Re: Build own capacators

["Tesla list" <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Original poster: m.j.watts@xxxxxxxxxxxx 

On 15 Dec 2005, at 13:54, Tesla list wrote:

> Original poster: "Bob (R.A.) Jones" <a1accounting@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>
> Hi,
>
> I can't agree that its because they need to.
> As you suggest, in a parody presumable of Mallory famous words,  its because
> they can.
>
> Continuing in the same theme.  After Mallory's body was found on Everest it
> reignited the question of whether or not he had reached the summit.
> Mallory's son John Mallory took an objective view of the implications: 'To
> me the only way you achieve a summit is to come back alive. The job is half
> done if you don't get down again.'
> Perhaps when building a primary cap the achievement is not just building one
> but getting it to work for more than ten minutes. LOL
> So the more certainty with which home made caps are denigrated the more
> certain it is that someone will want to prove it wrong.
>
> Robert (R. A.) Jones
> A1 Accounting, Inc., Fl

At a time when I badly needed a low-ESR cap I designed a dry-
fired model. Known about beforehand was that its lifetime would be
limited due to internal corona cracking the plastic. But since I had
access to nothing else at the time, I did it and should the need
arise, would do it again. Up time came to about 1/2 an hour of
intermittent use (i.e. 1/2 hour of runtime) before the plastic failed.

 Its virtues:
- cheap.  A 12m roll of 300mm wide Al cooking foil was all the
conductor needed to build a 0.1uF cap capable of withstanding a
test voltage of 15kVDC. 12m of 0.25mm thick LDPE with a width of
about 1.2m completed the capacitor. A 300mm long x 6mm thick x
50mm wide piece of acrylic sheet was used to wind the capacitor
around.
- could be built in about an hour. Ideally needs two people to roll it.

The above capacitor was described in detail in my EW&WW March
1995 article and performed as well as its MMC replacement which
cost approximately NZ$230 to build. Before the MMC was built the
coil was exhibited on an open day using the above cap design. We
simply built two spares and as soon as the first failed, we hooked
the second one in and were running again in a matter of seconds.

Malcolm
.
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Tesla list" <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>
> To: <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Wednesday, December 14, 2005 8:31 PM
> Subject: Re: Build own capacators
>
>
>  > Original poster: Mddeming@xxxxxxx
>  >
>  > Jeremiah, Christopher, All,
>  >
>  >      You are overlooking one very big point. There will always be
>  > those who will make their own caps just because they can and need to
>  > BECAUSE they can.. Just as most people will by a cake, and some will
>  > buy a cake mix, there will always be a few that, when they want a
>  > cake, will buy flour, sugar, milk, and eggs, not because of financial
>  > necessity or convenience, but because they just need to.
>  >
>  > Matt D.
>  >
>  >
>  > In a message dated 12/14/05 7:59:46 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,
>  > tesla@xxxxxxxxxx writes:
>  > Original poster: "Hooper, Christopher AZ"
> <christopher.az.hooper@xxxxxxxxx>
>  >
>  > I agree mucho, been there, go MMC!
>  > --------------------------
>  > Sent from my BlackBerry Wireless Handheld
>  >
>  >
>  > -----Original Message-----
>  > From: Tesla list <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>
>  > To: tesla@xxxxxxxxxx <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>
>  > Sent: Wed Dec 14 13:25:00 2005
>  > Subject: Re: Build own capacators
>  >
>  > Original poster: tesla popp <teslas_lab@xxxxxxxxx>
>  >
>  > Just a little story: I used to defend all the homemade
>  > caps with a vengance, totally set against the idea the
>  > of spending money.  I had just completed my 14th
>  > homemade capacitor (polyethylene-60 mills thick) and
>  > waited 5 days to drive the air out.  Upon powering the
>  > cap with 15kvAC.  I was delited to see such great
>  > preformance from my first run with the cap.
>  >
>  > Only 10 seconds into the run "BANG"... I killed the
>  > cap!  As the oil became darker, my concept of
>  > capacitors melted away and I told myself "There MUST
>  > be something better, something more DEPENDABLE"
>  >
>  > I frantically began to search the web for lastng
>  > solutions and I came across something I had never
>  > heard of, It was called an M.M.C.,  I decided to go
>  > and spend a bit of $ and see if this thing called a
>  > Multi Mini Capacitor was really all that great.
>  >
>  > Let me tell you that since that fateful day, I have
>  > never even considered building another homemade
>  > capacitor, NEVER!  The cd942 series capacitor is THE
>  > BEST CAPACITOR for tesla coil use, PEROID!
>  > It will OUT PREFORM and OUTLAST *ANY* other
>  > comercially available capacitor for the price.  It is
>  > also MORE COMPACT than even some of the maxwells out
>  > there.
>  >
>  > Just a thought...
>  > Coiler Forever: Jeremiah Popp
>  >
>  >
>  >
>  >
>  >
>  >
>
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