Building A REAL Solid State Tesla Coil (For DESKTOP LIGHTNING) | The Complete Guide + PCB Download!

This circuit is solid state, interrupted, ran by an adaptable PCB, and, unlike the old circuit, operational for long periods of time without issue. No pesky ballast required! Best of all: this bad boy is also musical.

Have more questions? Go check out my Instructable and Hackaday project on this circuit:

Do you want to make your own awesome version of this circuit? Download the full instructions, parts list, and PCB gerber files here:

If you just want the Gerber files (or want to try editing it yourself), here is the link to the EasyEDA project itself:

Be sure to check out this circuit in these other awesome videos from Coil Labs, ThePlasmaPrince, and Nerdlabs:

ThePlasmaPrince: link coming soon!

Want to engage with other people in the Tesla coil and high voltage community? Check out our Discord server:

Other important links:

Timestamps:
0:00 Epic intro
0:37 What're we building?
1:28 Circuit overview
4:03 Clayton's 340VDC power source
5:27 Circuit assembly montage
7:01 Coil winding with Nick!
9:06 IMPORTANT NOTES!
10:51 Firing it up!
12:47 Music mode
13:18 Making your own!
13:42 Giveaway (finished 11/7/2021)
14:06 Collaborators and conclusion

Music used:

Main background:
[No Copyright] Free to use | For Editing | Rock Instrumental

Secondary background:
Happy rock Instrumental music

Coil demo music:
ROYALTY FREE Sport Rock Music / Rock Background Royalty Free Music by MUSIC4VIDEO

PCB assembly montage music:
Upbeat Indie Rock by Infraction [No Copyright Music] / Holiday

#teslacoil
#highvoltage
#diy
#science

[CoilLabs]

Great stuff! Thanks for inviting me to be a part of this, I really enjoyed it!

[williamfox]

Thanks 🙏 so much to you & all the others, who helped make this detailed SSTC ⚡️ & the build 🪛 video possible! It’s so nice to see the efforts of so many advanced coilers assembled together for the greater coiling community 🤝…

Hope those who are awarded your PCB’s will have successful builds of their own & really appreciate your generosity!

Thanks 🙏 again!

[tristanlee]

Can't express how awesome this video is! Love that you've provided so much information about the project in the video, along with your design and COMPLETE instructions on how exactly to build the circuit and coil. It really makes the difference to be able to follow a guide like this. You've made this build super accessible and I praise you for that.

[davidcrane]

Awesome job. I'm going to build one of these bad boy toys. Want it ready for NEXT Halloween. Want to fry all those electronic watches people just think it would be great addition to the neighborhood. Time machine is probably out of the question for now, but a lightning bolt/musical tesla coil might bring the folks in for a look. I want the latest pcb . Lo!oked over the instructables. Looks well written and easy to understand. Nice job

[xgulaschannax]

I just built this tesla coil driver along with a new coil. My coil is a little Overkill (diameter is 9cm and length around 40cm, i used 0.22mm magnet wire and have around 1400-1600turns) and i must say im amazed. I really recommend using Zach's pcb because it makes building it really straight forward. My spark size is around 25-32cm depending on the interrupter frequency and I am very satisfied with the results. I heavent even tuned the coil and im using 6 primary coil windings to be on the safe side. Also, my topload is pretty small in proportion to the coil size. Thank you so much Zach I really appreciate the work you put in your Videos, your channel is one of a kind on yt. Nobody does so well made totorials on tesla coils other than you.

[greggarriss]

Beautiful work!! I built my first TC with glass plates and neon sign transformers as a kid back in the 60s…and survived another dozen. I canʻt wait to build this one!!

[koreancrafter]

I love how cool the arc looks!
and I whould like to receive musical one so I can show it to my friends how amazing the tesla coil is

[pranavramesh]

Been waiting for this video for more than half a year. Great video as always!

[peterasztalos]

Nice job! You put a lot of effort in your videos, and you do a great job. I always wanted to build an SSTC that can make huge and beautiful arcs, and not just puny little ones, and the musical mode is just awesome. Thanks for the well detailed and presented video! Well done!

[CuriousChan]

It's amazing to see Tesla coil enthusiasts in one video! I hope you also get in touch with Electroboom, Plasma Channel, Franzoli Electronics, Teslaundhmer, Hyperspace Pirate, and other high voltage enthusiasts😅

How about a singing flyback transformer? I'd like to see your take on it...

[tatemcaluney]

I am back at this video because it is such high quality and I wanna learn more about tesla coils... Zach, you are so inspiring and always amaze me with what you can accomplish. My biggest question is how did you learn how to design your own PCB's?! That blows my mind. PS, I enjoyed the piranha solution video! Happy Holidays!

[newmonengineering]

Just found this channel subscribed! Very cool PCB you made there. That large new one is awesome. I like the content keep it up.

[RAVI]

Hi there to you Zach. I just wanted to know your secondary coil diameter & height of coil windings plus which wire gauge you've used for the secondary & at the same time the resonant frequency of the secondary. Thanks man for all your helpful videos. Just keep it going & take care.

[chrismouyos]

Nice job, its really go to see young guys take an interest in cool analog electronics. Way to go!

[yourboi]

Hey labcoatz I left a bunch of comments on your videos but I got this sstc working. The arcs are about 8 or something inches at half power mode and are absolutely magnificent. I already ordered pcbs and built up Your staccato drsstc and class-e I just need to build coils and casings for them. I’ve researched the shits out of dual resonance and it sounds easy enough. I just need to get the resonant frequency with a scope after I build it and then add a matching capacitor. I’m also looking into true qcw and I ordered the parts for a low voltage qcw coil that fits in your hand and does true qcw. Real qcw is too expensive and out of my reach. This is a new hobby I need more of these.

[ngc]

I love how cool your Tesla Coil look. You show everyone science can be so cool and fun besides being important. Good job man! I would like to win a PCB for this Musical & Interrupted Tesla coil!

[dhameliyaarpit]

Thank you so much for your amazing work. I really appreciate your well detailed video and thanks again for the files. Well done.

[ParentsandProjects]

Great vide LabCoatz. Well done. Sign me up for one of these PCB's 😄. Would love to attempt this project.

[jvon]

I'll be honest I'd like both boards so it really wouldn't matter. I've replicated Plasma Channels desktop Tesla coil for my step sons science fair project. But sadly they didn't even place him because it was "too advanced" he even built over half the project himself and studied every book I had on Tesla so either way it was a win. But yeah nice build I actually found your channel through Plasma Channels live stream. Ppl were raving about it over there and he gave you some props on this build.

[jamesstoffel]

Good tutorial, with a nice collaboration. Thank you for posting.