RE: Capacitor Help Needed

["Tesla list" <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Original poster: "Dave Halliday" <dh@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>

The caps used in the MMCs have a lot higher rating than 200 V -- try
1,500 and 2,000 Volts.  Run a bunch of these in series and you have zero
problems.
The initial cost is a bit high but they will last forever.
The recommended caps to get are the 942C series from Cornel Dubilier.
http://www.cornell-dubilier.com/catalogs/PULSE-942C.pdf

Distributors listed here:
http://www.cornell-dubilier.com/distframe.htm

Bulletproof. Some people on this list have them for sale from time to
time.


I do not recall seeing __any__ post on this list where someone
recommended using 200 V caps for Tesla applications.

Baggies are a very poor choice for dielectric.

What bottles were you using?  Were they all the same or was one
especially thinner than the rest?
Bottle caps if done correctly have a very good track record.



> -----Original Message-----
> From: Tesla list [mailto:tesla@xxxxxxxxxx]
> Sent: Tuesday, July 19, 2005 5:00 PM
> To: tesla@xxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: Capacitor Help Needed
>
>
> Original poster: "Wilson Ng" <metalstorm2002@xxxxxxxxxxx>
>
>
>
>   Hello list members.
>
>      I have had bad experience with my capacitors. My first one that
> worked okay with my tesla coil was a jellyroll cap made from plastic
> baggies and metal foil tape. It works well up to about 3 kv. Beyond
> that, there will be smoke and popping sounds. Adding
> additional baggies
> for the dielectric decreased the capacitance dramatically. Later I
> tried MMCs with a string of 30 200v 2uf metalized polyester
> capacitors. It was just
> a test to see if the setup works. After several seconds, I smelled
> smoke even though the test voltage was only 3kv! I've also tried
> foil wrapped bottle caps but it was messy and one bottle cracked.
> UGGHH!
>
>      After sorting a while through the pupman archives, I was unable
> to find anything other than glass bottle caps, MMCs, and homemade
> plate caps. These caps have downsides:
>
>       MMCs                 - expensive
>       bottle caps          - messy and lossy
>       plastic/plate caps  - a pain in the ass to make and not very
>                                  reliable
>       rolled caps           -   not reliable
>       Microwave cap MMC   - possibility of explosion
>
> My question is, is there another way to make a reliable,
> cheap, and effective cap without breaking my bank?
>
>
>
>