Re: FYI for the list--Post Mortem

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

Original poster: "by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-uswest-dot-net>" <Parpp807-at-aol-dot-com>

Hi to all who responded to my FYI.

The Fair Radio cap has been on my shelf for almost two years.  It poured its 
guts out the first time I used it. 

Probably most important is that the oil is not a PCB. It is very viscous, it 
floats on water like a glob of cold bacon grease, and it burns with a hot 
flame. I had some paper toweling
that was saturated with the oil. One sheet of the toweling burned (outdoors) 
for a long time with a
hot, yellow and very sooty flame characteristic of a heavy paraffin. My best 
guess is that the oil is a mineral spirit of some sort. If there was any 
characteristic color or odor it was masked by the roasted oil.

The cap is made of 18 series connected sections of foil / mylar, rolled into 
flattened coils
measuring 4.5 x 1.5 x 0.5 inches. The foil is 3.5 inches wide so there is a 
1/2 inch margin of mylar. I unrolled one section to a length of 9 feet. Maybe 
someone wants to do the 
numbers to see if they can make an 0.01 uF cap.  :-))

The 18 sections are banded together into a package and sandwiched between 
pieces of 1/8 inch thick phenol board. This package is slid into a piece of 
plastic channel stock
and sealed at the ends with end caps. One end has a filler screw with an 
O-ring for pouring the oil. I salvaged the pieces of phenol board. Not worth 
$100.  :-(( 

Happy day,
Ralph Zekelman