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newbie questions
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sat, 18 Oct 1997 13:26:23 GMT
From: Mike Harrison <wwl-at-netcomuk.co.uk>
To: tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
Subject: newbie questions
I'm planning to build a TC, (4" secondary, 2ft long as per R.Quicks
guide), and have read lots of the info sources on the Net, but have a
few remaining questions...
Several cap-building guides refer to 'mineral oil' - what exactly is
this (i.e. what' it used for by those strange people who don' use it
for building TC caps)? - motor oil, cutting lubricant, cooking oil?
Maybe it's normally called something different here in the UK!
Is there any type of oil to avoid (I guess cooking oil might absorb
moisture).
Has anyone tried using grease or something similarly thick to avoid
the mess of oil running all over the place - you could spread it on
the poly, place the foil, and press out the air & excess grease with a
roller.
Until I can find a neon transformer, I'll use a car ignition coil in
series with a light dimmer and 4uF motor-run cap on 240V - this
produces 25-30mm sparks - what sort of tesla spark length can I expect
with this arrangement.
There doesn't seem to be a lot of information on specs for the RF
chokes - what typical inductance is required, and is the core material
critical? You can often find cheap surplus toroid cores, but their
composition may be unknown. If it is critical, is it possible to
determine the type easily, perhaps by measuring inductance per turn?
For an ignition coil driven TC, I suspect that the chokes may be more
critical, as the spark is generated by rapid transitions in the coil
(from the light dimmer triac) rather than line-frequency sinewaves,
and therefore the wrong choke (too high inductance) might attenuate
the spark impulse - any thoughts/experience?
Does anyone know the UK BSI numbering for plastic pipe - I have some
BS4660 (light brown) and some BS4514 (grey, almost certainly PVC),
both 4" - anyone know the difference ? The brown stuff would probably
look nicer!
Are there any active coilers in the UK in the London or surrounding
counties ? I'd love to see a good coil in action!
Thanks in advance,
Mike.