Tesla coil short between primary and secondary

[TeslaGeek]

Alright, so i recently just had a pretty bad short with my tesla coil. The primary winding started arcing to the secondary randomly. I have no idea why it happened, and now it seems it's not as powerful. I would like to know why this happened, how i can prevent it, and if i should repair it somehow. I have only had it for 5 days, And the PCB has no signs of burns. It's one of those mini tesla coils, aswell.

 

[Harald Kapp]

Welcome to EP.
Your photos are pretty unclear. Can you post better pictures?

 

[Ian]

Is this one of the mini Tesla coils like you see on Aliexpress and the like? Do they lacquer the secondary or give it any sort of protection?

The improved photos will help .

 

[TeslaGeek]

Is this one of the mini Tesla coils like you see on Aliexpress and the like? Do they lacquer the secondary or give it any sort of protection?

The improved photos will help .

Yes. It was a kit that i assembled. There is insulation, but it shorted like it didn't exist. Now, the copper wire where the arc occured is exposed.

 

[TeslaGeek]

As for the secondary, They do give it protection.

 

[Ian]

Thanks for the additional info. We'd need to see the improved pictures that Harald asked for to be able to offer advice, otherwise we won't be able to spot a problem (particularly a closeup of the patch you mention).

 

[Harald Kapp]

First thing to do is replace the primary by a new wire with good insulation. You may also add some shrink tube over the primary wire to improve the insulation.

As for the secondary there is probably no hope for a simple repair. You can cover the blank spot with e.g. a drop of hot glue. This will not repair the defect but may help preventing further arcing. You possibly lose a few windings of the secondary due to a short circuit at this spot, This will reduce the high voltage a bit but other wise the coild should work.
Your other option is rewinding the secondary coil from scratch using fresh magnet wire.