Re: Rotary spark gaps

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

Original poster: "Robin Copini by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <rcopini-at-merlin-dot-net.au>

Greg,

 Don't do it, I had a HDPE disk that ran fine up to about 5kva, then melted
at the electrode insertion points after that.

Regards

 Robin

Tesla list wrote:

> Original poster: "Mr Gregory Peters by way of Terry Fritz
<twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <s371034-at-student.uq.edu.au>
>
> Hi all,
>
> I was wondering how how the rotating electrodes on a ~10kVA RSG get?
> The reason I ask is I want to use 1/2" LDPE as a rotor. I can get this
> easy and cheaply from a cutting board. It seems strong enough as I have
> mounted two bolts in one and tried pulling them apart with vice grips -
> I can't. What I am worried about is the rather low (somewhere around
> 130 Oc) melting point. If the electrodes get hot and melt the plastic
> I've got problems. Has anyone ever used it before?
>
> Cheers,
>
> Greg Peters
> Department of Earth Sciences,
> University of Queensland, Australia
> Phone: 0402 841 677
> http://www.geocities-dot-com/gregjpeters