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My caps seem to be a reliable explosive ;-)




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From:  Gregory R. Hunter [SMTP:ghunter-at-mail.enterprise-dot-net]
Sent:  Wednesday, February 25, 1998 12:58 PM
To:  Tesla List
Subject:  Re: My caps seem to be a reliable explosive ;-)

Scott,

How did your bottle caps fail?  I'm using bottle caps with a 15kv NST 
and they work fine.  Just curious.

Greg


> From:  Scott Cutler [SMTP:spcutler-at-ucdavis.edu]
> Sent:  Monday, February 23, 1998 9:31 PM
> To:  tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
> Subject:  My caps seem to be a reliable explosive ;-)
> 
> Ok, well I haven't finished my caps yet, so I don't know for SURE that
> they'll work, but the calculations seem sound and there's no reason that
> they shouldn't work.  My original estimate was somewhat wrong; you
> actually need about 10 boxes of bags.  
> Here's the parts list:  
> 145 gallon size freezer bags (they must be freezer bags; the other types
> are too thin.  Make sure that they're at least 2.5 mil thick, pref. 3
> mil)
> 
> aluminum foil
> 
> tupperware container (I haven't figured out the ideal size for this yet,
> but I think one that's close to half the size of a bag and a few inches
> high should do the trick)
> 
> misc wire, bolts, nuts, washers etc.
> 
> First, if the bags have a white writable surface on them, remove this with
> nail polish remover.  I don't know if this is absolutely necessary, but
> why risk it?  Actually, it may be worth the risk; this part will take
> several hours.  Then soak the bags in water to remove any acetone residue. 
> Dry them thoroughly.  Then, cut off the ziplock tops to form approximately
> a 27 x 27 cm square.  Then, cut this in half to form two 13.5 x 27 cm
> rectangles.  Now, divide your bags into 5 piles of 58 half-bags.  For
> each pile, cut 20 pieces of aluminum foil, about 12 x 25 cm but with a 4
> cm (or so) wide tab coming from the middle of the long side.  Now, find 20
> "non-loop" (that is, with a solid bottom)  half-bags and center the
> aluminum foil rectangles in them.  Now, stack the bags like this:  
> tab to left 
> empty bag 
> empty bag 
> tab to right 
> empty bag 
> empty bag 
> tab to left 
> ...and so on 
> And of course, do this for each of the 5 piles.  Now, use small
> bolts and some washers to connect the foil tabs on each side, connect the
> five bags in series, alternating (you may want to stick a few extra bags
> between the individual piles), connect the ends with heavy wire, and stick
> the whole mess in the tupperware container.  Fill the thing with oil
> (mineral is best, although motor will probably do), attach the lid (with
> holes for the wires to come through), and let the thing sit at an angle
> for a few days so the bubbles rise out.  You may want to put this in a pan
> to catch any oil leaks.  
> This is the first capacitor I've planned other than the failed bottle
> caps.  It should provide ABOUT 5.4 nF of capacitance at 15 kv.  This is
> good for a 15 kv, 30 mA NST.  It's pretty much my own design, but I got
> the idea of using plastic bags from a posting on Bill Beatty's website.
> Comments from experienced coilers would be most welcome, as I am as much a
> beginner as the original poster. 
> Thanks! 
> 
> Scott Cutler
> 
> 
> 
>