The Turn Of The Century Electrotherapy Museum
http://www.electrotherapymuseum.com

Tesla "Pancake Coils":  Redefining Tesla Technologies
 

Introduction

I've owned and operated hundreds of Tesla Coils dating from the 1890s - Today.  Having
experienced a century of some of the best and most creative  designs, my goal has been to first
replicate and second to improve upon these early apparatus.  I feel my goal has been successful
in many aspects, and here are some pages I'd like to share with you of some of the experiences.

Pancake Coils, Multilayered Tesla Coils, Flat Spiral Coils, Disruptive Discharge Coils, -
They all have one thing in common:  Efficiency beyond all other forms of Tesla Coils.
Tesla used this style of coil in his lectures.  It is puzzling why few people attempt them,
yet so many people are interested in Tesla technologies.  These lie at the heart of Tesla's
experiments, and many forms of discharges and experiments can only be accomplished
with this style coil.  The differences in the outputs of Pancake and Helix Coils is astounding.

These designs were the FIRST Tesla Coils.  Tesla stated in 1919 that the coils
he made in the 1890s could not be improved upon even decades later.  I am a firm
believer in this, and would extend that statement to today.  After trying hundreds of
formulas, modern insulations and wires, and complex power supplies, the best designs
are still those that use turn of the century materials and methods.  As you will see in
the following pages, my reproductions use period elements whenever possible.  There
are no modern electronics in any of the devices, nor is there "trick photography". 

The antique coils are approx. 100 years old and still function fine.  Most can be operated
for extended periods - some for hours.  I have yet to see anything electronic last more than
a few decades...if not years or minutes! 

Jeff Behary, 1 January 2006
 


Original plans to one of Tesla's Coils from a very rare first edition Tesla lecture in 1892.
 
 
Original Tesla Bi-Polar Pancake Coil Systems
Nikola Tesla (ca. 1897)
 

                     
Tesla's Tesla Coils, ca. 1897
(Pancake Coil Systems with Mechanical, Rotary, and Mercury Turbine Interrupters)
 
Reproduction Tesla Oscillator
(Jeff Behary, The Turn Of The Century Electrotherapy Museum, 2004)
 

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