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Re. -minus 3.95 days and the caps are done!!!

>Original Poster: "Kent & Kim Schaffer" <santoken-at-bright-dot-net> 
>
>Well, our caps are finally finished!  I've worked on them a total of nearly
>6 hours today.  Now, does anyone have any good advice on setting them up?
>  
>I have a total of 13 SW caps I need 4 parallel strings of 4 in a series.
>They all fit nicely in an old milk crate I found in the basement...should
>make a nice blast barrier :-)
>  
>I'm not quite sure how on these caps I need to have them arranged, does
>this look right
>  
>  
>C-C-C--C
>|   |   |   |
>C C C  C
>|   |   |   |
>C C C  C
>|   |   |   |
>C C C  C
>  
>Should the foil wrap on all caps go to ground?
>  
>You know I really hate to keep bothering you guys, but all of you are a
>Godsend!
>  
>Almost There,
>  
>Kent

Hi Kent:

A couple of things don't add up.

First, if you have 13 bottles abd you're going to make four parallel
strings of  four bottles, then you're 3 bottles short of the 16 you'll need.

Next, in your previous post, you said that you calculated each bottle's
capacitance as .0014uF.  While this sounds suspiciously high for a 16 oz
bottle, let's assume its correct.    The fact that you're wiring four in
series reduces the capacitance by a factor of four, while the fact that
you have four in series increases the capacitance by a factor of four.
So you'll end up with .0014uF, but at a voltage rating four times that of
a single bottle.  A .0014uF cap will work somewhat, but not as well as
the target .006uF cap.

I didn't understand your wiring diagram, maybe you can understand mine?
Key:  8888-- 0r --8888 is one bottle, with the -- being the bolt.
      X means a connection to the indicated bolt or foil cover.
      * means an optional connection.  It's easier to connect the center
        foils together than not, but not necessary.

        8888--X--8888X8888--X--8888
        X     *     ***     *     X
        8888--X--8888X8888--X--8888
      --X     *     ***     *     X--
        8888--X--8888X8888--X--8888
        X     *     ***     *     X
        8888--X--8888X8888--X--8888

Note that not all foils are connected to all other foils.  It's vital
that the leftmost and rightmost four foils not connect to or be near the
middle 8 foils.

Are you sure you need four in series to achieve a safe voltage rating?
No experience here, but if not, you could wire your 16 bottles like this
and get .0056 uF:


        8888--X--8888
        X     *     X
        8888--X--8888
        X     *     X
        8888--X--8888
        X     *     X
        8888--X--8888
     ---X     *     X---
        8888--X--8888   
        *     *     X   
        8888--X--8888   
        *     *     X
        8888--X--8888   
        *     *     X
        8888--X--8888   

Also, NO part of the capacitor, primary, spark gap, or transformer
(except the case) connects to ground.  ALL parts of the capacitor,
primary, spark gap, and transformer (except the case) have lethal
voltages on them.

Regards, Gary Lau
Waltham, MA USA