A, if you want to be safe). You can use almost anything with those specifications, although my personal recommendation is this heater element from Amazon (or eBay), which pulls just under 10A when connected to 120V: www.amazon.com/Camco-02583-Screw-Foldback-Element/dp/B0006JLVC6/ref=sr_1_8?crid=3RJEDI3YEAVMG&keywords=heater+element&qid=1653534285&sprefix=heater+element%2Caps%2C98&sr=8-8 And if you look at the circuit diagram, you'll see just how to wire such a ballast (in series with the power source). Hope that helps!
@@LabCoatz_Science You're right. I think I was just upset I could never get it to work. However... now it does! Once again, great video. Loved the collaboration. I follow all three of your channels pretty religiously. Thanks!
I loved your tutorial, everything seems simple. 😍 I would like you to make a HFSSTC (plasma candle) circuit with an explanation of his style; it would be great 👍
I'd love to try that sometime! Can't make any promises though, those plasma flame circuits are quite sensitive. I'd love to power one off 120V mains though, THAT would be wicked! I'd also like to make a QCW DRSSTC tutorial one day, but that seems even harder, lol!
Hello, please do a video on making your own home chemistry set that you could use along with a book such as "all lab no lecture". Like a whole periodic table would be sic as part of it. Think about it
The skin effect is doing nothing for humans at this frequency: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_coil#Skin_effect_myth You don't feel it because nerves don't react to HF. It's a very, very common myth. Excellent video by the way! Talking about why components need specific ratings, and what those ratings need to be, is really great.
@@mathysgobeil1592 I got some nice pinprick burns along with the smell of burning flesh from a 12v powered slayer - and it made me jump (or at least pull my finger away pretty quickly).
Hi can you explain why the preferred gate voltage is around the 5v threshold. Souldn't a Mosfet be driven to saturated voltage instead of the minimum. I don't understand why in this circuit we must reverse this method??? Also i use a capacitor in parallel to the primary coil for back emf and better current. The same method they use brushed, dc motors.
If you fully saturate the MOSFET, it will simply be "on", and no switching will occur. You want the voltage at the gate to be right around or just over the threshold (I can't give an exact number, since every FET is slightly different, but 5V seems like a good number...although I have seen 12V used in other circuits) so that the relatively small signal from the secondary coil base will be able to pull the gate above and below threshold easily. The capacitor across the primary coil is definitely a good idea, although I've never tried it myself. If I recall correctly, this circuit was quite fussy when I tried altering the capacitor, so to protect the MOSFET, I just used a 400V TVS diode across the drain and source (my updated schematic for this build can be found on Instructables). This actually worked wonders, and every time the MOSFET would have blow, the cheaper TVS diode blew instead.
Cool. I liked Teslista555's 48V 'katcher' a lot and am surprised to see this basic direct gate feedback running at those voltages. Those voltage suppressors are impressive little devices I need to get more of. They do make a nice bang when overworked though. The ebay mosfet struggle is real, pretty sure I've bought from the same vendor as you multiple times and recognize those mosfet markings. Always wondered what difference I might see spending $3.50 a pop or so from digikey. Ebay ones work well when they aren't obliterating tho. I got one of those '027H's on a single fet SSTC, wasn't impressed with them originally til realizing for whatever reason it holds up like a champ at over 220V when the '918's I had wanted to pop.
Nice! My FET's kept blowing up almost every time too, until I realized it was the fault of the resistor/potentiometer I was using. Turns out if you go above 50k or so, the MOSFET blows really quick! Now, with a 47k array, it works like a champ, even with my cheap eBay FETs! They still get quite hot when operated above 1A average current, so in my next video, I'm stepping everything up. I'm going to use a bigger, 3"x14" secondary, 1kW IXYS MOSFETs, an interrupter, and the biggest ballast I can conjure up (if I feel lucky, I might even build it a voltage doubler!). Hopefully I get some nice +12" sparks, stay tuned for that project tutorial!
@@LabCoatz_Science The higher resistance network feeding the gate is likely not able to charge the mosfet gate fast enough, so it never fully turns on by the time it's switched off again. Therefore the gate-drain resistance is much higher than it should be, which would heat it up super fast given the currents passing through it and it would probably quickly burn out. Decreasing the resistance means the mosfet becomes more conductive, but it's possible that it's still not fully turning on given the heat you're seeing. The RDS(on) for the IRFP460 is 0.27 ohm, and passing 10 A through it fully turned on should see a power dissipation of only 27 W. If the mosfet is getting really hot, either the resistance network feeding the gate can be lowered further to ensure it turns on fully, or the switching losses must be super high. Maybe a mosfet with much lower gate capacitance to lower switching losses might be a better choice, like the 12N60, which has 1/4 the capacitance of the IRFP460. It has a higher a higher RDS(on) of 0.8 ohm, which yields a resistive power loss of 80W, but given the switching losses seem to dominate maybe that tradeoff is worth it? I assume you tried other mosfets though?
You would get a better output if you added an electrolytic capacitor to your film capacitor. The film capacitor is not good at reducing ripple currents at maims frequency but can filter the spikes caused by high frequency pulsed intake from the circuit. Adding an electric cap of 200V about 100uF will help maintain a more stable current and the film cap will handle your high frequency interference. Also, the circuit couldn't work without the cap because without it you have a half wave pulsed DC. So the voltage goes to zero occasionally. So if you switch at the high resonant frequencies, you will have multiple cycles with no power. So the circuit can't really work.
You forgot having the secondary connected to GROUND 2. SPHERE On the top load with a very high vacuum to connect to the atmosphere. Which will allow the Tesla coil to connect to other Tesla coils.
Hey lab coats, I hope you read this. I’m trying to re create your coil and have had some issues. At first my voltage divider wasn’t outputting the calculated voltage I got, and I attributed that to my input voltage having a drop over the diode which slightly skewed my results. I then started working backwards and testing other components, and shortly noticed something interesting. My input diode wasn’t rated for as much voltage as yours, but still should have held up to mains voltage, so I decided to put 2 in series. After some tests I noticed that the solder between them started to melt when I tested it. I then took one of them out and that seemed to fix the heat issue. Now my voltage after the diode is around 2 volts instead of 120 ish. I thought I might have killed the diode so I tried the other one and still got the same results. My projects dead in the water as it stands and I don’t know what to do. I re built the circuit on new perf board thinking I could have made an issue wiring it the first time but got the same results. Do you have any advise?
hello I can only do 1cm plasma at 150W what do I have to do to get more plasma? I have 450 secondary windings of 0.4 mm and primer 5 turns 2.1mm. That's how I get the best results.
Sure. Like I said in the video, most capacitors between 0.1uF and 5uF will work in this simple circuit. The voltage can also be quite a bit lower with this circuit; my capacitor was only rated for 250V.
I wonder why in this particular configuration the inductive voltage spikes when turning off the FET aren't a problem. Try to do this with rectified voltage and interrupter, the FET will blow up instantly, even with 1200+V ratings and TVS diodes across the source/drain at mere 140V DC supply voltage 🤔
I have. In fact, that's my next video in line: adding an interrupter I built into this circuit and making it even bigger! I've tested it with the interrupter and the results are impressive to say the least. I also tested the voltage peaks during operation using my oscilloscope, and they all tend to fall below 300V. I imagine when they do jump above 500V or so, the MOSFET's internal flyback diode kicks in and neutralizes most of the more powerful voltage transients. That's just my theory though!
can I use IRF640 Mosfet as a replacement to IRFP460 connected to the main 220v ? IRFP460 is rated VDSS = 500V, VGS = 20V IRF640 is rated VDSS = 200V, VGS = 20V
@@LabCoatz_Science hey labcoatz i was wondering if we could do a collab video together, maybe a complete guide on how to build a TEA nitrogen laser out of garbage? thanks, Walden from NerdLabs
@@NerdlabsSci I'd love to collaborate with you Walden! I might even have a COOLER idea for us to work on. If your parents are alright with it, you can send me an email at zlabcoatz@gmail.com, and we can begin planning from there!
Watching your videos are always so helpful and enjoyable to watch! I have a few questions though: 1)can i use a 20-30volt dc source instead? if so do i just remove the ballast, 10A10 diode and it should be good to go? 2.) how many volts dc is the rectified ac voltage? 3.) would using 2 bulbs increase the power?
I appreciate very much this rare well-done video since online information about SSTCs is always fragmentary and incomplete. I'm building an SSTC by myself following the circuit of Loneocean's SSTC 2, and I wonder how many transistors have you burnt after trying this circuit? Another question: is light bulb ballasting a good enough alternative to buying a variac (high power ones are always expensive)?
Thanks for the comment! Absolutely, this SSTC doesn't require any variac, just straight mains voltage with something to limit the current (which the lightbulb does nicely). However, to get larger discharges, the lightbulb ballast should be switched out for something that draws more power, like a microwave transformer or heater element (which I used to get those 5" sparks). I blew up over twenty MOSFETs testing this circuit, but all the deaths stemmed from the same source: my resistor array was larger than 50kohms! Once I lowered the total resistance of that array to under 50k, everything worked AMAZING! That's why I stressed using resistors under 50k: excessively high resistance leads to MOSFET deaths. If you build this circuit and use a resistor array under 50kohms, then it should work on basically the first try without dying, no matter the size of the other components. Hope that helps, I highly recommend building this circuit. I'll be posting another video in the future in which I hook this circuit up to an interrupter, optimize its design, and hopefully get 12" sparks from it. Stay tuned for that!
College is a cruel mistress, my friend. Rest assured, the video is still on it's way, it's just been delayed somewhat by my educational workload. Most of the filming is done, but I'm waiting on some video from my collaborators. I'm also going to be releasing my video at the same time as ThePlasmaPrince and Coil Labs, so my schedule also depends on them. With luck, we should be done in the next month! Don't worry, I'll make it worth the wait! ;)
I know this is a risky experimental idea (what you do already is), but have you considered experimenting with plasma and propulsion? In other words, incorporating plasma with rocketry.
I have! Unfortunately, most plasma propulsion methods would only be effective in space, since they require a vacuum. And at atmospheric pressure, you'd probably use so much energy that it wouldn't be space-efficient (at least compared to propulsion methods that rely on chemical energy).
@@LabCoatz_Science Sorry for the late reply, I guess I should have said plasma assisted combustion of molecules versus solely a ion system. I have worked on such space systems..yes power is really the only thing holding us back from moving around larger things. I've been thinking about laser power transfer for that but having a straight enough laser for space is hard. On board heat driven turbines also
@@LabCoatz_Science Haha you have to start somewhere. My first coil was so happy to see 1/2in of plasma output then the addiction happen and haven't stop since 😂👍⚡⚡
@@ArcAngelTeslaCoil I hear that! This model was fine, but the FETs pop way too often for my liking at the power levels I want. This circuit is really best for mini SSTC's with discharges only a few inches. We'll see what kind of trouble I can get into with a mid-size SSTC!
Fantastic video! I'd like to build such a coil but have 230V at home. I know you put the link to the video with the modified coil in the description, but the circuit diagram has some changes from the diagram on your website. I'd like to ask you if you could explain to me these changes. I am a beginner in Tesla coils and understand how dangerous they are, so I want to know exactly what every component does before even searching for them.
Honestly, I'm unable to explain everything, but I do know the function of a few things. The thyristor and its surrounding circuitry (a few resistors, a variable resistor, and a capacitor) are for interrupting the coil, which helps keep the power consumption lower and keep the MOSFET healthy. The two TVS diodes are for protecting the MOSFET (my newer renditions also include these...trust me, they're worth it), and I *THINK* the nearby diodes and resistors serve a similar purpose (D3, D4, R5, R6). Everything else is just part of the standard SSTC design like I showed in this video. A quick note though: coils like this (single MOSFET, no driver) tend to die VERY easily, and are honestly a bit frustrating to work with. If you want to avoid wasting money blowing MOSFETs and get better results, I personally recommend checking out some of my newer SSTC models (which can all handle 240V easily) in more recent videos. I provide links to all of the parts, detailed instructions, and even the PCB files so you can order your own PCBs for easier assembly (only $5 from JLCPCB.com). Hope that helps, good luck!
@@LabCoatz_Science Thank you. If I may ask further, I see he has no capacitor on the secondary coil, but you do. What its purpose is? It feels to me like the coil will work without it the same.
@@tatrankaska2305 Since the secondary coil is connected directly to the main circuit instead of to ground like a standard Tesla coil, there is a risk that the 120V (or 240V) powering the coil will travel through the coil and into whoever is touching the sparks or the coil. To prevent this, I added a small capacitor (I think 470pF and over 250V in mine) to block DC and low-frequency AC, but allow the high frequencies from the secondary to still reach the MOSFET gate and cause resonant switching.
@@tatrankaska2305 Nah, diode won't work since this we're dealing with AC signals. And yes, a 470pF should work fine at any voltage! In fact most capacitors below 0.1uF rated for the correct voltage should work!
With some modification, yes. You'd basically just need to swap the resistors with a single 1K potentiometer. Keystone Science has an excellent video on this under "Desktop Tesla Coil" or something similar.
@@LabCoatz_Science thank you a lot I’ve been trying to figure this out before trying to make a Tesla coil and you are the only one who answered my question so thanks.
Very nice, thank you. I build it and it works great. I run it on 230v and I get 10cm+/4 inch+ arcs with a 10A balast (a hairdryrer). I think it is a good idea to also ad a snuber network to the primary (in my case I use a 5.1ohm resistor an a 5nf 2kv capacitor. I used a two watt resistor but it gets very hot. Four or five watts should be better). Also, isnt it dangerous to touch the arc? I mean it is refrenzt to the mains trough the bottom of the secondary. Great vid and project!
I'll be sure to try that when I improve this circuit in my next video! You are right, there is a possibility of shock through the secondary coil (although it hasn't occurred so far). What I do to remove that risk is place a small capacitor between the secondary's base and the rest of the circuit. This allows the HF energy to drive the MOSFET while preventing low frequency mains voltage from entering the coil. Hope that helps! What resistors did you use in your coil btw? In my next video, I'll be trying to run this circuit on 240v, so I'm trying to find what works well for others...
@@LabCoatz_Science In the voltage divider I used a 10k pot for adjustment. On one side of it I connectet a 40.8k resistor and on the other a 1.8k resistor. (The middle pin oft the pot got connectet to the gate). I thought, I would have to adjust the resistanz of the voltage divider so that it is almost double (since I use almost double the input voltage), but this works fine. Also, I used seven and not four turns on the primary for the test. Also what do you mean with a small capacitor? A few nf? And what voltage would be good? (I am talking about the small capacitor for the bottom of the secundary). I hope, I could answer you questions and thanks for the tipp. Have a nice day.
@@LabCoatz_Science It will be interesting to run it at 240. (I guess you run it from two phases).unfortunatly the arcs did not look longer than yours in my case. I will still try it on 275v from my variac tho. I am looking forward to the next vid, becaus I heard, that you make an interupter for it and then I could run it on smoth DC. (Then I could try an even higher input voltage). Have a nice day.☺
@@firefox1136 Thanks for the information! To be safest, the capacitor at the secondary bottom should only be a few nano- or pico- farads (I used 470pF and experienced no performance change), and suitable for mains voltage or higher. You might get better output if you reduce the turns on your primary coil (from my experience). I'll be running my new circuit on a voltage doubler, so the peak input voltage might be as high as 340v. Hopefully with some modifications this circuit will run happily at voltages this high, but we'll see!
@@LabCoatz_Science Ok, thank you for the information. I will also try to improve my circuit. It whas very nice to talk to you, thanks and have a nice day.☺
If you want to build it to work in a 220-240V region, I suggest using this version: th-cam.com/video/MG-pD43i_6A/w-d-xo.html. It's essentially the same circuit, but it works reliably at higher voltages. Hope that helps!
Fantastic video. Would it be possible to run two or more fets in parallel with a larger balast to increase output power and spark length? If so, would the other component values have to be modified or would they still work?
Putting FETs in parallel is generally a bad idea, since slight differences in switching time can cause one FET to take the brunt of the energy and die. That's not to say that this circuit can't be scaled to massive proportions though! In my next video, I'll be jamming a 1kW MOSFET into this circuit (which can be bought on Digikey for $7); adding an interrupter, larger secondary, and maybe even a voltage doubler; and hopefully getting over 12" sparks from this circuit. Stay tune for that, hopefully it will answer most of your questions!
@@nicklee8907 Hopefully within the next month or so. I already have all the parts, I just have a lot of building, filming, and editing to do! I'm hoping to get the final product looking very sleek and professional, extremely powerful, and super user-friendly (somewhat of a rare combination among most SSTC builds, in my opinion). Hope it gets shared around when it comes out, I think the Tesla coil community could really use such a tutorial!
I'm looking at making a solid state tesla coil with the secondary being a double cone shape and the primary being a torus wrapped around the middle. I really like the idea of the mosfet gate controlling the resonance but my design makes connecting it a bit tricky. If its at the tips then that will be the last place the EM field changes, and if it's at the center the primary is likely to interfere with the wire leading to the gate, what part of the secondary coil should be connected to the mosfet gate in this design? Does it even matter since the voltage is responsible for controlling the gate? Thank you.
@@bebored9420 Anything between 25-50K should be fine, with lower resistances working best! I'd recommend a wattage rating of 1/4W or more (more is better!).
If the voltage drop across the ballast is the entire pulsed DC voltage itself, does that mean that the rest of the circuit is shorted? I used a multimeter and tested my circuit and it had a resistance of zero, but I individually tested each component and it was fine.
The easiest way is to slightly dampen the salts (powders work better than grainy crystals, fyi) and then roll the metal electrode tip in the paste. However, I wanted a more permanent setup, so I just blowtorched the chemicals until they melted and then fused the molten salts to the electrodes. Hope that helps!
@@LabCoatz_Science I tried the circuit with about 70 - 90 volt dc and the MOSFET heated very fast, so I added an interuoter with a simple 555 timer and a MOSFET and it works great, now I'm trying to add music
No problem! In this circuit, I didn't add any interrupter (yet...that's in my next video)! The output is self-interrupted, in a way, since the electricity powering it is rectified 120V at 60Hz. This means that the negative half of the alternation is cut off, leaving basically a 50% duty cycle input to the coil without any interrupter circuitry! The only components in this bad boy with silicon are the diode and the MOSFET!
No, its maximum voltage rating is much too low (under 100V). It is also made for very low power circuits. IRFP460's are probably your best bet, but other options are certainly available. Just look for ones that meet the criteria I outlined, and you should be fine!
Well, you could buy a stepdown transformer to lower the voltage, but that would honestly be a bit expensive. If you live in a 220-240V region, I recommend checking out this circuit: th-cam.com/video/MG-pD43i_6A/w-d-xo.html. It is essentially the same as my circuit, but it is designed for 220-240V use (and the spark output is bigger due to the higher input voltage!).
Dunno.... What's serving as a ballast? And getting a ballast versus an IC driver.... Is that really such a big difference? I like the project though. Will definitely try it out.
I've used a lot of things as ballasts, although I usually recommend a 1kW heating element, as it is a simple resistive ballast. Definitely not as cheap/efficient as a IC-driven SSTC, but its simplicity makes this coil good for beginners or people looking for an easy Tesla coil project. I'm currently working on a class-E coil with a proper driver IC though, so hopefully I'll have an improved single-FET design out soon!
If the ballast is getting hot, that means current is flowing, so your MOSFET is either fully on (too much voltage at the gate) or dead. If you're using a potentiometer, and you have it dialed incorrectly, current will flow through the MOSFET without switching and heat it up, possibly burning it out (or the voltage at the gate will exceed the breakdown and kill the MOSFET that way). By the way, if you live in a region with 220V-240V, then this is not the right circuit for you (corrected version for higher voltage is available in the video description). Hope that helps!
@@LabCoatz_Science i checked my irfp460 mosfet with my multimeter it's good and healthy but when I used that mosfet in circuit current doesn't flow through it and ballast heating continuously
Hi, i have a MOT (Microwave oven transformer) i was thinking of using it for my tesla coil as the ballast but when i check the resistance on the primary is 1.6 ohms
If you look up information on transformers, you'll find that coupling is essentially how much magnetic flux from the primary coil crosses paths with the secondary coil. You can used JavaTC to calculate it, as I clearly showed in the video, and it is mostly dependent on the distance between the primary and secondary coil centers and the primary diameter. If the primary is positioned close to the secondary coil's middle and it has a tighter diameter, then the coupling will be very high. A good range for coupling, as I mentioned, is 0.4 or less (under 0.3 to be safe). Any higher and the coils will tend to arc over.
I'll be posting the full details for a 240V model in my next video, when I equip this coil with a larger secondary, a super simple interrupter, and a voltage doubler (to convert my 120VAC to over 240VDC). I few more changes will be necessary besides changing out the ballast (the resistor array will need some adjustment, mostly).
Thanks for notifying me, I totally missed that component! I put a new link in my description to the 10A10's I used (you can get 10 off eBay for only $7). Hope that helps!
@@LabCoatz_Science I just purchased mine from Amazon.... BTW, I loved the the clip you had from Back to the Future! I have a DeLorean that I converted to eLectric power...
@@daviddelman9905 Nice! I didn't get a copyright strike for using it, so I'm super glad for that. For the life of me, I couldn't find any stock footage on TH-cam of people flipping switches or turning dials. Hope Spielberg doesn't mind, lol!
Sadly, yes. Can't touch the output for more than a few seconds at maximum power (or touch too close)! That's why my next Tesla coil video will be on building a large, "real" SSTC, that won't die, has an interrupter, and just might play music!
Great video. Since I've built sgtc i wanted to build sstc, but with less components. I live in 220v outlet country, so I'm asking should i first make 220v to 120v inverter or I can just use components with double rating (except capacitor capacitance and mosfet). I've found some similar circuit diagrams, with same mosfet, but I think this one is better than others.
Glad to hear it! For 220V or 240V countries, I recommend this design: th-cam.com/video/MG-pD43i_6A/w-d-xo.html. It is almost identical to my own, but modified to make it operate off of the higher voltages (and with improved output). Hope that helps, good luck!
It doesn't increase the output, it is used to limit the current entering the device so the MOSFET doesn't explode. A larger ballast with less resistance/impedance will lead to more current flow and therefore more output compared to a smaller ballast though, if that's what you're referring to.
Hello fellow Zach! I was curious, you had mentioned that your provided circuitry can be distributed by a 17-Amp ballast. You said that the Mosfet heats substantially, does this mean that I should use a different Mosfet? Can I use your given circuitry without upgrading anything? I want a big spark for a Physics 2 demonstration! Great content. Also, what is the recommended diameter of PVC for a 17-Amp Ballast?
Hey labcoatz could you plzz tell me how you connect your 5A ballast in circuit it hard for me to understand plzz tell because I made this tesla and i almost finish I am just confused in ballast segment how you connect that transformer in the circuit
You just connect it in series with the coil and the power. You can see that in the schematic I showed. There is also more information at this project's Instructable page: www.instructables.com/Simplest-POWERFUL-Solid-State-Tesla-Coil-SSTC/
@@Abhishekkumar-bp9xs It's can be literally anything you want. If it plugs into a wall outlet and draws 5A to 10A of current, it should work. Several possibilities include heater elements like in a hair dryer, toaster, oven, or stovetop, or inductive loads (salvaged from old motors, medium-size transformers, etc.). I would say to avoid so-called "electronic ballasts", since they probably contain solid-state circuitry that wouldn't react well to the rectified currents that would be flowing through them if you use a single diode rectifier like in the schematic. If you want a reliable, cheap ballast, I recommend just buying one of these: www.amazon.com/ONENESS-369-Replacement-520900-1440w-Suburban/dp/B08L4WKPHQ/ref=sr_1_13?crid=2H77AXRRQ66D9&keywords=1kw+120v+heater+element&qid=1646460159&sprefix=1kw+120v+heater+element%2Caps%2C91&sr=8-13
![ทางเดินชีวิต - ธีเดช ทองอภิชาติ x อ.ไข่ มาลีฮวนน่า [Official MV]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/1f3wcG16dd4/mqdefault.jpg)
That’s an impressive result! I thought it was an amazing build and great flow of the video.
Thanks Jay, glad you enjoyed it! I'll be optimizing this coil in the next video (and building an adjustable interrupter for it). Feel free to reach out and collaborate again some day, this was a really amazing experience that I'll never forget!
Why didnt you poast a video about this?
hello I can only do 1cm plasma
at 150W what do I have to do to get more plasma?
I have 450 secondary windings of 0.4 mm
and primer 5 turns 2.1mm. That's how I get the best results.
Impressive ?? WTF?! I've seen ppl get several times the output from a 12-24V battery driven version drawing a fraction of the power of this mains powered one, check hyperspace pirate! Yes he did add some gate drive(just two transistor, no chip) and an interrupter though, but still.
Got mine working today!!!!! Only took 4 months, 5 attempts and about 15 mosfets. Super stoked
3:25 - important safety issue - the secondary and the top load are connected to mains via just the 2k2 resistor, and if the gate isolation breaks down also via only the rectifier.
I recommend using a Class Y safety capacitor to make it not horribly unsafe in case of an accident with the mosfet or when live and neutral are switched. Not all plugs/sockets are polarized properly, and outside of the USA often all plugs are non-polarized.
Correct. By the time I remembered, though, this video had been uploaded, so I just had to settle on posting an updated version to the accompanying Instructable.
Hey Zach, So i build my new coil. 1900 turns of 0.1 mm wire on a 50mm (diameter) pipe. It has a frequency of 380khz it's resistance is 650 ohm, didn't measure the impedance. The sparks i get from a 65 watt ballast are now over 10 cm in continuous mode (i still have alot room left for adding ballasts :D). Been experimenting with caps, primary turns/ height, ..... Now i found the sweet spot, i'm building the interrupter for it and then i will add a connection for audio input. So for anyone wanting bigger sparks at lower power consumption. More turns, bigger diameter, finer wire,.... it all contributes to that. So my piece of advice build a good secondary then build the circuit. I failed alot in the past just because i was to eager to try these circuits and neglected the secondary coil itself. That was a big mistake. It all starts with the secondary coil and not the circuit. So torturing yourself for hours will pay off in the end. If the secondary is no good. You can fiddle with the circuit all you want. It will not make a big difference as it will with a good secondary. Also the lower frequency the less stress for the components and especially the mosfet. I am going to try to parallel 2 mosfets with this circuit so power consumption is shared. It works wonders in a slayer exciter circuit so i will try with this one too. Just make sure all wires and lenghts to the mosfets are the same for both. I also found metal pill boxes and metal candy containers are good toploads. The 3d printed ones, taped in aluminium where no good and they destroy my rectifier diode every time. Surprisingly the mosfet and other components don't blow up. Always the diode this is ??? to me.
Been looking everywhere for something with a reasonably sized spark, but also an introductory level circuit. This is excellent, thank you!
Seriously one of the most informative tesla coil channels on TH-cam. Thank you so much for all your help!
No problem! I just feel like the coil community needs how-to's more advanced than the common slayer exciter, you know? Sometime in the future, I hope to combine the dual-resonant SSTC (DRSSTC) and Tesla magnifier to make the world's first TRIPLE resonant SSTC. We'll see what the Internet thinks of that!
@@LabCoatz_Science What kind of properties would that have?!
@@BackMacSci Bigger lightning bolts, my friend! I don't know when I'll be making that though, since I'm currently busy working on my bachelor's degree in chemical engineering and college just got back in session.
@@LabCoatz_Science triple resonant ssctc ?
Wow💯💯💯
Ryan from Magneticitist also does very well on his own as he's deeply rooted into those Tesla coils.
Finished my circuit and it ran for about 2 minutes and died. I assume the MOSFET died but it doesn't look damaged. I will order some new ones and try again. This is great fun and you have been very helpful! This is one of those rare instances where I didn't have to do tons of research to get an "easy" circuit to work.
I was looking for an easy tesla coil circuit, and by sheer luck i fell on this video. LabCoatz; you're an awesome guy and i cannot thank you enough for this informative and helpfull video. You are truly a legend. Hopefully, il upload a SSTC video on my channel *soon* haha
HUGE thanks bro)
You really deserve far far more recognition.
This is a lot of really great information, I once tried making a coil like this but failed because all the information was on some sketchy Russian site. It's great to have someone explain the circuit and all its parts.
This circuit is simple yet effective, I love it.
In most of countries (Like mine!), the provided home electricity is 220 V-AC. So, it is convincing that you make a 220V SSTC and introduce its corresponding circuit diagram. Thanks for such an amazing videos.
Thanks for adding the chemistry component to your demonstration that got me thinking about using my own coil to demo light emissions in my chemistry class. Well done!
Glad I could help inspire you and others! I must say, however, that the colors are best seen with the thick, power sparks from an SSTC. The thinner sparks from a spark gap coil (or an interrupted SSTC variant) don't have the energy or density to produce much noticeable color, as my collaborative partner ThePlasmaPrince found out when he tried it on his SGTC.
Was really looking forward to this! Awesome man!
Glad I didn't disappoint! My next video: optimizing this SSTC and building it a universal interrupter!
LabCoatz never disappointed! you’re super thorough with your instructions! I enjoy how you answer allll the important, relevant questions, that likely anyone doing a diy build will end up having, then endlessly searching the internet, just to find the wrong or inaccurate information! 🤪 keep it up brrotherr!
Informative stuff and a great result. I would just add that to improve safety, you should really use an isolating transformer at the input. Could mean the difference between getting a nasty jolt and cardiac arrest....
Thanks! Later on, to eliminate the risk of getting a mains voltage shock from the secondary coil, I added a small (470pF) capacitor between the base of the secondary coil and the rest of the circuit. The capacitor passes the HF energy so the coil resonates, but blocks DC or lower frequency AC so it can't travel up the coil to give you a shock.
Really cool video LabCoatz, well done. Awesome to see you guys surpassed 1k subs. Keep putting these videos out and you will be at 1M in no time at all.
Awesome video and collaboration! All I could think while watching was LIGHTNING.🎆👍🏻💪🏻
Hey! I just built this coil and I am LOVING it!! I can’t believe such a simple circuit is making these 4” arcs. Both of your Tesla coil vids have helped me out a ton, and I honestly can’t thank you enough! Also, I don’t mean to be rude or pushy, but do you have an idea as to when you’ll be posting the interrupter tutorial? I’d love to get mine playing some tunes lol. Thanks again! :)
Thanks, glad you like my videos! I'm not sure when the interrupter/upgrade video will be done, I have a few other videos in progress right now, so it may be a while. My next video (as of now) is a tutorial on a "true" SSTC (it will also be TH-cam's biggest Tesla coil collaboration as of yet!), and that will feature an interrupter and hopefully music-playing capabilities. After that, my next video should be about real plasma weaponry (not the showy, ineffectively weak stuff most TH-camrs like to show off), so stay tuned!
Sound great! Looking forward to it ⚡️⚡️
May I ask what are you using for your ballast?
@@tzakl5556 I used an old toroidal transformer from an audio amplifier. It works well, but the mosfet instantly dies when you touch the arcs. I added an SPDT switch to allow me to switch between the high power audio transformer ballast and a 12v transformer from a wall adapter, which makes smaller arcs.
Just finished building this coil and it works great! I have about a 2 1/2 - 3 inch spark -Still have to mess around with some of the components to get it working at its best but this def the best video/ instructable on Tesla coils I’ve seen so far- keep up the great work and thank you!
Accurate, detailed and concise explanation.
Super impressive, dude! Not sure how you don't have more subscribers... but keep up the great work!
Thanks! Next video's coming soon, it'll be the biggest coiler collab on TH-cam! I'm making full-detail video on building a "real" H-Bridge SSTC that can produce 12" sparks and shouldn't cost many people more than $75 to make. I'll even be giving away some PCBs when that vid comes out, so stay tuned!
Great video! Except for not going into any details about the ballast except that its necessary. Please put out another video explaining using a transformer or light bulb as a ballast.
Glad you liked it! I put all of the ballast details that you need in this video: it needs to be rated for mains voltage and draw less than 10A when powered (2A to 4A, if you want to be safe). You can use almost anything with those specifications, although my personal recommendation is this heater element from Amazon (or eBay), which pulls just under 10A when connected to 120V:
www.amazon.com/Camco-02583-Screw-Foldback-Element/dp/B0006JLVC6/ref=sr_1_8?crid=3RJEDI3YEAVMG&keywords=heater+element&qid=1653534285&sprefix=heater+element%2Caps%2C98&sr=8-8
And if you look at the circuit diagram, you'll see just how to wire such a ballast (in series with the power source). Hope that helps!
@@LabCoatz_Science You're right. I think I was just upset I could never get it to work. However... now it does! Once again, great video. Loved the collaboration. I follow all three of your channels pretty religiously. Thanks!
I loved your tutorial, everything seems simple. 😍
I would like you to make a HFSSTC (plasma candle) circuit with an explanation of his style; it would be great 👍
I'd love to try that sometime! Can't make any promises though, those plasma flame circuits are quite sensitive. I'd love to power one off 120V mains though, THAT would be wicked! I'd also like to make a QCW DRSSTC tutorial one day, but that seems even harder, lol!
Nice Build! Well put together video collaboration. Looking forward to seeing more.
Thank you! I just got mine to work today and was very happy.
I look forward to seeing your interrupter circuit for this SSTC.
Hopefully I won't keep you waiting too long! It really is quite interesting and amazingly simple, if I do say so myself!
Very nice guide. Thanks to you my sstc power on again after long time. Thank you vm.
Glad I could help!
you can also use 555 timer to get precious frequency
Hello, please do a video on making your own home chemistry set that you could use along with a book such as "all lab no lecture". Like a whole periodic table would be sic as part of it. Think about it
The skin effect is doing nothing for humans at this frequency: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_coil#Skin_effect_myth
You don't feel it because nerves don't react to HF.
It's a very, very common myth.
Excellent video by the way! Talking about why components need specific ratings, and what those ratings need to be, is really great.
Exactly, skin effects don’t work on humans. You won’t feel it because it’s high frequency but It still can cause permanent nerves damage
@@mathysgobeil1592 I got some nice pinprick burns along with the smell of burning flesh from a 12v powered slayer - and it made me jump (or at least pull my finger away pretty quickly).
thanks for share your project. before i lost more mosfet.. better i add a 12v zener to the mosfet gate as seen in this video. greet from indonesia
Hi can you explain why the preferred gate voltage is around the 5v threshold. Souldn't a Mosfet be driven to saturated voltage instead of the minimum. I don't understand why in this circuit we must reverse this method??? Also i use a capacitor in parallel to the primary coil for back emf and better current. The same method they use brushed, dc motors.
If you fully saturate the MOSFET, it will simply be "on", and no switching will occur. You want the voltage at the gate to be right around or just over the threshold (I can't give an exact number, since every FET is slightly different, but 5V seems like a good number...although I have seen 12V used in other circuits) so that the relatively small signal from the secondary coil base will be able to pull the gate above and below threshold easily. The capacitor across the primary coil is definitely a good idea, although I've never tried it myself. If I recall correctly, this circuit was quite fussy when I tried altering the capacitor, so to protect the MOSFET, I just used a 400V TVS diode across the drain and source (my updated schematic for this build can be found on Instructables). This actually worked wonders, and every time the MOSFET would have blow, the cheaper TVS diode blew instead.
Cool. I liked Teslista555's 48V 'katcher' a lot and am surprised to see this basic direct gate feedback running at those voltages. Those voltage suppressors are impressive little devices I need to get more of. They do make a nice bang when overworked though. The ebay mosfet struggle is real, pretty sure I've bought from the same vendor as you multiple times and recognize those mosfet markings. Always wondered what difference I might see spending $3.50 a pop or so from digikey. Ebay ones work well when they aren't obliterating tho. I got one of those '027H's on a single fet SSTC, wasn't impressed with them originally til realizing for whatever reason it holds up like a champ at over 220V when the '918's I had wanted to pop.
Nice! My FET's kept blowing up almost every time too, until I realized it was the fault of the resistor/potentiometer I was using. Turns out if you go above 50k or so, the MOSFET blows really quick! Now, with a 47k array, it works like a champ, even with my cheap eBay FETs! They still get quite hot when operated above 1A average current, so in my next video, I'm stepping everything up. I'm going to use a bigger, 3"x14" secondary, 1kW IXYS MOSFETs, an interrupter, and the biggest ballast I can conjure up (if I feel lucky, I might even build it a voltage doubler!). Hopefully I get some nice +12" sparks, stay tuned for that project tutorial!
@@LabCoatz_Science Yea those dividers become a bitch at high voltages. Good luck with the new coil though I'll make sure to check it out.
@@LabCoatz_Science The higher resistance network feeding the gate is likely not able to charge the mosfet gate fast enough, so it never fully turns on by the time it's switched off again. Therefore the gate-drain resistance is much higher than it should be, which would heat it up super fast given the currents passing through it and it would probably quickly burn out. Decreasing the resistance means the mosfet becomes more conductive, but it's possible that it's still not fully turning on given the heat you're seeing.
The RDS(on) for the IRFP460 is 0.27 ohm, and passing 10 A through it fully turned on should see a power dissipation of only 27 W. If the mosfet is getting really hot, either the resistance network feeding the gate can be lowered further to ensure it turns on fully, or the switching losses must be super high. Maybe a mosfet with much lower gate capacitance to lower switching losses might be a better choice, like the 12N60, which has 1/4 the capacitance of the IRFP460. It has a higher a higher RDS(on) of 0.8 ohm, which yields a resistive power loss of 80W, but given the switching losses seem to dominate maybe that tradeoff is worth it?
I assume you tried other mosfets though?
This is great but would really like more information about the ballast and where to buy one
You would get a better output if you added an electrolytic capacitor to your film capacitor. The film capacitor is not good at reducing ripple currents at maims frequency but can filter the spikes caused by high frequency pulsed intake from the circuit. Adding an electric cap of 200V about 100uF will help maintain a more stable current and the film cap will handle your high frequency interference. Also, the circuit couldn't work without the cap because without it you have a half wave pulsed DC. So the voltage goes to zero occasionally. So if you switch at the high resonant frequencies, you will have multiple cycles with no power. So the circuit can't really work.
You forgot having the secondary connected to GROUND
2. SPHERE On the top load with a very high vacuum to connect to the atmosphere. Which will allow the Tesla coil to connect to other Tesla coils.
Hey lab coats, I hope you read this. I’m trying to re create your coil and have had some issues. At first my voltage divider wasn’t outputting the calculated voltage I got, and I attributed that to my input voltage having a drop over the diode which slightly skewed my results. I then started working backwards and testing other components, and shortly noticed something interesting. My input diode wasn’t rated for as much voltage as yours, but still should have held up to mains voltage, so I decided to put 2 in series. After some tests I noticed that the solder between them started to melt when I tested it. I then took one of them out and that seemed to fix the heat issue. Now my voltage after the diode is around 2 volts instead of 120 ish. I thought I might have killed the diode so I tried the other one and still got the same results. My projects dead in the water as it stands and I don’t know what to do. I re built the circuit on new perf board thinking I could have made an issue wiring it the first time but got the same results. Do you have any advise?
hello I can only do 1cm plasma
at 150W what do I have to do to get more plasma?
I have 450 secondary windings of 0.4 mm
and primer 5 turns 2.1mm. That's how I get the best results.
Great tutorial! I just don't get what is a ballast. Can someone explain?
I have a poliester capacitor 0,33uf 600V , it will work?
Sure will!
Can u say how to connect ballast with the circuit and further process plss
Waiting for the Interrupter 🤩🤩
Nice will try this
Hi there. I just wanna ask whether I can use 1 micro Farad CBB caps instead of those 0.82/600v caps? Coz I have only got some 1uF/600V CBB only.
Sure. Like I said in the video, most capacitors between 0.1uF and 5uF will work in this simple circuit. The voltage can also be quite a bit lower with this circuit; my capacitor was only rated for 250V.
I wonder why in this particular configuration the inductive voltage spikes when turning off the FET aren't a problem.
Try to do this with rectified voltage and interrupter, the FET will blow up instantly, even with 1200+V ratings and TVS diodes across the source/drain at mere 140V DC supply voltage 🤔
I have. In fact, that's my next video in line: adding an interrupter I built into this circuit and making it even bigger! I've tested it with the interrupter and the results are impressive to say the least. I also tested the voltage peaks during operation using my oscilloscope, and they all tend to fall below 300V. I imagine when they do jump above 500V or so, the MOSFET's internal flyback diode kicks in and neutralizes most of the more powerful voltage transients. That's just my theory though!
I really like how electricity changes color the same way fire does
I'm adding the color red in tomorrow's video! ;)
@@LabCoatz_Science cool
At 3:25 3-4 turns of primary directly connected to 120 volt live line, could it not have created a short circuit and blowing up your fuse?
can I use IRF640 Mosfet as a replacement to IRFP460 connected to the main 220v ?
IRFP460 is rated VDSS = 500V, VGS = 20V
IRF640 is rated VDSS = 200V, VGS = 20V
this is great! keep up the good work!
What changes do I need to make to the circuit if I need to build it using 240v AC in my country?
100% awesome
Glad you enjoyed it! I'll be making it even better in the next video!
@@LabCoatz_Science hey labcoatz i was wondering if we could do a collab video together, maybe a complete guide on how to build a TEA nitrogen laser out of garbage?
thanks,
Walden from NerdLabs
@@NerdlabsSci I'd love to collaborate with you Walden! I might even have a COOLER idea for us to work on. If your parents are alright with it, you can send me an email at zlabcoatz@gmail.com, and we can begin planning from there!
Nice sparks
can this circuit light up a 12v bulb as well?
Good but the last one's output is not like 200w
Not gonna be able to build this right now sadly but this is neat af.
Fantastic! Very nice. Complimenti vivissimi dall' italia. Adoro questi esperimenti e voi avete creato un tutorial molto buono.
Watching your videos are always so helpful and enjoyable to watch!
I have a few questions though:
1)can i use a 20-30volt dc source instead? if so do i just remove the ballast, 10A10 diode and it should be good to go?
2.) how many volts dc is the rectified ac voltage?
3.) would using 2 bulbs increase the power?
I am not able to understand how is there 5A current at 120W with 120V.
I appreciate very much this rare well-done video since online information about SSTCs is always fragmentary and incomplete. I'm building an SSTC by myself following the circuit of Loneocean's SSTC 2, and I wonder how many transistors have you burnt after trying this circuit?
Another question: is light bulb ballasting a good enough alternative to buying a variac (high power ones are always expensive)?
Thanks for the comment! Absolutely, this SSTC doesn't require any variac, just straight mains voltage with something to limit the current (which the lightbulb does nicely). However, to get larger discharges, the lightbulb ballast should be switched out for something that draws more power, like a microwave transformer or heater element (which I used to get those 5" sparks).
I blew up over twenty MOSFETs testing this circuit, but all the deaths stemmed from the same source: my resistor array was larger than 50kohms! Once I lowered the total resistance of that array to under 50k, everything worked AMAZING! That's why I stressed using resistors under 50k: excessively high resistance leads to MOSFET deaths. If you build this circuit and use a resistor array under 50kohms, then it should work on basically the first try without dying, no matter the size of the other components. Hope that helps, I highly recommend building this circuit. I'll be posting another video in the future in which I hook this circuit up to an interrupter, optimize its design, and hopefully get 12" sparks from it. Stay tuned for that!
@@LabCoatz_Science Thank you!
Is that efficient?
Such a large collab😲😲💯💯💯
...and the next one will be even bigger!
Hey! Where is our updated SSTC video? Was hoping it would be out by now, patiently waiting!
College is a cruel mistress, my friend. Rest assured, the video is still on it's way, it's just been delayed somewhat by my educational workload. Most of the filming is done, but I'm waiting on some video from my collaborators. I'm also going to be releasing my video at the same time as ThePlasmaPrince and Coil Labs, so my schedule also depends on them. With luck, we should be done in the next month! Don't worry, I'll make it worth the wait! ;)
I know this is a risky experimental idea (what you do already is), but have you considered experimenting with plasma and propulsion? In other words, incorporating plasma with rocketry.
I have! Unfortunately, most plasma propulsion methods would only be effective in space, since they require a vacuum. And at atmospheric pressure, you'd probably use so much energy that it wouldn't be space-efficient (at least compared to propulsion methods that rely on chemical energy).
@@LabCoatz_Science Sorry for the late reply, I guess I should have said plasma assisted combustion of molecules versus solely a ion system. I have worked on such space systems..yes power is really the only thing holding us back from moving around larger things. I've been thinking about laser power transfer for that but having a straight enough laser for space is hard. On board heat driven turbines also
what if you added many more coils?
Great video ⚡⚡
Glad you liked it, hopefully my next coil will put this one to shame, lol!
@@LabCoatz_Science Haha you have to start somewhere. My first coil was so happy to see 1/2in of plasma output then the addiction happen and haven't stop since 😂👍⚡⚡
@@ArcAngelTeslaCoil I hear that! This model was fine, but the FETs pop way too often for my liking at the power levels I want. This circuit is really best for mini SSTC's with discharges only a few inches. We'll see what kind of trouble I can get into with a mid-size SSTC!
Fantastic video! I'd like to build such a coil but have 230V at home. I know you put the link to the video with the modified coil in the description, but the circuit diagram has some changes from the diagram on your website. I'd like to ask you if you could explain to me these changes. I am a beginner in Tesla coils and understand how dangerous they are, so I want to know exactly what every component does before even searching for them.
Honestly, I'm unable to explain everything, but I do know the function of a few things. The thyristor and its surrounding circuitry (a few resistors, a variable resistor, and a capacitor) are for interrupting the coil, which helps keep the power consumption lower and keep the MOSFET healthy. The two TVS diodes are for protecting the MOSFET (my newer renditions also include these...trust me, they're worth it), and I *THINK* the nearby diodes and resistors serve a similar purpose (D3, D4, R5, R6). Everything else is just part of the standard SSTC design like I showed in this video.
A quick note though: coils like this (single MOSFET, no driver) tend to die VERY easily, and are honestly a bit frustrating to work with. If you want to avoid wasting money blowing MOSFETs and get better results, I personally recommend checking out some of my newer SSTC models (which can all handle 240V easily) in more recent videos. I provide links to all of the parts, detailed instructions, and even the PCB files so you can order your own PCBs for easier assembly (only $5 from JLCPCB.com). Hope that helps, good luck!
@@LabCoatz_Science Thank you. If I may ask further, I see he has no capacitor on the secondary coil, but you do. What its purpose is? It feels to me like the coil will work without it the same.
@@tatrankaska2305 Since the secondary coil is connected directly to the main circuit instead of to ground like a standard Tesla coil, there is a risk that the 120V (or 240V) powering the coil will travel through the coil and into whoever is touching the sparks or the coil. To prevent this, I added a small capacitor (I think 470pF and over 250V in mine) to block DC and low-frequency AC, but allow the high frequencies from the secondary to still reach the MOSFET gate and cause resonant switching.
@@LabCoatz_Science so can be 470pF used in the 230V circuit? To stop current from entering the secondary coil, could a diode be used too?
@@tatrankaska2305 Nah, diode won't work since this we're dealing with AC signals. And yes, a 470pF should work fine at any voltage! In fact most capacitors below 0.1uF rated for the correct voltage should work!
Hi..! great video, great job.
You are awesome 👌 👍im from india...
If you have it can you use 12 volt dc and not use the rectifier diode?
With some modification, yes. You'd basically just need to swap the resistors with a single 1K potentiometer. Keystone Science has an excellent video on this under "Desktop Tesla Coil" or something similar.
@@LabCoatz_Science thank you a lot I’ve been trying to figure this out before trying to make a Tesla coil and you are the only one who answered my question so thanks.
Really enjoyed the video guys! Great work! :)
😎 Awesome work. Great.
Thanks! My next SSTC video will hopefully be even better (giveaway coming up for it's PCBs)!
Very nice, thank you. I build it and it works great. I run it on 230v and I get 10cm+/4 inch+ arcs with a 10A balast (a hairdryrer). I think it is a good idea to also ad a snuber network to the primary (in my case I use a 5.1ohm resistor an a 5nf 2kv capacitor. I used a two watt resistor but it gets very hot. Four or five watts should be better). Also, isnt it dangerous to touch the arc? I mean it is refrenzt to the mains trough the bottom of the secondary. Great vid and project!
I'll be sure to try that when I improve this circuit in my next video! You are right, there is a possibility of shock through the secondary coil (although it hasn't occurred so far). What I do to remove that risk is place a small capacitor between the secondary's base and the rest of the circuit. This allows the HF energy to drive the MOSFET while preventing low frequency mains voltage from entering the coil. Hope that helps! What resistors did you use in your coil btw? In my next video, I'll be trying to run this circuit on 240v, so I'm trying to find what works well for others...
@@LabCoatz_Science In the voltage divider I used a 10k pot for adjustment. On one side of it I connectet a 40.8k resistor and on the other a 1.8k resistor. (The middle pin oft the pot got connectet to the gate). I thought, I would have to adjust the resistanz of the voltage divider so that it is almost double (since I use almost double the input voltage), but this works fine. Also, I used seven and not four turns on the primary for the test.
Also what do you mean with a small capacitor? A few nf? And what voltage would be good? (I am talking about the small capacitor for the bottom of the secundary).
I hope, I could answer you questions and thanks for the tipp. Have a nice day.
@@LabCoatz_Science It will be interesting to run it at 240. (I guess you run it from two phases).unfortunatly the arcs did not look longer than yours in my case. I will still try it on 275v from my variac tho.
I am looking forward to the next vid, becaus I heard, that you make an interupter for it and then I could run it on smoth DC. (Then I could try an even higher input voltage).
Have a nice day.☺
@@firefox1136 Thanks for the information! To be safest, the capacitor at the secondary bottom should only be a few nano- or pico- farads (I used 470pF and experienced no performance change), and suitable for mains voltage or higher. You might get better output if you reduce the turns on your primary coil (from my experience). I'll be running my new circuit on a voltage doubler, so the peak input voltage might be as high as 340v. Hopefully with some modifications this circuit will run happily at voltages this high, but we'll see!
@@LabCoatz_Science Ok, thank you for the information. I will also try to improve my circuit.
It whas very nice to talk to you, thanks and have a nice day.☺
HI, great video! if i were to build this in the uk, what differences will i need to make other than the balast?
If you want to build it to work in a 220-240V region, I suggest using this version: th-cam.com/video/MG-pD43i_6A/w-d-xo.html. It's essentially the same circuit, but it works reliably at higher voltages. Hope that helps!
Fantastic video.
Would it be possible to run two or more fets in parallel with a larger balast to increase output power and spark length? If so, would the other component values have to be modified or would they still work?
Putting FETs in parallel is generally a bad idea, since slight differences in switching time can cause one FET to take the brunt of the energy and die. That's not to say that this circuit can't be scaled to massive proportions though! In my next video, I'll be jamming a 1kW MOSFET into this circuit (which can be bought on Digikey for $7); adding an interrupter, larger secondary, and maybe even a voltage doubler; and hopefully getting over 12" sparks from this circuit. Stay tune for that, hopefully it will answer most of your questions!
@@LabCoatz_Science Oh that sounds perfect. When can we expect the next video?
@@nicklee8907 Hopefully within the next month or so. I already have all the parts, I just have a lot of building, filming, and editing to do! I'm hoping to get the final product looking very sleek and professional, extremely powerful, and super user-friendly (somewhat of a rare combination among most SSTC builds, in my opinion). Hope it gets shared around when it comes out, I think the Tesla coil community could really use such a tutorial!
I'm looking at making a solid state tesla coil with the secondary being a double cone shape and the primary being a torus wrapped around the middle. I really like the idea of the mosfet gate controlling the resonance but my design makes connecting it a bit tricky.
If its at the tips then that will be the last place the EM field changes, and if it's at the center the primary is likely to interfere with the wire leading to the gate, what part of the secondary coil should be connected to the mosfet gate in this design? Does it even matter since the voltage is responsible for controlling the gate? Thank you.
Didn't know Plasma Prince was a swinger😂
Great vid
Do u think a 1k pot will work
@@bebored9420 Only if your running below 50V or so, like with Keystone Science's version of this circuit.
Yo thanks a lot for replying to my comment! What potentiometer value would you recommend with running the coil off of 120 v?
@@bebored9420 Anything between 25-50K should be fine, with lower resistances working best! I'd recommend a wattage rating of 1/4W or more (more is better!).
Thanks!
If the voltage drop across the ballast is the entire pulsed DC voltage itself, does that mean that the rest of the circuit is shorted? I used a multimeter and tested my circuit and it had a resistance of zero, but I individually tested each component and it was fine.
I made the voltage divider with a 15k and a 10k Pot
How did you put the chemicals on the end of the metal stick?
The easiest way is to slightly dampen the salts (powders work better than grainy crystals, fyi) and then roll the metal electrode tip in the paste. However, I wanted a more permanent setup, so I just blowtorched the chemicals until they melted and then fused the molten salts to the electrodes. Hope that helps!
@@LabCoatz_Science I tried the circuit with about 70 - 90 volt dc and the MOSFET heated very fast, so I added an interuoter with a simple 555 timer and a MOSFET and it works great, now I'm trying to add music
@labcoatz_science does the coil work with 110v as well?
Using a pot on the gate is the way to go, just be sure to turn it to the off position before powering the circuit.
Thank u for this video. Such a simple but powerful sstc. How do u add the 555 interrupter? Do u use a driver?
No problem! In this circuit, I didn't add any interrupter (yet...that's in my next video)! The output is self-interrupted, in a way, since the electricity powering it is rectified 120V at 60Hz. This means that the negative half of the alternation is cut off, leaving basically a 50% duty cycle input to the coil without any interrupter circuitry! The only components in this bad boy with silicon are the diode and the MOSFET!
Can we use Irfz44n Mosfet?
No, its maximum voltage rating is much too low (under 100V). It is also made for very low power circuits. IRFP460's are probably your best bet, but other options are certainly available. Just look for ones that meet the criteria I outlined, and you should be fine!
Where i live the voltage is 220v and not 120v, is there other way to obtain the 120v?
Well, you could buy a stepdown transformer to lower the voltage, but that would honestly be a bit expensive. If you live in a 220-240V region, I recommend checking out this circuit: th-cam.com/video/MG-pD43i_6A/w-d-xo.html. It is essentially the same as my circuit, but it is designed for 220-240V use (and the spark output is bigger due to the higher input voltage!).
@@LabCoatz_Science oh thanks! I didn't expect that fast of a response jaja
Dunno.... What's serving as a ballast? And getting a ballast versus an IC driver.... Is that really such a big difference?
I like the project though. Will definitely try it out.
I've used a lot of things as ballasts, although I usually recommend a 1kW heating element, as it is a simple resistive ballast. Definitely not as cheap/efficient as a IC-driven SSTC, but its simplicity makes this coil good for beginners or people looking for an easy Tesla coil project. I'm currently working on a class-E coil with a proper driver IC though, so hopefully I'll have an improved single-FET design out soon!
@@LabCoatz_Science Nice! Looking forward to it.
Can you please tell me the reason why ballast is continuously heating and corona discharging is not occur even after I make the circuit properly 😞😞😞💔💔
If the ballast is getting hot, that means current is flowing, so your MOSFET is either fully on (too much voltage at the gate) or dead. If you're using a potentiometer, and you have it dialed incorrectly, current will flow through the MOSFET without switching and heat it up, possibly burning it out (or the voltage at the gate will exceed the breakdown and kill the MOSFET that way). By the way, if you live in a region with 220V-240V, then this is not the right circuit for you (corrected version for higher voltage is available in the video description). Hope that helps!
@@LabCoatz_Science i checked my irfp460 mosfet with my multimeter it's good and healthy but when I used that mosfet in circuit current doesn't flow through it and ballast heating continuously
if i want run it on 240v?
You'll need to build it like this for 240V operation: th-cam.com/video/MG-pD43i_6A/w-d-xo.html.
Hi, i have a MOT (Microwave oven transformer) i was thinking of using it for my tesla coil as the ballast but when i check the resistance on the primary is 1.6 ohms
What are the calculations for a snubber Network, i want to protect my MOSFET
What do you mean by coupling? Can you explain what is tight coupling and how to achieve it?
If you look up information on transformers, you'll find that coupling is essentially how much magnetic flux from the primary coil crosses paths with the secondary coil. You can used JavaTC to calculate it, as I clearly showed in the video, and it is mostly dependent on the distance between the primary and secondary coil centers and the primary diameter. If the primary is positioned close to the secondary coil's middle and it has a tighter diameter, then the coupling will be very high. A good range for coupling, as I mentioned, is 0.4 or less (under 0.3 to be safe). Any higher and the coils will tend to arc over.
@@LabCoatz_Science thank you!
What about 230v mains? It depends on ballast resistor?
I'll be posting the full details for a 240V model in my next video, when I equip this coil with a larger secondary, a super simple interrupter, and a voltage doubler (to convert my 120VAC to over 240VDC). I few more changes will be necessary besides changing out the ballast (the resistor array will need some adjustment, mostly).
I don't see a link for the 10A10 diode. Did I miss it? Digikey does not seem to have it.
Thanks for notifying me, I totally missed that component! I put a new link in my description to the 10A10's I used (you can get 10 off eBay for only $7). Hope that helps!
@@LabCoatz_Science I just purchased mine from Amazon.... BTW, I loved the the clip you had from Back to the Future! I have a DeLorean that I converted to eLectric power...
@@daviddelman9905 Nice! I didn't get a copyright strike for using it, so I'm super glad for that. For the life of me, I couldn't find any stock footage on TH-cam of people flipping switches or turning dials. Hope Spielberg doesn't mind, lol!
Oh and it has Tesla batteries...
14:06 did your MOSFET broke here?
Sadly, yes. Can't touch the output for more than a few seconds at maximum power (or touch too close)! That's why my next Tesla coil video will be on building a large, "real" SSTC, that won't die, has an interrupter, and just might play music!
Great video. Since I've built sgtc i wanted to build sstc, but with less components. I live in 220v outlet country, so I'm asking should i first make 220v to 120v inverter or I can just use components with double rating (except capacitor capacitance and mosfet). I've found some similar circuit diagrams, with same mosfet, but I think this one is better than others.
Glad to hear it! For 220V or 240V countries, I recommend this design: th-cam.com/video/MG-pD43i_6A/w-d-xo.html. It is almost identical to my own, but modified to make it operate off of the higher voltages (and with improved output). Hope that helps, good luck!
Thanks on fast reply. It should help!
Hey very nice video, i've learned a lot from it and i have a doubt. How does a ballast increases the output? Doesn't it decrease the current?
It doesn't increase the output, it is used to limit the current entering the device so the MOSFET doesn't explode. A larger ballast with less resistance/impedance will lead to more current flow and therefore more output compared to a smaller ballast though, if that's what you're referring to.
@@LabCoatz_Science Oh i see, thats what i was referring to, thank you
Hello fellow Zach! I was curious, you had mentioned that your provided circuitry can be distributed by a 17-Amp ballast. You said that the Mosfet heats substantially, does this mean that I should use a different Mosfet? Can I use your given circuitry without upgrading anything? I want a big spark for a Physics 2 demonstration! Great content. Also, what is the recommended diameter of PVC for a 17-Amp Ballast?
Heyy.. Labcoats.. Can this circuit work on 240v Ac?.. Should i change any components or it's values?.. Please reply anyone 😭😭😭
For 240v, try looking in the video description 👍
@@LabCoatz_Science okiee.. Thank you 🛐❤️
Kalau tidak mempunyai dioda TVS apakah bisa diganti dengan dioda zener ?
Ya, seperti yang saya sebutkan dalam video, satu dioda TVS 12V dapat diganti dengan dua dioda zener 12V yang terhubung ke arah yang berlawanan
@@LabCoatz_Science terimakasih atas informasinya sangat membantu sekali untuk pemula seperti saya 🙏
Hey labcoatz could you plzz tell me how you connect your 5A ballast in circuit it hard for me to understand plzz tell because I made this tesla and i almost finish I am just confused in ballast segment how you connect that transformer in the circuit
You just connect it in series with the coil and the power. You can see that in the schematic I showed. There is also more information at this project's Instructable page: www.instructables.com/Simplest-POWERFUL-Solid-State-Tesla-Coil-SSTC/
@@LabCoatz_Science plzzz tell me which type of ballast uhh are using in uhr circuit , is this a magnetic ballast or electronic ballast
@@Abhishekkumar-bp9xs It's can be literally anything you want. If it plugs into a wall outlet and draws 5A to 10A of current, it should work. Several possibilities include heater elements like in a hair dryer, toaster, oven, or stovetop, or inductive loads (salvaged from old motors, medium-size transformers, etc.). I would say to avoid so-called "electronic ballasts", since they probably contain solid-state circuitry that wouldn't react well to the rectified currents that would be flowing through them if you use a single diode rectifier like in the schematic. If you want a reliable, cheap ballast, I recommend just buying one of these: www.amazon.com/ONENESS-369-Replacement-520900-1440w-Suburban/dp/B08L4WKPHQ/ref=sr_1_13?crid=2H77AXRRQ66D9&keywords=1kw+120v+heater+element&qid=1646460159&sprefix=1kw+120v+heater+element%2Caps%2C91&sr=8-13
@@LabCoatz_Science thank uhh so much brother this help me alot 🥺
@@LabCoatz_Science what about this brother 24V 10A SMPS - 240W - DC Metal Power Supply this can help me in the circuit or not