Original poster: "Dave Halliday" <dh@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
They need _a_ voltage, not a high voltage.
The voltage rating for a cap is basically the voltage at which the cap
will self-destruct.
It is _not_ the voltage at which the cap needs to operate.
This is not like a lightbulb or motor which has very strict operating
parameters.
A cap meter will either put a couple volts into the cap through a
calibrated resistor and measure the time it takes to charge or it will
put the cap into the frequency determining circuitry of an oscillator
where the other elements are known and it will measure the frequency of
oscillation and back-calculate the capacitance needed to generate that
frequency.
Good luck!
Dave
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Tesla list [mailto:tesla@xxxxxxxxxx]
> Sent: Wednesday, April 06, 2005 8:57 PM
> To: tesla@xxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: Re: capacitance of homemade caps
>
>
> Original poster: "Steven Steele" <sbsteele@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>
> AHAH! So some caps do need HV to charge them! I was right! Again.
>
> Steven Steele
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Tesla list" <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>
> To: <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Wednesday, April 06, 2005 7:56 PM
> Subject: Re: capacitance of homemade caps
>
>
> >Original poster: "Dr. Resonance" <resonance@xxxxxxxxxx>
> >
> >
> >take the cap bank to a local community college electronics
> course instructor
> >or university EE dept. They have a capacitance meter that
> will measure it.
> >
> >Dr. Resonance
> > >
> > > How could I find the capacitance of my hommade caps? I
> can't do anything
> > > with an o-scope to measure it becaus the caps require
> high voltages to
> > > charge them at all. Maybe if I used a DC power supply,
> like a computer
> > > moniter, and set it up with a spark gap, I may be able
> charge it longer
> > > than .008 seconds(half the period of a 60Hz waveform),
> and I could time
> >how
> > > long it takes (approximately) for the spark to break
> out.Do ya'll think
> > > that would work?
> > >
> >Steven
> > > Steele
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
>
>
>
>
>
>