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Ground |
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Proper earth ground is a requirement for Telsa coil operation. This is NOT the same ground that the standard 120-volt wall outlet provides. Earth ground refers to a long conducting rod physically buried, providing direct contact with the soil.
The standard earth ground rod is usually a 6 to 8-foot length of solid copper. This was impractical for my location as the soil is dense and I had no effective means of driving an 8-foot length of copper pipe into the ground without destroying it. To make things easy I cut 3 lengths of 4-foot 1/2" copper pipe, wet the soil down, and drove them in with a small sledgehammer. Flattening out the top ends, I punched a hole in each to accomodate 8-32 brass screws and star washers for the connections. |
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I used 1-1/2" wide flat copper sheet as the ground connection from Tesla coil to earth ground. The sheet is attached to the ground rods with screws and star washers, and the connections are covered with a layer of silicone caulk to protect them from the elements. |
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The ground connection at the coil end is mounted on, and isolated from, the mid deck with a small piece of poly board. A 1/4-20 brass bolt and hand nut make the ground strap connection removable when not in use. All ground connections on the coil are made with
#12 stranded ground wire (green/yellow covering). |
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