Commercial pulse caps that died in Tesla coil

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

Original poster: "Scott Hanson" <huil888-at-surfside-dot-net> 

Christopher Boden wrote:

"I have a collection of over 50 Maxwell and other brands of commercial pulse
caps. They all have 2 things in common.
They're all from coiling use. And they're ALL DEAD".

Christopher -
Since you currently have a collection of "over 50" commercial pulse
capacitors that have actually failed in Tesla coil service, please post a
listing of the capacitor manufacturers, model numbers, and
capacitance/voltage ratings. This is clearly the largest single group of
commercial pulse capacitors ever gathered in one place that have actually
failed during use in Tesla coil applications.

Even though we won't know the operating conditions that the capacitors were
subjected to at the time of failure, just knowing the makes and models of
capacitors that failed will be very useful. Also, now that the Geek Group
has access to a digital camera, posting a photograph of this extensive
collection of "over 50" failed capacitors will be a very interesting to all
coilers who shop for used pulse capacitors. How many of these died without
any external evidence of failure, how many had cases that were ruptured or
split, etc, etc. We hear so many unsubstantiated "urban legends" about
exploding capacitors, sheets of flaming oil, etc, etc that your observations
on actual failed specimens will prove very enlightening.

Can you oblige the group by providing this information?

Regards,
Scott Hanson

  ----- Original Message -----
From: "Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
To: <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
Sent: Thursday, February 26, 2004 5:33 PM
Subject: Re: MMC or Maxwell? Which is better?


 > Original poster: "Christopher Boden" <chrisboden-at-hotmail-dot-com>
 >
 > Sorry, but I have to comment on that one.
 >
 > You're insane.
 >
 > Most of the MMC orders we've filled are for $100 and less, it's rare that
I
 > fill one over $300.
 >
 > THOUSANDS? no
 >
 > The only people who buy that many caps from us are people that build coils
 > for a living (like Dr.R.) and need parts for a 20 coils at a time.
 >
 > I have a collection of over 50 Maxwell and other brands of commercial
pulse
 > caps. They all have 2 things in common.
 >
 > They're all from coiling use.
 >
 > And they're ALL DEAD.
 >
 > There are hundreds of complete Geek Group MMC cap arrays in use around the
 > world right now. Consisthing of thousands of our capacitors in both Tesla
 > Coil and HVDC applications.
 >
 > Know how many failues we've had?
 >
 > 2
 >
 > yeah, 2
 >
 > If you construct the MMC properly (we have detailed instructions on our
 > site) the odds on it failing are astronomical. So good in fact that if
it's
 > the result of a manufacturer defect (and not you building it wrong or
 > destroying it though improper use, negligence, or plain stupidity) you can
 > send it back to us for testing and we'll fix it and send it back to you
for
 > free.
 >
 > Try that with anyone else.
 >
 > Most places, if you tell them you're using it for a Tesla Coil won't even
 > SELL them to you. Because people are STUPID and try to send them back to
 > the manufacturer after blowing them with amatour coil building. Enough
 > people do this (especially if they're rude about it) and the manufactuer
 > simply stops selling to coilers.
 >
 > The Geek Group has worked for years to bring the absolulute best caps to
 > coilers. We've worked out a deal with CDE to get them at the best possible
 > price, and we ship them EVERYWHERE. We have MMCs in use all over the
globe.
 >
 > The question of what is better, there is to question. Unless you're
working
 > in the MASSIVE size ranges (50kVA or bigger) it's no contest, Geek Group
 > MMCs are the way to go.
 >
 > www.thegeekgroup-dot-org/mmc
 >
 >
 >
 > Christopher "Duck" Boden Geek#1
 > President / C.E.O. / Alpha Geek
 > The Geek Group
 > www.thegeekgroup-dot-org
 > Because the Geek shall inherit the Earth!
 >
 >
 >
 >
 >
 > >From: "Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
 > >To: tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
 > >Subject: Re: MMC or Maxwell? Which is better?
 > >Date: Thu, 26 Feb 2004 14:00:09 -0700
 > >
 > >Original poster: Kreso Bukvic <kreso.bukvic-at-kc.htnet.hr>
 > >
 > >I blew a maxwell and il buy it again! The MMC will work good if you spend
 > >few thousand bucks! Overrating mmc-is bS!
 > >----- Original Message -----
 > >From: "Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
 > >To: <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
 > >Sent: Thursday, February 26, 2004 4:18 PM
 > >Subject: Re: MMC or Maxwell? Which is better?
 > >
 > >
 > > > Original poster: Terry Fritz <teslalist-at-twfpowerelectronics-dot-com>
 > > >
 > > > IMHO, I would not consider using a commercial cap at all.  There are
many
 > > > stories of expensive commercial cap failures.  The Geek groups caps
never
 > > > seem to fail.
 > > >
 > > > The charts the Geek group uses assumes 200% voltage margin, 150% RMS
and
 > > > Peak current margin, 100% voltage reversal, etc...   The quality of
the
 > > > Geek caps is untouchable buy the basically hand made commercial caps.
 > >MMC
 > > > also contain no oil.
 > > >
 > > > If one were going to pay say $500 for a commercial cap, ask them if it
is
 > > > rated for Tesla coil use.  When they say no, believe them...
 > > >
 > > > Cheers,
 > > >
 > > >          Terry
 > > >
 > > > At 07:21 AM 2/26/2004, you wrote:
 > > > >  I'm wondering what is the opinion of the experienced coilers and
 > > > > experts. Which is the better choice for a TC tank cap, an MMC of CDE
 > > > > 942Cs or commercial pulse cap such as Maxwell.
 > > >
 > > >