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Wayne,
John Bowditch is quite correct. However, the Faraday
Cage is not just for visitor safety. It is also for
the safety of all computers, computer-type devices,
and sensitive electronic circuits in your institution.
Without such protection, these circuits could be
fried!
Gone are the days when it is safe to opeerate a Tesla
Coil outside of a Faraday Cage, as we did for decades
at Pittsburgh's original Buhl Planetarium:
< http://buhlplanetarium3.tripod.com/BuhlTeslaCoil.JPG
>
Today, Buhl's original one-million volt Oudin-type
Tesla Coil is demostrated to the public regularly,
inside a Faraday Cage, at The Carnegie Science Center:
<
http://www.post-gazette.com/images3/20050713ac_sparkPJ_450.jpg
>
Here is a photograph of a student-built Tesla Coil,
one of the entries in Buhl's annual Pittsburgh
Regional School Science and Engineering Fair, from the
Spring of 1955:
<
http://buhlplanetarium2.tripod.com/Buhlbook1956ScienceFairTeslaCoil.JPG
>
FYI -- More info about Buhl Planetarium's original
Tesla Coil:
<
http://buhlplanetarium2.tripod.com/Buhlexhibits.htm#teslacoil
>
gaw
--- Regina Hall <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> you may want to add this info to your file :)
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Informal Science Education Network
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of
> John Bowditch
> Sent: Friday, March 16, 2007 2:23 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Tesla Coil Exhibit
>
> Hi Wayne,
>
> The cage is known as a "Faraday Cage" Construction
> is quite easy and you can use any reasonable wire
> mesh for this. The important thing to remember is
> that this cage MUST be properly grounded. Then
> no-one outside the cage can get hurt by what goes on
> inside. My guess is that the coil you have been
> offered isn't especially powerful or dangerous. You
> should check out the inlet wiring to this device.
> It's not the high voltage secondary of a Tesla Coil
> that is dangerous, it's the inlet "low-voltage"
> wiring that includes the power cord and primary of
> the inlet high voltage transformer, etc. In
> addition, make sure the secondary of this
> transformer is properly grounded in accordance with
> the transformer's manufacturer's requirements.
>
> While it's not impossible that this unit was built
> "according to code" it's also highly unlikely that
> it was and you need to make sure that it is safe in
> these ways, especially for the safety of your own
> staff.
>
> The Orlando Science Center has a Tesla Coil set up
> just as you describe and it works great as an
> unattended exhibit.
>
> Good luck!
>
> John Bowditch
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Informal Science Education Network
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf
> Of Wayne Watson
> Sent: Friday, March 16, 2007 9:35 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Tesla Coil Exhibit
>
> A student is willing to donate a small Tesla coil to
> us, 3' tall*. I
> like the idea but we are too small to staff it, and
> the museum is
> reluctant to accept it on safety concerns. I've seen
> a very large
> version of the device in action in an electronics
> store (Fry's, Fremont,
> CA), and it is in a large cage (probably 12' on a
> side). They used to
> set it off about every hour, but it's a bit worn
> down now. This suggests
> to me that if we built a cage for it, then we could
> do a similar thing.
> That is, no staff and just let'er rip every once in
> awhile. My question
> is how do we build a cage? That is, how does one
> build a cage of proper
> dimensions to keep someone from getting hurt?
>
> * He really did a good job, and has volunteered to
> do another such item
> if the Tesla coil doesn't work out.
>
> --
>
> Wayne Watson (Watson Adventures, Prop.,
> Nevada City, CA)
> (121.015 Deg. W, 39.262 Deg. N) GMT-8
> hr std. time)
> Obz Site: 39° 15' 7" N, 121° 2' 32"
> W, 2700 feet
>
> "We had the sky, up there, all speckled with
> stars, and we
> used to lay on our backs and look up at
> them and discuss
> whether they was made, or only just
> happened."
> -- "Huckleberry Finn", Mark Twain
>
> Web Page:
> <home.earthlink.net/~mtnviews>>
> Hurricane on the Bayou, now showing at The New
> Robert D. Lindner Family OMNIMAX Theater. You'll be
> blown away by this moving message about the
> importance of wetlands conservation and the dire
> consequences resulting from the destruction of the
> Louisiana bayou.
>
> Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition sails again at
> Cincinnati Museum Center; 50% larger than before and
> featuring more than 300 new artifacts recently
> recovered from the Titanic wreck site. Through May
> 6, 2007. Welcome aboard!
gaw
Glenn A. Walsh
Electronic Mail - < [log in to unmask] >
NEWS - Astronomy, Space, Science:
< http://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/#news >
Author of History Web Sites on the Internet --
* Buhl Planetarium, Pittsburgh:
< http://www.planetarium.cc >
* Adler Planetarium, Chicago:
< http://adlerplanetarium.tripod.com >
* Astronomer & Optician John A. Brashear:
< http://johnbrashear.tripod.com >
* Andrew Carnegie & Carnegie Libraries:
< http://www.andrewcarnegie.cc >
* Duquesne Incline cable-car railway, Pittsburgh:
< http://www.incline.cc >
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