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Re: Capacitor and coil form questions (fwd)





---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, 13 Jan 1998 20:23:00 -0800 (PST)
From: "Edward V. Phillips" <ed-at-alumni.caltech.edu>
To: tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
Subject: Re:  Capacitor and coil form questions (fwd)

>>>>"
        Take an 8"x8"x12" glass fish tank, cut metals plates so that they are
suspended on the ledges at the top of the tank, and have a connecting
bolt running down each side connecting alternate plates. Fill the tank
with transformer oil. I have calculated that 85 plates, 2.5mm appart
should give he the desired capacitance.
        I think that this design has several advantages, the di-electric is
self healing, and it is easy to adjust capacitance and voltage. For me
these outway the difficulty of moving and setting up the capacitor"
<<<<

	That's mighty close spacing!!!  You would need very flat
plates, rigidly supported.  In my opinion that would be nearly
impossible to achieve in practice.
	As for the self healing - not so simple.  I have a couple of
variable capacitors immersed in oil here.  When breakdown occurs the
oil is carbonized, and think a complete emptying of oil, flushing and
washing plates in solvent, and refilling would be needed.  
	There was an article in QST sometime around 1921 describing
a 375 meter (800 kHz) spark transmitter using jus such a capacitor.
The builder/designer seemed to think it worked fine.  (Those guyhs
guys knew their stuff back then!)
Ed