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Commercial Cap Rebuttal

 * Original msg to: usa-tesla-at-usa-dot-net
 * Carbons sent to: 102505.61-at-compuserve-dot-com

Quoting Scott Myers <102505.61-at-COMPUSERVE.COM>:
and Mark Barton:

 MB> Those capacitors yall are planning to buy seem a little shy  
 MB> on voltage to me.  35-40KV rms seems a little more like it,  
 MB> especially if you want to grow into them.  Check out Maxwell 
 MB> Labs in San Diego for polypropylene caps marketed as "Double 
 MB> Ended Plastic Capacitors".  They have a good in-stock        
 MB> selection and are OK priced.  They also work great
 MB> and do not get hot!

 SM> I'll try to put this nicely.  BULL!!!  I'm not saying what   
 SM> you found won't work.

I am afraid you missed the boat on this one Mark. I have been
dealing with Condenser Products for a number of years, have
referred more than a few of coilers to them, and have had (and
heard) ZERO complaints. These are exceptional capacitors with a
continuous HVAC RMS input, pulse discharge, rating. In other
words this capacitor was designed, built, and warrantied for
Tesla tank circuit application. A few years back I too was
skeptical of Condenser Products claims that the plate rating on
these caps was all you need for a Tesla coil, especially for high
powered extended run times. 

Now I know for a fact that If anything, Condenser Products bends
over backwards to blow their caps on the test bench rather than
ship a cap that MAY fail in Tesla tank circuit service. They have
shown every sign of wanting to increase their market share of
sales to Tesla coil builders and have been very patient listening
to (and examining) the circuit requirements. For simplicity they
have rated their caps right to the rms input voltage of the power
supply, all safety margins are built in.

This is very unusual for a capacitor manufacturer, but their
engineers have assured me that their caps require no voltage
safety margin in Tesla tank circuit applications. To back this up
I have never heard of one of their capacitors failing in the
circuit. I know three people who punish these caps with HVAC RMS
input voltages matched right to the plate rating, pulse
discharging with an excess of 1000 bps; as is normal in Tesla
coil operations somtimes things are slightly out of tune, there
are flashovers, kickbacks, strikes to the tank circuit; these
caps are still in service.

On the other hand I know a guy who ordered a capacitor from
Condenser Products and took my word that no safety margin over
the plate rating was required. Condenser Products delayed
shipping three times and the guy's money was out for months.
Reason? Condenser Products informed the customer that the
capacitor had failed their bench tests. This means that they blew
the cap. They assumed it was a material defect that had slipped
by their quality control and built the guy a second cap. It too
failed. The engineers then stepped in and redesigned the unit to
increase the safety margins before constructing a third cap that
passed their torture test. The moral of the story is they will
flatly refuse to ship a capacitor that will not hold up to the
name plate rating they put on.

Between the meticulous attention to manufacturing detail,
testing, guarantees on customer satisfaction, and their
willingness to offer the best product at the best price; 
they have my vote for the best supplier to exactly meet our
needs. Scott Myers has done an excellent job in researching,
bargining, and organizing a quantity discount. I put my money
where my mouth is, my check for $198.80 went out this morning
to join the 16 or so other checks (not including the inter-
national wire transfers) in Scott's bank account.

Richard Quick




... If all else fails... Throw another megavolt across it!
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12