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Re: Cap Size

Tesla List wrote:
> 
> >From ulflyer-at-juno-dot-comSat Jul 27 20:31:27 1996
> Date: Sat, 27 Jul 1996 14:15:53 PST
> From: Stephen G Stanton <ulflyer-at-juno-dot-com>
> To: tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
> Subject: Cap Size
> 
> Hi all:
> 
> I've got my coil back in action with four banked 15kv neons at 30 ma
> apiece.  I'm using my old plate-glass-and-foil 90 lb cap which, when I
> first designed it, was 0.02 + or -.  The gap puts out a mighty roar
> indeed, and judging from the temperature of the line cord (from a
> microwave oven), it's drawing in the neighborhood of 18 to 20 amps.
> 
> I believe I have the coil in resonance.  I don't really have a toroid;
> rather, it's two 10" salad bowls tackwelded together at the bead.  I get
> a wonderful writhing display of corona off the bowls, especially at the
> bead, and can draw out about a 14" arc at will.  Despite my best
> efforts, I can't get more, and yet, from what I am reading, with the 120
> ma or so going in, I should be getting much longer discharges.
> 
> I was in the process of building my own a-la the 5 gallon bucket of oil
> and hundreds of baggies and foil, but I opted instead to go for the
> ready made variety -- seemed more cost-effective to me.  I took the
> plunge with the group purchase, but when it fell apart, I had second
> thoughts.  Now I'm wondering if I should go for the commercial cap to
> see if it will improve the discharge.  Am I on the right track, or is
> this a matter of not having the right toroid, or perhaps cleaning up the
> corona leakage?  Or, is it the gap?  I'm only using a simple series gap
> with 1/4-20 brass bolts, which seems to work nicely, but nowhere near as
> complex as the series gaps I've seen posted by Richard Quick.  As I open
> the gap, the discharge increases, but then I get ominous green flashes
> from the cap.  By past experience, this presages a punchthrough of the
> plate glass and then -- dismantle and cut and paste to fit around the
> shattered parts!
> 
> Any advice at this point would be much appreciated.   I very much enjoy
> the postings on this net, and of course am enthralled by watching my
> coil do its thing in darkness!
> 
> Thanks again.
> 
> Stephen


Stephen,

Improve your gaps to a fan blown multiple gap.  Use a plastic based 
capacitor (professional or homemade) and a larger terminal capacitance.  
Each will add, in turn to the performance of the system.  There is no one 
secret component!  Each must be shepherded to make the system a 
synergisitic whole inorder to achieve the best performance.

Richard Hull, TCBOR