Electric light ballast

[Yergaderga]

So why wouldn't a light ballast power a Tesla Coil (or would it)? It is an oscillator at high frequencies, so long as it is a high frequency ballast. basically it would be a solid state tesla coil. If this wouldn't actually work, is it about resonance, or what? And if it would work, then yay, because ballast are cheap. It is similar to the drivers for solid state Tesla coils, I would imagine.
Thanks,

Yetgaderga

 

[crutschow]

A lamp ballast uses a high frequency switching circuit to control the current through a lamp powered by an AC line. That's quite different from the high frequency AC oscillator that drives a Tesla coil.

 

[Yergaderga]

Thanks for the quick response! I saw something online with a ballast powered flyback. That would at least work well, right? Then I could make a flyback tesla coil, yes?

 

[dr pepper]

Depends whether your talking about a compact fluorescent ballast or a magnetic choke type.
The former with a suitable primary might well produce a sstc, but you'd need to make the coils resonate as the same freq as the ballast, which could require big coils.
You could probably use the ballast with a flyback and use the o/p of that through a spark gap to power a tesla.
Usual safety applies, everything would be connected to the mains, not safe.

 

[Yergaderga]

Thank you very much for the help! I am working with a decently large tesla coil, and I'll have to try to get it resonant with the flourescent light ballast (I wouldn't use a magnetic one . Aren't they low frequency?). Also, definitely working with wall power requires caution! As I just realized I previously mentioned, the coil I'm working with is pretty large. The secondary will most likely be over 1.5' tall and will be four inches wide. I just got 3,000 feet of magnet wire for the secondary and I have plenty of wraps of thick wire for adjusting my primary. I'll keep one hand in my pocket when working for safety.

 

[dr pepper]

I dont know what freq electronics ballasts are, but I'd think they'd be a little over 20kc hearing range, so you'd need some capacitance across the primary to make it resonate, but not too much or the Q will make it difficult to get right.
An electronic ballast as part of its job would limit the current, however I'd suggest a series current limiting resistor be placed in series with the primary to restrict the current into the tc untill you get the thing to resonate, you can also measure the current into the primary across it.

Be especially carefull driving a tc with a ballast, if the system doesnt have a spark gap the h.t. will be a lower frequency than the usual tc making it much more dangerous, due to reduced skin effect.

I've messed with magnetic 50hz lighting chokes for factory metal halide lighting in the attempt to get high volatge, just because I have a few of them, and they are highly effective, but i dont think they'd last long only being rated for mains voltages.

 

[Yergaderga]

What about, say, 3.8-.05uf. At 320vac?
Just pulled one out of an old quick start ballast (no I'm not using one if those, I'll buy a new one)? Also, I found this evacuated tube with relay contactor looking things in it in the old crappy ballast (the cap also came from it, as well as a load of shoe polish- like wax or tar). Is it a fuse? Or a relay of some sort. It's about double the size of Christmas light bulb. Thanks .

 

[Yergaderga]

Here they are:

 

[dr pepper]

Not sure about that cap, better not use it, th espec sounds ok, but 3 wires?
The glass bead is a thermal switch, I usspect in the application it acts like a timer, allowing the starter to work for a short period.

 

[Yergaderga]

I looked it up. The cap is made of two caps connected in series if I understood it right. I think I know what to use though.
Cool, coolcoolcool.