Re: Salt Cap

["Tesla list" <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Original poster: Davetracer@xxxxxxx 

In a message dated 7/3/2005 10:14:47 P.M. Mountain Daylight Time, 
tesla@xxxxxxxxxx writes:
Original poster: Mddeming@xxxxxxx

In a message dated 7/3/05 2:12:42 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
tesla@xxxxxxxxxx writes:
Original poster: Adam Britt <beans45601@xxxxxxxxx>

its still not worth it.

-Adam



    "For a given value of 'it' " ?

    I just built a neon sign powered coil (12kv/60 ma). I'm low on spare 
change at the moment.

    So I wandered by WalMart and got a big metal pot. My son picked up 
some copper tubing, then bent it into continuous bottle-shaped segments, so 
the bottles going in had support, and also had whatever benefit possible 
from having the current and voltage "piped" right to the bottles. Then I 
picked up a 12-pack of Corona [no pun intended] beer, poured out the beer, 
filled with water to about 2" from the top, and used some thick copper wire 
to form center electrodes for the bottles. I used table salt both inside 
and outside. Finally I filled the pot with water to the same level as the 
bottles. The pot sits on thick books to keep from accidentally zapping into 
the floor.

    Results: It works fine. There has not been a punchthrough yet [knock 
on wood]. The copper tubing inside keeps the bottles from falling over 
quite nicely, and the Corona bottles are just wonderful with their long 
necks; in fact someone on the list recommended them.

    I don't see any point in using oil, laxatives, chocolate or concrete. 
(Of course those are probably for a different design of caps). I think that 
probably the cooling effect of the water helps keep the bottles from 
shattering from heat stress.

    This may have cost as much as $20, but it could have been $10.

    This coil is putting out the biggest sparks I've ever made with a TC, 
and during a tuning session the other day, tripped the fire alarm many feet 
away on the ceiling. I have two thoughts about that:

(1) "What a pain!". (I had to call and tell them it was an accidental trip).
(2) *COOL* !!

    While some of the coils from people on this list are constructed 
beautifully, my experience has been there is cost and time attached to 
that. You really can build these things on a shoestring. I'll probably 
experiment with MMC cap arrays when I accumulate more quarters in the spare 
change can.

    -- thanks,

    Dave