oneTeslaTS User Manual - Table of Contents

In this manual, you'll learn how to assemble and troubleshoot your oneTeslaTS Musical Tesla Coil Kit! Click on the links below to get started.

		Welcome You’ve made a good choice with the oneTesla TS kit, the most compact and high-performing Tesla coil kit you will find. The oneTesla TS is a respin of our first, immensely popular Tesla coil kit. We’ve listened to feedback from hundreds of oneTesla v1 kit builders and redesigned the electronics and mechanical assembly with a focus on... continue >>
		Safety Warnings Electrical Safety Warning: The Tesla coil creates extremely high voltage and high frequency sparks. NEVER TOUCH THE OUTPUT OF THE TESLA COIL. At best, you will get a nasty burn; at worst, you’ll get a potentially life-threatening shock. The Tesla coil’s control board is also dangerous while... continue >>
		Before You Begin Read the tutorials. All of our tutorials can be found at onetesla.com/tutorials. Soldering tutorial: http://onetesla.com/tutorials/how-to-solder. De-soldering tutorial: http://onetesla.com/tutorials/how-to-desolder. How a Tesla coil works... continue >>
		Step 1: Assemble the SD Interrupter Heat up your iron! Let’s start soldering. We’ll begin with the SD card interrupter because we need it working to test the Tesla coil’s electronics later on.... continue >>
		Step 2: Test the SD Interrupter Power on the interrupter. Depending on whether or not you have a micro SD card installed, you should be greeted with either “Fixed Mode” or “No SD card found” on the display. Press [Down] until... continue >>
		Step 3: Assemble the Interrupter Case Step 4: Varnish the secondary A. Peel the protective paper off of the plastic parts. B. Start by attaching the board to the bottom plate of the chassis. Use the short standoffs to space the board from the bottom plate. Use 6mm screws through... continue >>
		Step 5: Install the Main Board's Logic A. Install R1. Note that is a large, rectangular, ceramic, 5-Watt power resistor. B. Install R2–R6. ENSURE THAT R5 AND R6 ARE INSTALLED PROPERLY. They are two 1/2W bleeder resistors which drain the bus capacitors when the unit is powered off. Failure to install R5 and R6 properly will result in... continue >>
		Step 6: Low-Power System Testing In this step, you will test the main board’s logic components and interrupter together at low power. Perform these steps only after you install the components in step 4, and BEFORE... continue >>
		Step 7: Install the Power Components A. If you are operating on 110V, install J110. DO NOT INSTALL THIS COMPONENT IF YOU ARE OPERATING YOUR KIT ON 220V. To populate J110, trim a piece of thick wire and strip the ends to fit the space on the board. B. Install the fuse clips and insert the fuse. Note that the tabs... continue >>
		Step 8: Install the IGBTs Step 9: Finish Soldering the PCBs The IGBTs are mounted flush against the heat sink, and their leads are soldered to the top of the PCB. Sil-pad is an electrically insulative but thermally conductive material, which allows heat from the IGBTs to be transferred to the heat sink to dissipate, but ... continue >>
		Step 10: Assemble the Secondary First, solder ring terminals to the leads at each end of the secondary coil. Use fine-grit sandpaper to sand the enamel off the wire. If the end of the wire breaks, gently unravel some more. There are two endcaps: top and bottom. The bottom endcap is... continue >>
		Step 11: Assemble the PCB Stack Step 12: Side Panel Installation In this step you will assemble the Tesla coil without its side panels. We recommend leaving off the side panels while doing your first runs and troubleshooting so that you can more easily detect any problems that may arise. A. Stack the driver and shield boards as shown... continue >>
		Step 13: Tesla Coil Setup Rules Step 14: Startup and Shutdown Procedure We are now ready to power test the coil! Before we do so, we want to do some final checks. Reference this step before each time you run the coil. Make sure the breakout point is installed. Failure to do so will result in... continue >>
		Step 15: General Troubleshooting A dead bridge is a dead short. If you attempt to re-test your coil right after a severe failure by simply putting in a new fuse and trying again, you’re likely to just blow the new fuse as well. A damaged bridge acts... continue >>
		Step 16: Operation The Tesla coil is a dangerous high voltage device. Used properly, it is an educational and fun electronics project that displays beautiful electrical arcs and lets you play with a unique form of sound creation. Used improperly, it can lead to serious injury. Always follow the directions! Treat your energized Tesla coil the same way that you would treat an open flame. You wouldn’t leave... continue >>
		Step 17: Test Advanced Interrupter Functions You will need a Micro SD card and, if you wish to test live MIDI functionality, a MIDI source for this step. A. The card must be formatted as FAT. Most small SD cards likely have this file system by default, but if you are unsure, right-click on the drive and click “Properties”. The “Filesystem” entry should read FAT, not FAT32 or NTFS. If it does not... continue >>
		Appendix A: General Troubleshooting Tips Appendix B: OMD converter Everyone finds troubleshooting frustrating. Have patience, be attentive to details, and ask for help. You will have your coil performing beautifully in no time! It’s impossible for us to cover every single failure scenario, and we’re not sure that a flowchart-style guide to a hundred different failure modes would even be that useful. Instead... continue >>
		Appendix C: Oscilloscope Guide Appendix D: Further Resources Appendix E: Board Schematics The oneTesla TS kit can be built without an oscilloscope. However, having a scope can be of great assistance in debugging. The following pages provide snapshots of key waveforms, along with tips for debugging the coil. During startup (before the coil starts oscillating, e.g. when the primary is not connected), the waveform at pin 6 and 7 of IC3 and IC4 should look like... continue >>