Re: DC vs. AC; caps

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

Original poster: "Jeremy Scott by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <supertux1-at-yahoo-dot-com>

There's a whole world of difference with AC and
DC... It's more difficult to step up DC to the
required voltages in order to charge a HV capacitor.

DC into a transformer just doesn't work well :)
(transformers only work when their magnetic
fields collapse, DC never collapses unless
you remove the power source)

If you can get 15KV or so of DC without much
hassle, then there isn't much of a difference
beyond that. The tank cap charges, then discharges
while resonating at the coil's natural frequency.

It's just much easier with AC....AC's rising,
falling and reversing sinewave patterns make the
use of HV step up transformers possible.

But with AC there is a catch. AC is much harder
on components, especially capacitors. Think about
overinflating a rubber ball. It may stay intact
if you roll it in one direction, but if you kick
it back and forth it may explode.

I think home made salt water caps are the easiest,
but glass likes to shatter under high voltage
high current AC.

--- Tesla list <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com> wrote:
 > Original poster: "The Cronje Family by way of Terry
 > Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>"
 > <cronkies-at-netactive.co.za>
 >
 > To All Who Read This List And Respond To Poor
 > Mortals Like Myself,
 >
 > What is the difference between making a coil run on
 > DC or on AC? Is any
 > large design-change(?) needed?
 >
 > Also,what kind of home-made caps are the best? (I'm
 > having a cash-flow
 > problem at the moment...)
 >
 > Thanks in advance
 >
 > Pieter
 >
 >