Non-copper components, was Re: Forwarded mail.... (fwd)

["Tesla list" <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Please put a subject in postings for future generations of archive
searchers.  
Thanks in advance.

Chip

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Fri, 15 Jun 2007 17:59:28 -0700
From: Ed Phillips <evp@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: Tesla list <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: Forwarded mail....

Tesla list wrote:

>---------- Forwarded message ----------
>Date: Fri, 15 Jun 2007 15:46:55 +0100
>From: Tom Trevethan <t.trevethan@xxxxxxxxx>
>To: Tesla list <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>
>
>Hi all,
>
>I've been 'lurking' on the list for a while now - soaking up lots of useful
>information. Now I have a question to ask: how critical to performance are the
>materials that make the tank circuit? I've read that steel is best avoided (due
>to it being ferromagnetic) - but it is dificult and expensive to construct the
>circuit entirely out of copper and tungsten. In my coil I use thick copper
>cable (8 awg) with copper pipe lugs and I've tried to use brass bolts where
>possible (but I use steel nuts and bolts in some places). My primary tap is
>made of steel and I also recently found out that the 'brass' bolts I am using
>for stationary electrodes in my rotaty gap are actually brass plated steel. Am
>I likely to see significant improvements in performance if I go to the effort
>of replacing these parts? After all, it seems overkill when the wires leaving
>the capacitors of my (and everybody elses) MMC are made of (thin) steel.
>
>Thanks in adavance for any advice.
>
>Tom
>
    Although others will differ I think the main criterion is how warm 
the various components (including your primary taps) get in operation  
If they're not very hot that means they're not dissipating much power 
and changing them probably won't make much of a difference.  As for the 
leads from the capacitors I don't think they are steel (tried a magnet 
on them?) but again others can comment.

Ed