Homemade Caps

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

Original poster: "Marry Krutsch by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <u236-at-earthlink-dot-net>

Hi All.

	Sorry to dredge this up again, but I'm still unsure about
construction/materials for my new cap.  I've been thinking about making
a paper/oil and Al flashing, or oil and flashing cap.  Which is least
lossy, and least likely to fail?  I plan on running it at 21 kV or more
(although in reality, it probably won't see more than 18kV), so how
thick should the dielectric be?  I'm going to use a 50 cal. ammo can for
an enclosure.  Each should yield 15-25 nF (depending on design).  I need
a total of 100 nF (two different PSU's for my coil), so this will take a
while :-(.  At least I can get materials at low cost.

	Also, how can I "torture test" on of these without running a coil with
it?  I think simply hooking it up to a xfmr with a sparkgap would work,
yet would be very hard on the power supply.  Any suggestions?

	Any input is greatly appreciated.

Winston