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Re. Caps



>Original Poster: vitesse-at-primenet-dot-com
>
>Hello,
>
>Will a ceramic capactor work in a Tesla coil if it has the proper voltage
>rating?
>
>Thanks
>Kevin

Dielectric losses are higher in ceramic caps than in PE or PP
dielectrics.  Higher losses mean they get warm fast.  And ceramic caps
have a very strong negative temperature coefficient, meaning the
capacitance drops rapidly as they get warm.  So while your primary may
initially be in tune, it will rapidly fall out of tune.  Still probably
OK for very brief runs though.

Gary Lau
Walthem, MA USA