Cattle Prod Question

[old_coot88]

Originally Posted by dtvmcdonald

I've never ever heard them called Oudin coils. They are always called Tesla coils.

Doesn't a true Tesla coil need the capacitance of a top load (big smooth sphere) for resonating the secondary? Or maybe 'tesla coil' is sometimes used in a colloquial sense.

[Notimetolooz]

Originally Posted by old_coot88

Doesn't a true Tesla coil need the capacitance of a top load (big smooth sphere) for resonating the secondary? Or maybe 'tesla coil' is sometimes used in a colloquial sense.

I don't think the type of thing you are talking about is technically a Tesla coil, but there is some overlap of terms. Tesla coils don't have iron cores. I think what you are talking about has adjustable vibrator contacts and a iron core step up transformer.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Induction_coil

[old_coot88]

Yeah, our cattle prod device was more like an an automotive ignition coil on steroids, with a built-in mechanical interrupter.

[Dave S]

Mine is just a spark-coil thingie.