This is quite possibly the best, most complete how-to I've ever seen on youtube. Thank you for making it! People like you make the internet a better place.
This is great work. Thanks for doing this and putting this up on RUclips. I have built many of these Tesla Turbines over the last 29 years. They are fun and very educational. I know you have built your model of plastic, but if you ever get the chance to duplicate it in metal you will discover you can generate quite a lot of mechanical power running it on steam. I once built one with 6" disks 40 ea. with .005" spacing. I ran it through a 30: 1 gear box= (930 rpm at alternator) and drove a 12V VW alternator with it. It would light up 8ea headlamps on 50lb.saturated steam I had available where I worked. Any more load would trip the alternator. I think those headlamps were 40A each. 320A is half of 750W approximately or 1/2 hp. I have no idea of efficiency because i didn't know how many pounds of steam per hour it consumed (weight of condensate was not measured). But I thought that was pretty awesome. I impressed myself. LOL John
According to Jeff Hayes lectures a Tesla turbine is not efficient until high speeds, contrary to your prior statement. But there is a sweet spot even at fast speeds due to a vortex. I saw where someone was using discs out of old hard drives and they are precision made and strong enough to spin fast without disintegrating unless you screw with them enough to get them out of balance.
thanks for the swift answer, i find myself watching again looking at your injector.. about it leaking it doesent matter.. I got a massive water bill recently so im making a water generator, i messed with turbines but stumbled across your vid and others one night...had no idea such a device even existed, also invented by a mad nutter so im even more chuffed...have botched a version together hope its gonna do what i want.. cheers m8 - peace
Great video thanks for sharing. As a relative newbie to all of this ... What sort of torque would this device have? I saw a vid with one of these driven by a boiler/steam . I think it has great potential for off grid /remote power if it had enough torque to turn stators etc
Thanks for sharing, great information! Gathering opinions from many and would like yours too if you don't mind.?. Would like to incorporate in front of new electric airplane design. Would have an air intake in the nose to direct and ram air into the Tesla Turbine. Would like to use for regenerative power back to battery bank and for providing electrical power to a/c systems while in flight. Sound like a practical application to you? Thanks again, TA.
Tesla Aircraft The Tesla Turbine as it is designed has a major design flaw in that the air intake and exit are at 90 degrees to each other. Contrast that with the jet engine or steam turbine. While the blading system in a Tesla Turbine may be the most efficient form of transferring power, the loss of power incurred by the airflow turning 90 degrees ruins the efficiency.
***** I understand. Looks like we may just stick with a conventional 3-bladed wind turbine generator in conjunction with the solar panels. Thank you for taking the time to reply, TA.
Would it be better if you put nozzle over all discs, not only over one? And, is there some formula or something that you know/calculate space between discs ? I have Tesla Turbine for my school project so I'm planing to make turbine with the most usability. tnx in advice :)
I don't really think people at home will be able to put a project like this together as a lot of the parts seem to be perfectly CNC'd out. Do you sell it in a kit?
Didn't Tesla's original turbine work differently? it used boundary layer drag from inside to outside, i could be wrong there, it is just the way i took it to work. nice vid!
I am interested in trying to produce 'solar' energy with this by using a water reservoir and mirrors to produce steam. Will the design you have shown here hold up to the 100C steam or will the CDs warp/erode due to the temp and pressure. Any advice is appreciated. Also what would the approx cost be to build the turbine you've shown here? I'm a mechanical engineering student and I am very interested in the alternative energy field.
So, the conclusion is, the more I am close to laminar flow , the better turbine is ,because there is almost no turbulence which will impeding airflow? I am making turbine out of hard discs. I have made some schemes in SolidWorks, but main problem is appropriate design of the casing for these disks and the nozzle. Do you maybe have some schematics or advice for that kinda turbine? thanks a lot on information :D
love your accent, but on a side note do you think that one on a larger scale would be enough to power say a boat like a tug or a fishing boat for deep sea fishing, and would it be possible to make one powerfull enough to be the heart of a tank
While Tesla turbines are very compact, at the moment, they are not efficient. They're much more efficient than a piston steam engine but less efficient than a petrol engine. There advantage is that they are easy to make & simple to maintain. I think that their best use today is maybe to power a generator from a wood fired boiler in a back woods situation where reliability & easy of maintenance trump efficiency.
***** That is because these aren't made to Tesla's Specs. If made how he designed them, he proved that they reach up to 95% efficiency, far more than the 15% from IC engines.
Brian Winzey Hi Brian, the blade section is 95% efficient but the exit at 90 degrees is a disaster. If the TT had been 95% efficient Parsons would never have taken over the world with the much more mechanically complex and much less compact steam turbine.
Would the tesla turbine work given a supply of water of a few ms-1. We have a university project to produce the most efficient waterwheel, thought this might be abit different. Would really appreciate any advice, cheers
Hello, Ca n I have the manual for this please? I want to make it one for watering system of my mushroom in Cambodia. I am looking forward to hearing from you. Thanks! Rith
I am working on my semester project for designing an end-user wind turbine for small scale application like 5kw and i was thinking of using tesla turbine instead of horizontal axis turbine. what if i use magnetic bearings and direct drive configurations? do you think it can be as efficient as other turbines? Your input will be much appreciated!
+Muhammad Talha Siddiqui Hi Muhammad, sadly no. The Tesla Turbine is not efficient in its present form. It was created at a time when the best engine was a steam engine and it is MUCH more efficient than a steam engine but shortly after it was created, Parsons invented the steam turbine which was much more efficient than even the Tesla Turbine.
+Muhammad Talha Siddiqui It depends on wind speed and what your budget is but I would recommend that you look at the Savonius turbine. You can make one easily from an oil drum. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savonius_wind_turbine
The discs aren't attached exactly. Each disk slides onto the shaft spaced out by a PTFE washer. At each side of the disk 'pack' is a collet which stops the disks moving around. www.tesla-turbines.com/images/parts.jpg
Read your post on the Yahoo Tesla Turbine group saying you want a cheap Tesla Turbine model. I've build several Tesla Turbines out of paper and cardboard (check my vid youtube), that get the idea across pretty well, but they would not be useful for obtaining data. Do you have any plans in using a Tesla Turbine to power a compressed air power car? That something I would like to try.
+Parasar Bhattacharya That is a very interesting question. You'd think a polished surface gives the best results when seeking laminar flow but I have seen actual experiments in the intakes of carburetted engines where if the intake port was roughened with sand paper, the engine performed better as it flowed more air. So, I am not sure what would happen...
***** i also dont know but it might have a more torque power, just my thoughts, thank you i will try it myself but should the disk be a little thinner then cd's?
Hi I have question can TESLA TURBINE use a HOT AIR (800c*) to power up 25 Kw/h AC generator (1500rpm or 750rpm)? And how big turbine need to be ? Can someone help me with it ?
OK. So I see a lot of people building these Tesla turbines and running them with water and air and I am left asking, So What? I have yet to see a video where one of these machines are actually used to power something or to move something. What is the big deal? Someone please explain. Cause all I see is a fast spinning useless machine.
This is quite possibly the best, most complete how-to I've ever seen on youtube. Thank you for making it! People like you make the internet a better place.
Nice bit of engineering. Makes the Tesla accessible to a lot of people. Well done.
This is great work. Thanks for doing this and putting this up on RUclips. I have built many of these Tesla Turbines over the last 29 years. They are fun and very educational. I know you have built your model of plastic, but if you ever get the chance to duplicate it in metal you will discover you can generate quite a lot of mechanical power running it on steam. I once built one with 6" disks 40 ea. with .005" spacing. I ran it through a 30: 1 gear box= (930 rpm at alternator) and drove a 12V VW alternator with it. It would light up 8ea headlamps on 50lb.saturated steam I had available where I worked. Any more load would trip the alternator. I think those headlamps were 40A each. 320A is half of 750W approximately or 1/2 hp. I have no idea of efficiency because i didn't know how many pounds of steam per hour it consumed (weight of condensate was not measured). But I thought that was pretty awesome. I impressed myself. LOL
John
Hi John, I am currently making a 10" 12 blade turbine. See my 'Turbine casting' video.
SOUNDS SO BEAUTIFUL!!!!
I agree with fisharmor. You did a great job of presenting your idea. Few words. Lots of video that explains. Good Luck.
Great video, sharing knowledge, is the only way to solve problems and advance our understanding.
According to Jeff Hayes lectures a Tesla turbine is not efficient until high speeds, contrary to your prior statement. But there is a sweet spot even at fast speeds due to a vortex. I saw where someone was using discs out of old hard drives and they are precision made and strong enough to spin fast without disintegrating unless you screw with them enough to get them out of balance.
fantastic build and workmanship, thanks for sharing!
всегда считал что в турбине лопасти - неотъемлемый атрибут. А тут вон оно как! Супер!
My first one was built of a steel sealed can inside an aluminum dry duct, sealed, with a turkey thermometer in the head; and worked as a space heater!
thanks for the swift answer, i find myself watching again looking at your injector.. about it leaking it doesent matter.. I got a massive water bill recently so im making a water generator, i messed with turbines but stumbled across your vid and others one night...had no idea such a device even existed, also invented by a mad nutter so im even more chuffed...have botched a version together hope its gonna do what i want.. cheers m8 - peace
very well done, I like how you used polycarbonate for the housing so you can see whats going on
u are one hell of a craftsman good work now please i would love to see how many rpm it can do befor it explodes that would be a kick ass clip
Great work.. We are planning to make water tesla turbine for our end semester project. Can you tell the specifications needed?
What supposed advantage could this have over a traditional turbine (fan-/pump-shaped one)?
cool vid man btw like that mill ..i used to work on a giddings about that size
Great video thanks for sharing. As a relative newbie to all of this ... What sort of torque would this device have? I saw a vid with one of these driven by a boiler/steam . I think it has great potential for off grid /remote power if it had enough torque to turn stators etc
Hello Sr., Do you think I could use water instead of air? The reason is to produce energy just like a pelton wheel
Thanks for sharing, great information! Gathering opinions from many and would like yours too if you don't mind.?. Would like to incorporate in front of new electric airplane design. Would have an air intake in the nose to direct and ram air into the Tesla Turbine. Would like to use for regenerative power back to battery bank and for providing electrical power to a/c systems while in flight. Sound like a practical application to you? Thanks again, TA.
Tesla Aircraft The Tesla Turbine as it is designed has a major design flaw in that the air intake and exit are at 90 degrees to each other. Contrast that with the jet engine or steam turbine. While the blading system in a Tesla Turbine may be the most efficient form of transferring power, the loss of power incurred by the airflow turning 90 degrees ruins the efficiency.
***** I understand. Looks like we may just stick with a conventional 3-bladed wind turbine generator in conjunction with the solar panels. Thank you for taking the time to reply, TA.
Hello,
Thank you very much!
Best regards,
Rith
sweet as -- would it work with water ?
Would it be better if you put nozzle over all discs, not only over one?
And, is there some formula or something that you know/calculate space between discs ?
I have Tesla Turbine for my school project so I'm planing to make turbine with the most usability.
tnx in advice :)
I don't really think people at home will be able to put a project like this together as a lot of the parts seem to be perfectly CNC'd out. Do you sell it in a kit?
Didn't Tesla's original turbine work differently? it used boundary layer drag from inside to outside, i could be wrong there, it is just the way i took it to work. nice vid!
how wide is the disk gap spacing and what did you use to space the disks
I am interested in trying to produce 'solar' energy with this by using a water reservoir and mirrors to produce steam. Will the design you have shown here hold up to the 100C steam or will the CDs warp/erode due to the temp and pressure. Any advice is appreciated. Also what would the approx cost be to build the turbine you've shown here? I'm a mechanical engineering student and I am very interested in the alternative energy field.
So, the conclusion is, the more I am close to laminar flow , the better turbine is ,because there is almost no turbulence which will impeding airflow?
I am making turbine out of hard discs. I have made some schemes in SolidWorks, but main problem is appropriate design of the casing for these disks and the nozzle.
Do you maybe have some schematics or advice for that kinda turbine?
thanks a lot on information :D
Great video! Shame your website and the PDF are down now! Building this for my son's school project ... :-)
I'll try & find the files & get it back up.
www.dropbox.com/s/d9c5i0swtlzw82h/Telsa.zip?dl=0
These are DXFs. You'll need a DXF viewer.
what is the purpose of the injector ?
or whatever (the white nylon tube) ?
love your accent, but on a side note do you think that one on a larger scale would be enough to power say a boat like a tug or a fishing boat for deep sea fishing, and would it be possible to make one powerfull enough to be the heart of a tank
While Tesla turbines are very compact, at the moment, they are not efficient. They're much more efficient than a piston steam engine but less efficient than a petrol engine. There advantage is that they are easy to make & simple to maintain. I think that their best use today is maybe to power a generator from a wood fired boiler in a back woods situation where reliability & easy of maintenance trump efficiency.
***** That is because these aren't made to Tesla's Specs. If made how he designed them, he proved that they reach up to 95% efficiency, far more than the 15% from IC engines.
Brian Winzey Hi Brian, the blade section is 95% efficient but the exit at 90 degrees is a disaster. If the TT had been 95% efficient Parsons would never have taken over the world with the much more mechanically complex and much less compact steam turbine.
good vid. is your shaft exactly the same dia as the CD hole?
Yes it is.
Mate thank you for the video!
Do you have the drawings/dimensions that you used to make this? Would make it easier than figuring it all out.
Now the discs are ready for burn!
Hello,
Thank you very much! I was able to see that instruction after I post this comment. How much does it cost (FOB price) ?. Thanks, Rith
Would the tesla turbine work given a supply of water of a few ms-1. We have a university project to produce the most efficient waterwheel, thought this might be abit different. Would really appreciate any advice, cheers
Definitely. I am currently redesigning this turbine to work with water.
Yes, it will definitely work and it will be more efficient than a water wheel.
do you sell these as kits? if yes, i would definitely buy one
I used to make these fully assembled for $100 but very few people were interested so I stopped making them.
Is it enough 50 W air compressor to reach 10.000 RPM?
Hello,
Ca n I have the manual for this please? I want to make it one for watering system of my mushroom in Cambodia. I am looking forward to hearing from you. Thanks!
Rith
What do you use to separate your disc sections?
Timothy Reszel Mylar washers I made from sheet material. The sheet thickness is matched to the boundary layer thickness of air in the turbine.
I am working on my semester project for designing an end-user wind turbine for small scale application like 5kw and i was thinking of using tesla turbine instead of horizontal axis turbine.
what if i use magnetic bearings and direct drive configurations? do you think it can be as efficient as other turbines?
Your input will be much appreciated!
+Muhammad Talha Siddiqui Hi Muhammad, sadly no. The Tesla Turbine is not efficient in its present form. It was created at a time when the best engine was a steam engine and it is MUCH more efficient than a steam engine but shortly after it was created, Parsons invented the steam turbine which was much more efficient than even the Tesla Turbine.
thank you for your response.
Just one more thing, in your opinion which is the most efficient way of capturing wind energy?
+Muhammad Talha Siddiqui It depends on wind speed and what your budget is but I would recommend that you look at the Savonius turbine. You can make one easily from an oil drum. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savonius_wind_turbine
Thank you for your advice.. it was much appreciated ! :)
+Muhammad Talha Siddiqui No problem. Best of luck with your project.
What did you use to attach the disks to the shaft?
The discs aren't attached exactly. Each disk slides onto the shaft spaced out by a PTFE washer. At each side of the disk 'pack' is a collet which stops the disks moving around. www.tesla-turbines.com/images/parts.jpg
See also this page: www.tesla-turbines.com/parts.htm
i'm confused, I have seen a custom fidget spinner that makes 100,000 RPMs, I thought tesla's turbine would be superior but I'm confused now.
the Cd's shatter at 27k rpm so i suggest using something alse
Tesla being the mad nutter that is...
Would you sell one of these? I would like to incorporate it into a larger system I am experimenting with.
Sure. PM me.
Read your post on the Yahoo Tesla Turbine group saying you want a cheap Tesla Turbine model. I've build several Tesla Turbines out of paper and cardboard (check my vid youtube), that get the idea across pretty well, but they would not be useful for obtaining data. Do you have any plans in using a Tesla Turbine to power a compressed air power car? That something I would like to try.
i am working on same project i want theory information on tesla turbine such as output, dimensions, mathematical calculations.
+Pratham Ghadi You should read this paper www.tesla-turbines.com/TeslaTurboMachinery.pdf
Thank u sir
How many RPM?
if you would have scratched the cd 's with a sand paper then what would have happened?
+Parasar Bhattacharya That is a very interesting question. You'd think a polished surface gives the best results when seeking laminar flow but I have seen actual experiments in the intakes of carburetted engines where if the intake port was roughened with sand paper, the engine performed better as it flowed more air. So, I am not sure what would happen...
*****
i also dont know but it might have a more torque power, just my thoughts, thank you i will try it myself but should the disk be a little thinner then cd's?
+Parasar Bhattacharya Disk thickness is not important. Only the spacing between disks matters.
*****
thank you
En verdad terlas era un jenio
You sound like kev baker from the kev baker show
thanks a lot
Ah, thanks. Still trying to get used to the new youtube layout.
Hi I have question can TESLA TURBINE use a HOT AIR (800c*) to power up 25 Kw/h AC generator (1500rpm or 750rpm)?
And how big turbine need to be ? Can someone help me with it ?
Is someone able to make a powerful Tesla Turbine and moving a small car with it
can it work on water
Yes, but the gap between the discs would need to be much smaller.
I have given her all she has got captain and she wont take anymore.
That's what I thought too.
ok, the pump works from the inside out while the turbine works outside in.
@evildrome Thanks for the info ^_^
OK. So I see a lot of people building these Tesla turbines and running them with water and air and I am left asking, So What? I have yet to see a video where one of these machines are actually used to power something or to move something. What is the big deal? Someone please explain. Cause all I see is a fast spinning useless machine.
cool accent -
Pschh... reading that doesnt give me a real explanation to what I'm asking.
thats a Scottish accent