http://www.electrotherapymuseum.com
(C) Jeff Behary 2007
Winding Pancake Coils...
A trip to "Ravenscroft II":
15 Pancake Coils are contained within these prototypes:
Tesla 1/2 Scale Induction Coil; Pancake Coil System operated by an OBIT;
Pancake Coils for Charging Condensers; (2) Modern Material Pancakes; Rotary Spark Gap Pancake Coil - Simulates Induction Coil discharges;
Kinraide-Jackson Reproduction for producing Corona/Ozone; Large Pseudo-Static / DC Output Pancake Coil;
Pancake Coil for operation with neon transformers; "Prague II" Kilowatt Kinraide Coil Reproduction
Cenco Coil winder. This is used to wind small multilayered coils.
Hand Winder for Larger Coils
This is a homemade hand tool to lift coils in and out of hot oil/wax.
This Pancake Coil is made with Soy Wax and Stearic Acid.
The white colour was made by adding Titanium Dioxide to the mixture.
A large flat spiral coil of thick wire - 18" diameter.
Many forms can be used for Pancakes. This is a glass lamp fixture painted with
a very opaque and good insulating oil paint mixed with modified alkyd resin ("Liquin").
The name of the paint is "Venetian Red", and it has a great covering power.
Here are some large Primary Coils. The one in the front is 1" copper tubing, 48" diameter.
This is a 1.5" thick MDF stand to hold large interleave material - in this
case, a 1200' roll of PVC edgebanding 1mm thick and 19mm in diameter.
Here are some misc. coils. An antique and modern Violet Ray Coil, and a coil used to produce
the flaming arc phenomenon in this animated GIF:
Silicone baking pans are a dream come true for removing Pancakes from moulds.
This is a restaurant grade induction stove for melting paraffin wax, beeswax, rosins, etc.
Here is my universal magnet wire spool holder. This is a spool of silk-covered wire.
Here are some wax toilet rings. They made great insulation when added
to other waxes or used alone. They don't freeze or melt, but remain the
texture of peanut butter, only a little more solid.
Here is the front of an 18" Pancake Coil used in the Pancake P:S Cylindrical
Tertiary magnifier system in the Forgotten Tesla Technology section of our site.
The polyester resin didn't seep through the coil well enough...
...so I had to remove the wooden glued base and pour in hot wax. It works fine now.
A Pancake Coil using 50% beeswax and 50% rosin. Both materials were over 100 years old, and
the coil appears to be of Victorian vintage rather than 2006!
Here is a prototype Primary Coil. It was made by cutting a flat piece of metal into
an edge-wound Pancake Coil. Easier than an edge-wound helix!
Disruptive Discharge Coil in a PVC pipe glued to a CPVC base.
A Pancake Coil insulated of only Wax Toilet Rings.
A 3 1/2" PVC enclosed Pancake Coil.
Waxed paper paint pots can be used as Pancake Coils as well!
A spice container was used to pour this reproduction Fischer Pancake Coil...
For lower powers a Pancake Coil can be covered cheaply with linoleum
on the top and bottom! The Primary Coil finishes the side of the coil.
A homemade condenser of acetate (overhead transparencies) sheets and 5x7
aluminum roof flashing.
A larger condenser made of 8.5 x 11 sheets and aluminum foil.
This 14" diameter Variac is wired as an adjustable reactance coil to limit the current for my experiments.
It was part of several massive 3 phase units.
Here is a two-stack made to adjust both voltage and current precisely for experiments -
adjustable 0-120V in 1V increments; from 0 - 2000W in 15 watt increments.
Kicking Coil Testing unit. 30 watts or 100 watts capability, AC/DC. Interrupter can be made
fast or slow, and the "Behary binary plate capacitor" is adjustable from .001 - .255 mfd
in .001 mfd increments.
The AC universal Pancake Coil tester. Works in connection with the variac-turned-reactance coil
seen above. Two microwave oven transformers with primaries in anti-parallel and secondaries in series.
A fixed reactance coil to limit the current to a maximum of 4000V 600mA.
A single quenched tungsten spark gap - 3/8" diameter tungsten.
Located under the wood is an adjustable cap, .001 - .128 mfd in .001 mfd increments.
In the photo the cap is set to binary number 0011000 or decimal 24 = .024 mfd.
Here is a small 5" Pancake that wasn't insulated properly...
A successful 5" Pancake Coil.
As the coil is wound the wire is passed through wax (see the trough on the
right) covering the silk covering and gluing it together....