Re: breaking in caps (fwd)

To: tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
Subject: Re: breaking in caps (fwd)
From: Tesla List <mod1-at-pupman-dot-com>
Date: Wed, 22 Apr 1998 23:09:17 -0600 (MDT)
Approved: mod1-at-pupman-dot-com



---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, 21 Apr 1998 15:34:09 EDT
From: Esondrmn <Esondrmn-at-aol-dot-com>
To: tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
Subject: Re: breaking in caps

In a message dated 98-04-21 02:48:41 EDT, you write:

<< Subject:  breaking in caps
 
 hi all
       I am almost ready to start thinking about putting all my bits together.
 The primary is finished ,so is the spark gap. The caps should be ready in a
few
 days, havent wound the secondary yet . I was going to do that while waiting
for
 the caps to settle in. My question is about breaking in the caps.  Is it ok
to
 run the system without the secondary? . what I was planning to do was run the
 system up slowly to help break in the caps. I know shorted turns are  a
definate
 no no but what about  no load conditions? Also what about  RFI from this set
up.
 Do I need to do it away from any electronics/ computers. Also I have found a
 cake tin which would make a great toroid. The only problem is it's only 9"
 diameter by 4" deep. would this do as a first top load to tune my coil?  coil
 details secondary  4" x 24" 800 turns 22AWG :  9Kv 50mA neon : 0.0177 uF cap
 :10 turns 3/8" primary : RQ spark gap. I havent come across this question in
the
 archives so hope it 's not to obvious. Many thanks
 
 bob golding  lightning without rain
 
 bob yubba-at-clara-dot-net
  >>
Bob,

Sounds like a nice project.  I would not run the primary without the secondary
in place more than a few seconds.  I would complete the whole system then run
it at low power for a while for tuning and to break the caps in.  Then,
gradually increase the voltage until you get the variac wide open.  Many run
times at less than full power will help the caps shed the trapped air.

Ed Sonderman