Re: Distilled water as a dielectric?

["Tesla list" <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Original poster: Davetracer@xxxxxxx 

In a message dated 6/4/2005 10:33:36 A.M. Mountain Daylight Time, 
tesla@xxxxxxxxxx writes:
Original poster: Greg Morris <gbmorris@xxxxxxxxx>


>
>This is why I still build parallel plates.  I can build a 50 nF parallel
>plate unit for under $30.  Biggest cost is the food storage box.
>Assembly time under 2 hrs.
>
>Mark


Sounds good, Mark. Do you have any images of caps you've built? How do your
designs compare to the ones you saw above (mine)?

Greg



  Greg,

   I built up a neon-sign based (12kv) coil recently. All I did for 
capacitors was go over to Home Depot, get some sheets of plastic that were 
bigger than 18" x 18", then cover them with tinfoil (aluminum foil) to 14" 
x 14" on each side. I stack them together vertically and of course "hot" 
sides come together, so I just use that in wiring the caps. I used six or 
so in the current coil, but am still tuning and fooling with it. The last 
part was taping them together. I used duct tape. I would have used glass 
but Home Depot no longer offers it, to my amazement.  (And hey, do not be 
afraid of a piece that is like 20" x 30" ... just expand the foil. A little 
extra capacitance is not going to hurt.)

    A two inch border (x 2, since on both sides) seems adequate. I have 
had a few "punchthroughs", interestingly, where the foil is taped down. I 
cured those with epoxy.

   Greg, the biggest thing to make a big spark is a toroid on top. It's 
the difference between a two inch spark and a two foot spark.  If you don't 
have a toroid handy, try a doorknob. Then try two salad bowls end to end, 
taped together. Then try two *strainers* end to end (I consider this my 
personal innovation, *grin*). Also note you can make a toroid pretty 
easily. Try stacking them vertically -- this gets to be wild stuff.

    Do not open up you spark gap too wide or your transformer will die. 
You don't need to. I put two computer fans on mine to push/pull air through 
it, you want to blow out the spark in a hurry. I run about 1/4" of gap.

    For other readers: Yes, I know this is not an optimal solution. But 
the amount of money I can put into the TC right now is low, and this 
solution just plain works. The specs come from a 1964 Popular Electronics 
article, "Big TC".

    I am not a mathematical expert and there are some true Tesla Wizards 
on this mailing list. What I'm trying to say is that this *works* and you 
don't always have to spend the big bucks to get a perfectly satisfying 
Tesla Coil.

    Thanks,

    Dave Small