"Capacitor" Question

• To: tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
• Subject: "Capacitor" Question
• From: "J. B. Weazle McCreath" <weazle-at-hurontel.on.ca> (by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-uswest-dot-net>)
• Date: Wed, 05 Jan 2000 17:40:59 -0700
• Approved: twftesla-at-uswest-dot-net
• Delivered-To: fixup-tesla-at-pupman-dot-com-at-fixme

Hello Coilers:

An electrical engineer friend gave me a length of underground primary
service wire that I'm wondering about using as a capacitor for Tesla
coil service.  The wire resembles large coaxial cable, with an inner
conductor about 1/2" in diameter surrounded by an insulating material
with an outside diameter of about an inch.  This in turn is covered
by a "braid" of a large number of about no. 14 or 16 guage wire which
in turn is covered by an outer jacket of insulation.

My friend tells me that the wire is rated at 16 KV and will have been
impulse tested (BIL) to at least twice that voltage.  The 15 feet of
it that I have measures 1.2 uF. (that's 1.2 micro-farad) with a Fluke
multimeter.  I'm wondering if a suitably prepared section of this 
wire could be used as the tank capacitor?  If the outer "braid" was
cut back from the inner conductor and its insulation to lengthen the
exposed breakdown area and the whole thing rolled up and immersed in
an oil bath, wouldn't it make a dandy rugged cap?


73, Weazle, VE3EAR/VE3WZL

Listening: 147.030+ and 442.075+
E-mail:    weazle-at-hurontel.on.ca
           or ve3ear-at-rac.ca
Web site:  www.hurontel.on.ca/~weazle

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