1.
INTRODUCTION  Ordinary breadboard wire
A Tesla Coil is a simple coil that creates a
high voltage electric field in the air when a
small input power (9V) is provided, this
electric filed is strong enough to glow small
light bulbs. This principle was invented by
the Nicola Tesla, who also holds the credit
for inventing Induction Motors, AC current,
neon bulbs, Remote controls etc..
This Mini Tesla Coil Circuit is very simple
and just works with a help of 9V battery and
very few commonly available electronic
components, which makes it is very easy to
build (fingers crossed). There are a handful
number of people who have tried this project
already and have failed to obtain the result;
this is mainly because of few subtle
mistakes that commonly occur. So it does
not matter if you have already given up on
Tesla coils or if you are completely new to
this topic, this tutorial will be your final stop
to build and debug your Tesla coil and get it
working. In this DIY Tutorial we will learn
How to make a Simple Tesla Coil with 9v
Battery and transmit the power wirelessly.
Warning: This is a high voltage project, so
make sure you always know what you are
doing. The voltage is not lethal but still can
cause nerve and tissue damage if you get in
direct contact with any arcs. You don’t have
to fear much, but always remember not to
touch the coil while its powered ON.
2. Materials Required:
 Magnetic wire a.k.a Enamelled
copper wire
 22K Resistor
 2N2222 Transistor
 LED
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 Any non conductive cylindrical
object
 9V Battery (or 5V Supply)
 Breadboard
3. Working of a Tesla coil:
Before we start building the Tesla coil, it is
very important to know how it works. Only
then we will be able to build and debug one
successfully. The Tesla coil works with the
principle of Electromagnetic Induction.
According to which, when a conductor is
placed under a varying magnetic field, a
small current will be induced inside the
conductor. For a Tesla coil this conductor
will be called as the secondary coil and the
varying magnetic field will be produced by
the primary coil by passing an oscillating
current through the primary coil.
It might sound a bit confused, but let us
proceed with the circuit diagram where
things will be made much clear.
4. Circuit Diagram:
The circuit diagram of Mini Tesla Coil
Project given below is very simple. So let us
understand how it works and learn how to
build it. The main component in this circuit
is the secondary coil (golden colour), which
is made by winding a magnetic wire
(enamelled) around a cylindrical object (any
non conductive object will work).
A high current high frequency transistor like
2N2222 is used to supply current through
the primary coil (violet colour). The whole
set up is powered by a 9V battery as shown
above. The positive end of the battery
reaches the collector of Transistor through
the primary coil, and the emitter is
grounded. This means that whenever the
transistor conducts, current is flown through
the primary coil. The LED diode and one
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end of the secondary coil is also connected
to base of transistor to make the circuit
oscillate, this way the transistor will send a
oscillating current into primary coil. If you
want get more technical and learn how the
current oscillates you can Google for
“Slayer Exciter Circuit”.
So, with this arrangement we have a primary
coil which will have an oscillating current,
and hence will produce a carrying magnetic
flux around it. Now, this coil is wound
around the secondary coil and hence a
according to law of electromagnetic
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induction a voltage will be induced in the
secondary coil. Since the number of turns in
the secondary coil is very large than primary
coil, this voltage will be a very high voltage
and hence this coil will have a very strong
electric flux around it that is powerful
enough to glow normal CFL bulbs and is
used in Wireless Power Transmission.
 iii. Try to get a minimum of 150
turns, a value of 300 turns will be
5. Winding the Secondary Coil: typically good.

One very important step in this project is

winding the secondary coil. It is a time
consuming process and hence do not rush
yourself in this part. First of all, you will
need a magnetic coil, which is also called as
enamelled coil wire. These wires can be
found inside relays coils, transformers and
even motors. You can either reuse one or
buy yourself a new one. The thinner the wire
is the better the results will be.

Once you are ready with the magnetic wire,

you will need a cylindrical object. The only
rule while selecting this object is that it
should not be conductive, you can select
PVC pipes, cardboard roll or even stack 4-5
A4 sheets together and roll them up. The
diameter of the cylinder can be anywhere
between 5cm to 10cm, and the length should
be at least 10cm. The longer the object is
more number of turns it can fit in.

After getting your coil and cylindrical

object, it is time to start the winding process,
just wind few turn and use a tape to secure
the winding initially and then proceed with
the complete winding. Make sure you follow
the below tips while winding

i. Wind the coils as close as

possible
ii. Do not overlap one coil turn
over another

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 6. Common Misconceptions:
Once we are ready with the coil we
are almost 90% through the project
after that just follow the circuit
diagram and make the connections,
but there are few commonly asked
questions to which you can find the
answers below.
1. Do not use a normal
transistor in place of 2N2222,
unless you know to select an
exact equivalent for this
transistor.
2. The resistor 22K need not be
exactly the same it can be
anywhere from 12K to 30K.
3. Make sure the 9V battery that
you are using is brand new,
because the cheap batteries
will not last more than 5
minutes with this circuit, If
you have an Arduino or
something which can source
you +5V you can also use
that.
4. It is completely fine for your
coil to have any number of
turns, but it should have a
minimum of at least 150
turns, you dint have to be
very accurate with the count.
5. The circuit can work from 5V
to 10V. However don’t push
more than 500mA through it
6. The LED has a different
purpose other than glowing,
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it is actually used to switch
the transistor so do not ignore
it, a RED colour LED will
work fine.
7. Your LED might or might
not glow when the Circuit is
powered, you do not have to
be worried about it.
8. You might or might not get a
spark (arc) at the free end of
Secondary coil, you do not
have to worry about that
either. If you get an Arc do
not touch it.
9. Always check if the circuit is
working only by using a
normal CFL bulb.
10. Adding a metal load (foil
paper) on top of secondary
coil is optional, but it sure
will improve the results but
not mandatory to get a basic
working output.
11.There is a very little chance
for you to hear any hissing
sound, so don’t expect it.
7. Working of 9V Mini Tesla
Coil:
Just follow the steps to wind the coil and use
a breadboard to make the connection as
shown in the circuit diagram. Once you are
done with everything your mini tesla coil
project will look something like this.
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I dint not have a 22K resistor or anything
near, so I used two 47K resistors in parallel
as shown in the circuit. Now, finally it is
time to have fun. Just power the circuit
using a new 9V battery and bring a CFL
bulb close to the coil you should be able to
watch the CFL bulb glow without any
connection on its own just like as shown in
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the video below. You can also achieve the
same effect on tube lights as well. Go ahead
and play around with it, there is a lot more
room to improve the project, by increasing
the current rating or by increasing the
number of turns on secondary coil to get
arcs on the free end of secondary coil. But,
all those things are left for a new tutorial.
You can also check if the circuit is working
by using a mulimeter, just place the
multimeter in voltage mode. Touch the
black probe on the ground of the circuit and
leave the red probe floating on the air, the
You can also check the presence of Flux by
using a Clamp Type Multimeter in NCV
mode. When you bring the Multimeter near
to the coil, it will start beeping with the
flashig light.
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multimeter should be able to read a very
high voltage as shown below where the
meter reads a very high voltage of 1247V.
You have been warned already, be very
careful around these high voltage set-up
But, wait!!!...., what if your bulb does not
glow. Don’t worry it should be a very subtle
problem somewhere. A most common
solution to try out first is change the polarity
of your primary coil, that is connect the
collector end of primary coil to battery
positive and the battery positive end of
primary coil to the collector pin. This should
help you to solve the problem. If not, try
using a new 9V battery or some other
reliable power source.
Even then if you face any problem make
sure you have read the common
misconception heading above and check for
your circuit connection. If everything fails
feel free to post your problem as comment
below. I will try my best to make your
circuit work.

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