Tutorials

This is a series of general Tesla coil design guides, with an emphasis on solid-state coils. For complete assembly instructions for our kits, please take a look at the downloads page.

Basic Tutorials

How to Solder

In this tutorial, you will learn the basics of soldering, including what materials you need and basic tips.

How to De-Solder

In this tutorial, you will learn how to de-solder, including what materials you might need and basic tips.

Tesla Coil FAQ

What is a Tesla coil? What does it do? Find out here.

tinyTesla Assembly Tutorials

		tinyTesla Manual This is the full version of the tinyTesla user manual. Follow this manual step by step to assemble your tinyTesla kit!
		Heat Sink Hardware Installation Learn how to install the hardware on the tinyTesla heat sink in this tutorial.
		Main Board's Logic Component Installation In this tutorial, we take you through the installation of the tinyTesla main board's logic components.
		Low Voltage Driver Board Test Learn how to conduct a low voltage driver board test in this tutorial.
		Main Board's Power Component Installation We walk you through how to install the main board's power components in this tutorial.
		IGBT Installation Learn how to install the IGBTs in your tinyTesla kit.

Advanced Tutorials

		oneTeslaTS Manual The full oneTeslaTS manual. Follow this manual step by step to assemble your oneTeslaTS kit!
		How a Tesla Coil Works A walkthrough of how Tesla coils can produce hundreds of KV using coupled resonant circuits; applies to both spark-gap and solid-state coils.
		(DR)SSTC Nonidealities and Losses How component nonidealities affect solid-state coils, and how to manage these nonidealities and minimize their impact.
		Thermal Analysis Thermal analysis is one of the most important parts of designing any power electronic device.
		DRSSTC Driver Guide A walkthrough of the basic skeleton of the classic D-flop based DRSSTC driver.
		DRSSTC Bridge Design The heart of a DRSSTC is a pulsed IGBT inverter which generates the RF necessary to drive the resonator. This article discusses the considerations pertaining to the design and layout of a good inverter.
		Gate Drive Design Driving your gates hard and fast (or slow and smooth if you are so inclined).
		Resonator Design Despite its apparent simplicity, designing the primary and secondary assembly for a DRSSTC presents some challenges. We discuss these challenges in detail in this article.
		Tesla Coil Tuning In a DRSSTC (or indeed, any Tesla coil), correctly tuning the coil can mean a factor of two or more difference in spark length. Furthermore, finding the correct tuning point can significantly reduce transistor heating and power consumption, while improving general reliability and fault-tolerance. This article describes some tips and tricks on finding the best tuning point for a Tesla coil.