8 Transistor SG Kit Not Starting

[Tom C]

ok randy,

if all the connections are correct, Diodes are facing the correct direction, and you have no cold solder joints (a pic of the back would help) and all the enamel is off the wires, and everything ohms out then what is left is there is not enough induced voltage in the trigger circuit, which means you need to move the coil like yaro said, remove the zip ties and run threaded packing tape around your rim. Then get the coil 1/8 inch away. then repeat the base circuit voltage test Erik mentioned earlier.check the crimps on the trigger circuit, and for grins remove the crimp terminals, restrip the wire and wrap it around the bolts and put a flat washer on there, then nut it down hard. also move the trigger wire to on top of the battery cable instead of next to it this will insure a good connection

Tom C

[Bung-ee]

I'll be building a SG soon soon.
By any means : do you happen to have Peter lindemann's beginner handbook ?

[Tom C]

you can get it here...
http://www.teslagenx.com/digital.html

Tom C

[rsargent52]

While I am rebuilding using some ABS plastic and wood, I am posting a pic of the back of my circuit board as requested.

[Tom C]

another assumption is that your magnets are all north out... switching the coil trigger wire locations will tell you.....
thanks for the picture, everything looks great.

Tom C

[Tom C]

yes there is.... a resistor 4.7K to be precise... extra protection for the neon..... JB approved.
Tom C

[rsargent52]

It's Alive! Got it all rebuilt without the metal supports and some other enhancements and it is up and running.
Gave the wheel a whirl and it spun up so fast I had to slow it down to keep the magnets secure. I did notice the LEDs did not fire up though.
Here are my changes:
1. Built upright supports out of wood instead of metal.
2. Used ABS plastic to hold wheel to uprights - slotted to make it adjustable.
3. Shortened rods to be about the same size as the coil mounted on solid wood with no hole under it.
4. Also made sure the coil was mounted perfectly level.
5. Cleaned up wiring a little.
6. Cleaned up all the notches on my wheel where magnets mount to insure they are the same depth to keep gap from coil consistent.
7. Lined all notches in wheel where magnets mount with Liquid Tape. I also put a couple pieces of black electrical tape on back side (south) of magnets. It is an aluminum wheel but I wanted to insure there was no electrical interference.
Now I gotta play with it a little. Thanks for everybody's input.
Here are a couple of pics:


This is it running (above)


Here is is stationary

[Yaro1776]

Congratulations Randy,

Devil is always in the details to get the SSG running for the first time. If the wheel is accelerating then the coil and board are doing their thing - the LED's should light up if you briefly disconnect the Charge + cable from the battery. The circuit and coil combo will growl at you to reconnect the cable.

Life is good!

Yaro

[John_Koorn]

Randy and Yaro,

please do not disconnect the charge battery to test if the neon bulbs light up. You will damage your transistors. Since they are all a matched set you'll have to replace all 8 if you blow one.

John K.

[Yaro1776]

John K,

Thanks for the heads up on this issue - some changes may be required on page 67 of the SG Beginners book which states this method for checking the safety bypass circuit. Don't mean to be a pain, but just pointing out an inconsistency here, that as you can see, creates a small level of confusion to the beginning SSG wizard.

Best to you,
Yaro