Tesla coil control system
This is the new control unit that was built for the BM3 Tesla coil, It was built with the help of Steve Bell.The Box is an Aluminum unit from RS components and houses all the control system, below is a view of the insides.
All the components are laid out to give a flow of operation, the large white box on the bottom right is the main breaker and fuse, the main power breaker is set at 20A which also has a 20A fuse inline with it. next to it is a 5A breaker for the Aux output. 
 
The Aux output is switchable on/off and also passes through the 5A veriac (top right) this is used to control blower motors and the RSG in the base unit. 
 
The unit also incorporates meters for voltage and current. 
 
The control system features a safety arming key switch and interlocking power / deadmans switch. 
 
Each sub system has it's own power on light. 
This is a view of the insides, the two white boxes in the middle are the two meters, voltage on the left and current on the right with the current transformer underneath. 
 
Next to the current transformer is the main system power relay this is activated by the power / deadmans switch. 
 
All the cable runs are 20A.

The controler also has the added feature that a large 20A Variac can be plugged in to control the output voltage, the picture on the right is one of our 20A Variacs to the left in the picture is a bridge lead, this can be plugged in to the controller to bypass the Variac and give the full 240V mains voltage.
The control box has over the last few years had a few upgrades and a few additions, a phase controller has been added so the phase of our new sync rotary spark gap can be altered on the fly with the coil running.
More details about the Phase controller can be found via the components page.
Copy right 2021