RE: Flat coils & undamped waves (was Wire Length)

["Tesla list" <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Original poster: "David Thomson" <dwt@xxxxxxxxxxxx>

Hi Mike,

> Original poster: Mike <megavolts61@xxxxxxxxx>
>
>      As a general rule that self capacitance (probably quite small)
> will probably increase losses.  Tesla describes coils wound with
> bifilar wire and mentions the increased capacitance as a virtue but I
> strongly suspect he never made (maybe couldn't have made) any
> quantitative tests.  Certainly no one since has deliberately made
> coils with high self-capacitance.
>
> Ed
>
> Why not?

I have tried it.  It doesn't work because the added capacity causes the Q to
drop.  It's like taking a finely tuned classical guitar and then adding more
air space into the hollow.  The sound becomes sluggish and dull, just as the
action of the Tesla coil does.

In order to improve performance, it is necessary for the resonance to be as
sharp as possible with minimal pressure loss.  Increasing the internal
capacity lowers the internal potential of a Tesla coil.

Dave