Re: Coax Cable for High Voltage?

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

Original poster: "Jim Lux by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-uswest-dot-net>" <jimlux-at-earthlink-dot-net>

I use coax all the time for HV.  Watch the breakdown voltage.. If it is RG-8
or RG-213 (0.4 inch OD) then you're good up to 25-30 kV.  I ground the
shields, but there are differences of opinion on this, as some feel the
increased C from the shield can cause higher voltage spikes leading to cap
or transformer death.
RG-58 with solid dielectric is probably ok up to 5-8 kV..

If it is foam insulated (as for Cable TV, RG-59 type or the low loss RG-6),
it is not all that great for HV. Most of the insulation is air, which has a
lower Vbreakdown than polyethylene or teflon. The bubbles actually aggravate
the breakdown problem by providing field nonuniformities.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
To: <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
Sent: Tuesday, February 27, 2001 6:19 AM
Subject: Coax Cable for High Voltage?


> Original poster: "by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-uswest-dot-net>"
<Irrelative-at-aol-dot-com>
>
> Ok -- I wound my secondary the other day, so I'm getting closer to firing
> this thing up.  I was curious if its ok to use coaxial cable to hook
> everything up (I have a huge spool of this stuff thats just sitting in my
> basement).  Will it cary the power efficiently enough?  Am I just being
> cheap?  Anyway, just want to run it by you guys.  On a side note, I'm
having
> more trouble than I should soldering my secondary wire to my grounding
plate
> at the base of my PVC.  Any suggestions?  Thanks guys -- this list is such
a
> great resource.
>                                                         Justin
>
>
>
>