How to Make a Musical Solid State Tesla Coil (SSTC) That Plays Guitar!: This is my first Solid State Tesla Coil (SSTC), which I think has turned out pretty well! My intention was more towards it playing music rather than huge sparks, but I got about 6in sparks.

Here I've used two separate power supplies-a 6V powering the NE555 and a 12V powering the 2N3055 and the flyback.I've also used a COSMO 1010 (C1010) photocoupler to make sure that the NE555 doesnt blow from the 12volt supply. The coil The secondary coil has about 400 turns of 0.4mm magnet wire wrapped around a 3cm paper roll.The primary is 5 turns of speaker wire.

The spark gap Just two screws not attached to anything facing each other. Capacitor bank Here are the capacitors I've used: 5̶3̶2̶J̶,̶ ̶4̶7̶4̶J̶,̶ ̶.̶2̶7̶J̶ ̶,̶ ̶.̶6̶4̶J̶,̶ ̶.̶2̶2̶J̶,̶ ̶1̶0̶5̶J̶,̶1̶2̶4̶J̶,̶ ̶8̶2̶2̶J̶/̶1̶.̶6̶K̶V̶.̶M̶o̶s̶t̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶o̶t̶h̶e̶r̶ ̶c̶a̶p̶s̶ ̶a̶r̶e̶ ̶r̶a̶t̶e̶d̶ ̶4̶0̶0̶V̶o̶l̶t̶s̶ ̶I̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶n̶k̶.̶O̶n̶e̶ ̶o̶r̶ ̶t̶w̶o̶ ̶2̶0̶0̶V̶o̶l̶t̶s̶.̶ S̶o̶ ̶,̶i̶f̶ ̶m̶y̶ ̶c̶a̶l̶c̶u̶l̶a̶t̶i̶o̶n̶s̶ ̶a̶r̶e̶ ̶c̶o̶r̶r̶e̶c̶t̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶n̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶b̶a̶n̶k̶ ̶s̶h̶o̶u̶l̶d̶ ̶b̶e̶ ̶a̶b̶o̶u̶t̶ ̶4̶K̶V̶o̶l̶t̶s̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶9̶0̶0̶ ̶p̶F̶s̶.̶.

The calculations were wrong -this was too much capacitance.I've replaced this chain of capacitors with a single DIY aluminum foil and plastic sheets as dielectric capacitor.I am not aware of the capacitance value of this though.I do not own an LC meter. Here is how I made this homebrew capacitor. Maybe the bank is not good enough for spark on top.Maybe the bank is the culprit. How to get the constant spark on top? I know it has something to to do with resonance.Obviously there is no resonance here. Here I've used two separate power supplies-a 6V powering the NE555 and a 12V powering the 2N3055 and the flyback.I've also used a COSMO 1010 (C1010) photocoupler to make sure that the NE555 doesnt blow from the 12volt supply. The coil The secondary coil has about 400 turns of 0.4mm magnet wire wrapped around a 3cm paper roll.The primary is 5 turns of speaker wire.

The spark gap Just two screws not attached to anything facing each other. Capacitor bank Here are the capacitors I've used: 5̶3̶2̶J̶,̶ ̶4̶7̶4̶J̶,̶ ̶.̶2̶7̶J̶ ̶,̶ ̶.̶6̶4̶J̶,̶ ̶.̶2̶2̶J̶,̶ ̶1̶0̶5̶J̶,̶1̶2̶4̶J̶,̶ ̶8̶2̶2̶J̶/̶1̶.̶6̶K̶V̶.̶M̶o̶s̶t̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶o̶t̶h̶e̶r̶ ̶c̶a̶p̶s̶ ̶a̶r̶e̶ ̶r̶a̶t̶e̶d̶ ̶4̶0̶0̶V̶o̶l̶t̶s̶ ̶I̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶n̶k̶.̶O̶n̶e̶ ̶o̶r̶ ̶t̶w̶o̶ ̶2̶0̶0̶V̶o̶l̶t̶s̶.̶ S̶o̶ ̶,̶i̶f̶ ̶m̶y̶ ̶c̶a̶l̶c̶u̶l̶a̶t̶i̶o̶n̶s̶ ̶a̶r̶e̶ ̶c̶o̶r̶r̶e̶c̶t̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶n̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶b̶a̶n̶k̶ ̶s̶h̶o̶u̶l̶d̶ ̶b̶e̶ ̶a̶b̶o̶u̶t̶ ̶4̶K̶V̶o̶l̶t̶s̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶9̶0̶0̶ ̶p̶F̶s̶.̶.

The calculations were wrong -this was too much capacitance.I've replaced this chain of capacitors with a single DIY aluminum foil and plastic sheets as dielectric capacitor.I am not aware of the capacitance value of this though.I do not own an LC meter. Here is how I made this homebrew capacitor. Rimu pcb crack load. Maybe the bank is not good enough for spark on top.Maybe the bank is the culprit.

How to get the constant spark on top? I know it has something to to do with resonance.Obviously there is no resonance here.

Here is a list of high voltage power supplies with schematics and construction details, going from simple to complex. Be careful if building any of these, high voltage can be dangerous! Simple flyback driver 10-15kV Probably the very first high voltage device built by any enthusiast. It uses a power transistor (2n3055) and two coils: a primary and a feedback on a flyback ferrite core.

Schematics and details: 2. Push Pull (dual) 2n3055 flyback driver You can use 2 x 2n3055 transistors in a better circuit that provides more power.

However this too is prone to failure due to the transistor limitations. A large heatsink is required as well. Voltage multipliers If the flyback doesn’t provide the voltage you require, a solution is to build a voltage multiplier.

You can hook it to any flyback secondaries that doesn’t have built-in rectification (diodes or multipliers). A very easy to build design is the Villard cascade voltage multiplier: To understand how it works, you can read more on it.

I’ve built mine in a plastic CD box, this way I can add liquid wax for better insulation. Here are some interesting tests using the multiplier: 4. 555 Timer flyback driver This circuit uses a 555 timer IC to pulse a power transistor with square wave at a frequency that is set by the capacitor and the potentiometers. It is a very efficient circuit, assuming the frequency is correctly adjusted. Circuit diagram: See it in action. 555 Timer dual ignition coil 30KV An even better approach for those that seek more power and higher voltages is using ignition coils from cars.