Re: Saltwater Caps

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

Original poster: "by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-uswest-dot-net>" <Mddeming-at-aol-dot-com>

In a message dated 4/2/01 4:16:15 PM Eastern Daylight Time, tesla-at-pupman-dot-com 
writes: 


>
> Hi Adam, All! 
>
> >My question is this: 
> >Has anyone ever determined whether clear glass caps 
> >are better than brown glass caps? My limited knowledge 
> >of glass thinks that clear glass has less impurities 
> >than colored glass. Thoughts? 
>



Hi All! 
According to the folks at Blenko Glassworks here in WVa., Green and Brown 
Glass are the result of different Iron Oxides in the mix, Lavender Glass is 
the result of Gold salts, and Copper produces either red or blue depending on 
the specific salt or oxide. A deep gold color was produced by uranium salts, 
but in American glass, this has been outlawed several decades for health 
reasons. The only totally clear additive is lead oxide (as in Waterford 
crystal and unlikely in beer bottles). Window and bottle glass are made 
either by purifying the input ingredients, or the high-temp "bleaching" 
described in another posting. Whether your clear glass is higher or lower in 
impurities depends on the specific process. All the Glassworks people I've 
spoken to agree that the most electrically destructive impurity in bottle 
glass is the tiny, entrained air bubbles, not the coloration. These can be 
microscopic in size, but still cause localized hotspots that lead to failure. 
Their solution: "Buy high-quality Gla$$ from u$$$."  ;-) 
Hope this helps, 

Matt D.