Re: Capacitors

["Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>]

Original poster: "Tim by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-uswest-dot-net>" <warpath-at-wtp-dot-net>

Hi Bill, I was considering the continued effort to build the plate stack
cap just for "fun". Your
info helps in this plus I like the discharge idea. Thanks. Tim

Tesla list wrote:

> Original poster: "Bill Parn by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-uswest-dot-net>"
<parn-at-starpower-dot-net>
>
> Hi Tim,
>
> As you have heard and I will testify to as well the MMC is much more compact
> and much easier to work with.  Also safer with the inexpensive bleed
> resistors in place.
> Allows for adjusting the capacitance by manipulating strings in series and
> parallel.
> Lots of fun to experiment with.
>
> However with that said I still have fun building homemade HV caps.  I have
> used alum
> flashing as you are thinking about, however alum foil is much easier to work
> with
> and gets the same job done.  I now use the heavy duty thicker alum foil.
> Less prone
> to tearing when hooking everything up.  You will need to sand the burrs down
> on the
> alum flashing, or at a minimum hammer then out.  To do the job right does
> take time
> a lot more than building the MMC.
>
> Just for fun I have rolled little 10nf +- with only 6 mil and no oil.  Takes
> less than
> 10 minutes.  I have run these for up to a few minutes at a time on 9kv-at-30ma
> before
> they gave up.  :)
>
> I used 60 mil on my flat plate oil cap.  10 layers of 6 mil.  90 mil seems
> to be a
> better number to go with since you are charging with 15KV.  I use my 60 mil
> one
> for 12KV DC charging with out problems, however I have to admit I prefer the
> MMCs with the bleed resistors.  Still bugs me a little to discharge the flat
> plate
> cap after a run, and the possibility of forgetting to do so when tuning.  I
> discharge
> mine through a cup of water to lessen the loud pop.  You will hear the H20
> atoms
> seperating before you even completely touch the wires together. :)
>
> William
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Tesla list <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
> To: <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
> Sent: Thursday, December 21, 2000 9:57 PM
> Subject: Capacitors
>
> > Original poster: "Tim by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-uswest-dot-net>"
> <warpath-at-wtp-dot-net>
> >
> > Hi to All, My name is Tim Walrath. I am endeavoring to build my first
> > Tesla Coil. I have purchased a 15000 volt neon sign transformer that
> > puts out 450VA at 30MA. I am wanting to build my own capacitors. I am
> > planning on using LDPE sheets at 6mil thickness and aluminun roof
> > flashing for the conductor plates. I am purchasing some polypropylene to
> > make the cases and plexiglass to make the tops. I am having trouble
> > figuring out how to figure the capacitance needed for the caps- that is
> > how much LDPE to use between each conductor plate. Math never was my
> > best subject but I do want to be able to figure this out. Any help would
> > be appreciated. Thanks, Tim
> >
> >
> >