Donald Smith Devices too good to be true

[tswift]

And finally, a trial layout of the whole rig to see how it's all going to fit together. It's going to be smaller than I thought at first: I can put the secondary tuning cap on top of the resonant coil assembly and keep the wires shorter and layout more compact. Now I need to acquire a few miscellaneous hardware components for assembling and begin actually putting it together.

I hope some of you are finding this all this documentation valuable: it takes longer to write up explanations and edit photos than it actually does to experiment. I know we have some folks here who are capable builders with lots of experience and probably don't need my explanations, but I want to have a practical step-by-step that's easy to follow for everyone else who doesn't have as much experience. If we arrive at a replicable working design then we can produce an explicit set of plans and instructions, or perhaps some brave soul will make kits available. However, even in the absence of a kit or plans, with just a little engineering one can work with whatever parts you can find/afford.

[tswift]

If you want to see the full resolution 10MP versions of all these photos instead of the scaled-down ones, you can use the master IPFS link at:

http://gateway.ipfs.io/ipns/QmeamoEj...hxNgB5wFiwYPtz

This will take you to a directory folder listing which has all the pictures. The file names correspond to the ones in my posts on the forum, only without the "_small" suffix. Be aware that it can take QUITE a while to load the folder listing the first time, as in several minutes. It's also very slow for a few hours after I post new photos, at least for the new files. As near as I can tell from testing, it always works eventually but you may have to give it a while. Because this folder link uses IPNS (which is part of the IPFS specification), it will always be the same even when new files are published. The actual IPFS folder hash changes every time, which is why they created IPNS....

[soundiceuk]

More progress

[tesluh]

Can anyone identify the diodes in this video (or on dons board) ? He says they are HVD35-10 diodes in the video description but I have no way of knowing, cant find those listed for sale. The ones I'm using don't seem to be working correctly and want to find some that another person has used with success.
[VIDEO]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43hted5YTCw[/VIDEO]

[cumpood]

unless they made it different for him than they do in production, the one on his board is an active part number just none in inventory. rep said 9 weeks lead time.

Not saying having the exact parts will bring instant success, just saying I don't even have a functioning primary because my power supply doesn't work with the circuit its attached to. I would have no problem using a tv flyback, was also looking at amazing1.com selection of hv hf power supplies like the one tswift demonstrated.

do you mean you have asked customelec for the cmriaXXX yellow caps and
they replay they have stock but need 9 weeks to ship to you?

[tesluh]

I was told it was a valid part number, no inventory, need 9 weeks to manufacture. Still questioning how .2uf puts the resonant frequency of an l1 coil of that length into the 35khz range. By itself I figure it would be MHz range and .2 uf wouldn't do much to lower it. I could be very wrong though. I have a similar length l1 here and it took 7.4 uf to bring it to 35khz the way I measured it. that's not a convenient size pile of capacitors to use either...

[soundiceuk]

More progress!

[cumpood]

I was told it was a valid part number, no inventory, need 9 weeks to manufacture. Still questioning how .2uf puts the resonant frequency of an l1 coil of that length into the 35khz range. By itself I figure it would be MHz range and .2 uf wouldn't do much to lower it. I could be very wrong though. I have a similar length l1 here and it took 7.4 uf to bring it to 35khz the way I measured it. that's not a convenient size pile of capacitors to use either...

the yellow caps in the don smith device is manufactured in the second week of 1977,the video you posted have the same manufacture number.
i guess customelec telling a lie in the reply.

[tesluh]

they're lying that they are out of stock but could make more if I order them and wait 9 weeks??

[tesluh]

Any source for that flyback driver board you are using in the US? I have a flyback and driver coming but have to wait for it to come from Asia. All of my nsts seem to put out a strange waveform and I think it's one of the reasons I am having difficulties getting any results.

[Mwtj]

It is not a specific flyback driver. It is from a PLL Solid state tesla coil ZVS.
The frequency is too high for a flyback.

You can make some adjustments so it will work with a flyback. They are available on Ebay

[marathonman]

Tesla/Smith parts

I am very sorry for intrusion but i have Tesla/Smith parts for sale on profile pics.
thank you and sorry.

MM

[tesluh]

All the ones I have found on ebay are from Asia. I have a flyback driver coming but its anyone's guess how long it will take to get here. if you have a link to one from the u.s. please post.

[Mwtj]

Got that one from china. I do not have a u.s link.

[tswift]

This is the current state of the assembly. Progress going slower than I want, experimenting time is always at a premium and subject to other duties and responsibilities. I have some of the components already mounted on the backplane, and some of them just sitting there while I trial fit it all together. I realized I can save another inch or two of space by stacking the C1 cap on top of the spark gap, it's just sitting there but I will make a top plate of acrylic with mounting holes so the screws to fit the computer fan case can just go right through it. I realized that mounting into the wood with sharp-tipped wood screws might be a bad idea due to corona discharge forming at the sharp points when it's operating at high voltage. This could char the wood or even set it on fire, not a good design. I guess I will probably just epoxy the capacitor mounting brackets to the acrylic to avoid any sharp screws.

I also need to fabricate some kind of spacer to hold the L1 coil in the middle of the L2 coil, I would like to make something prettier out of acrylic but I'm out of good acrylic. All I have left is some old stuff that doesn't cut very well. I will go ahead and order some more, hopefully it doesn't have to come from Asia....

And yes, most of the parts you might want/need have to come from Asia these days it seems. Usually 10 days lead time, sometimes more. The only good news is that the longer you do this type of experimenting, the more useful parts and equipment you have already on hand taking up space in your shop :/