Tuesday, May 6, 2014

Tesla Coil

Son In Law Andy is adventurous. He likes to build “stuff.”   For the longest time he has been talking about a Tesla Coil and building one and how cool would that be? 

A Tesla Coil  makes electricity…high voltage, low current, high frequency alternating current  electricity.

The Tesla Coil

He treated us to a show after dark.  I stayed far away.

Tesla Coil at night

This was my best shot of the current.  It makes noise as it sparks.

Andy and I lingered, he wanted to try some adjustments.  I stayed incase I needed to call 911…but then he is the Fire Chief.  I gave him “the lecture”…you have two curious boys…and they have friends..yada yada.  He decided on a keyed electrical plug in.  In the meantime I strongly suggested that he disable it in some way…and he did.

I hope some kind of lock is in place. A Grandma worries about the darndest things.

On a side note Andy’s Vex Robotic Team from Thief River Falls took 32nd place in the World Championships in California a few weeks ago!  The entire family went to California.  I asked Noah what was the best thing about California and he said “The Vex Tournament.”  I thought his answer might be the Pacific Ocean or pretty girls… I did ask him if he saw any girls in bikinis…he said it was too cold.

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18 comments:

  1. Your son-in-law sounds like my husband. He used to build "Jacob's Ladders" just to scare kids at Halloween. I finally convinced him they were too dangerous and to dismantle them. High voltage and kids just don't mix. Good photos of the Tesla Coil and it's electricity.

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  2. Wow! I've heard of Tesla Coils but never thought I'd see one. Glad to hear he disabled it. You are a very vigilant grandma, everybody should be so lucky. :-)

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  3. That is SO COOL!!!! What a clever guy! And yeah, I'd be worried about the kids too. But it's a great accomplishment. Fun, huh!

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  4. You are a good grandma! I imagine that was quite a sight to see. You got a very good photo of it!

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  5. I've never heard of a Tesla Coil. Kind of neat.

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  6. My husband is an electrical engineer and would totally dig that, and then break into a VERY long and detailed dissertation of how it works and I would pretend I understood and listen just to be polite, because I totally don't get electricity. LOL

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  7. Morning, never heard of this but so interesting, Francine.

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  8. Well, I learned something new today. It's amazing! Glad you had "the talk" with him about curious teenagers.

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  9. Very interesting :) Ha, I see Far Guy's comment - Blake? There is that resemblance - has SIL Andy ever had long hair in the day like Blake? :)

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  10. Funny post.....you gave me my morning laugh. Good thing you were there with your 911 on speed dial and GOOD advise!

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  11. These coils are cool. As you can see they create some awesome light shows. The stuff has to be hooked up according to code. The fire chief there? he's a safety fanatic! They all are. Don't worry.

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  12. Ah, he would never tell his Grandma that he was looking at girls in bikinis. He had not thought his answer through though as I bet the plane ride and other stuff was fun for him too.

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  13. Never heard of one. People who can understand things like electricity AMAZE me

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  14. Good you have the safety aspects covered. In my experience, mad scientists don't think much about that! Nice photo. I didn't know electrical energy was purple.

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  15. Your photo is COOL!!!!

    ♥ღLinda
    http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com

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  16. Never heard of that, but it was super cool!! I would want it safe from kids, though, too. Having a mad scientist for a dad is a wonderful thing. They will likely be imaginative human beings! ;)

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