RE: [TCML] Best bottle cap electrolytes, was re:HV capacitors wanted

["Lau, Gary" <Gary.Lau@xxxxxx>]

While studies have been made comparing the conductivities of various electrolytes, it may be worthwhile to compare actual spark performance of electrolytes.  Someone recently mentioned to me off-list that his experience was that plain water appeared to work as well as brine.  I have no further information about this; I can't comment on the purity of the plain water or the accuracy and test conditions of the comparison.

Who knows, it may just be a hasty observation, or it may be that electrolyte losses at RF frequencies don't correlate to DC measurements.  Or that all such losses pale in comparison to gap losses.  It _would_ be nice to use just pure, non-corrosive water.

Regards, Gary Lau
MA, USA

> -----Original Message-----
> From: tesla-bounces@xxxxxxxxxx [mailto:tesla-bounces@xxxxxxxxxx] On
> Behalf Of FIFTYGUY@xxxxxxx
> Sent: Thursday, December 04, 2008 4:32 AM
> To: tesla@xxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [TCML] Best bottle cap electrolytes, was re:HV capacitors wanted
>
>
>
> In a message dated 12/2/08 9:43:03 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,
> pslawinski@xxxxxxxxx writes:
>
> >If you're stuck with glass bottle capacitors, you should try baking  soda and
> >water instead of salt and water.  Supposedly baking soda  is more
>
> >conductive.
>
>
>     I found that hard to believe (I work for a company  that manufactures
> electrolytic cells for on-site generation of chlorine gas from  table salt). A
> saturated NaCl solution has a conductivity of around 0.25  S/cm.
>     I've also used the electrolytic process for rust  removal, and it's
> generally agreed that sodium bicarbonate is one for the  slowest-working
> electrolytes for that application. Sodium Carbonate (baking  powder) works more
> quickly.
>     Here's a science fair project where various salts  were evaluated for
> conductivity specifically for Tesla coil bottle capacitor  applications:
>
> :http://www.usc.edu/CSSF/History/2005/Projects/J0535.pdf
>
>     BTW, Sodium Hydroxide would have 50% better  conductivity than NaCl, but
> it has a decreasing conductivity once you get over  20 percent concentration.
>     The conductivity of various salt solutions can be  highly dependent on
> temperature, are typically non-linear, and as in the case of  NaOH, can have a
> local maximum with regards to concentration.
>     Hydrochloric Acid (HCl) at the 37% azeotrope would  have three times the
> conductivity of saturated NaCl.
>
>     It would be interesting to see if the conductivity  of the electrolyte in
> the bottle caps made any noticeable difference. After all,  they represent a
> pretty big surface area, and the spark gap has a  dynamic impedance in the
> neighborhood of a few Ohms. Using more  bottles that were smaller could  have
> just as large an effect as using a  different electrolyte, and the would also
> theoretically improve the AC impedance  of the cap bank as well. Probably also
> help mitigate heating of the glass in the  caps as well.
>
> -Phil LaBudde

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