Non-copper components, was Re: Forwarded mail.... (steel components) (fwd)

["Tesla list" <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sat, 16 Jun 2007 10:29:33 +0800
From: Peter Terren <pterren@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: Tesla list <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: Forwarded mail.... (steel components)

I still have a burn mark on my arm from touching a hot steel bolts used as a 
terminal on a rolled capacitor. (Thermal burn not electrical). I changed 
them to brass and no heating now.  Also a metal crocodile clip used to tap 
the primary got hot enough to melt solder. A brass connector has fixed that. 
Hysteresis losses in iron at RF will waste energy so best avoided.
MMC wires are steel? Mine are tinned copper and definitely not magnetic?
Peter  http://tesladownunder.com

> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> Date: Fri, 15 Jun 2007 15:46:55 +0100
> From: Tom Trevethan <t.trevethan@xxxxxxxxx>
> To: Tesla list <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>
>
> Hi all,
>
> I've been 'lurking' on the list for a while now - soaking up lots of 
> useful
> information. Now I have a question to ask: how critical to performance are 
> the
> materials that make the tank circuit? I've read that steel is best avoided 
> (due
> to it being ferromagnetic) - but it is dificult and expensive to construct 
> the
> circuit entirely out of copper and tungsten. In my coil I use thick copper
> cable (8 awg) with copper pipe lugs and I've tried to use brass bolts 
> where
> possible (but I use steel nuts and bolts in some places). My primary tap 
> is
> made of steel and I also recently found out that the 'brass' bolts I am 
> using
> for stationary electrodes in my rotaty gap are actually brass plated 
> steel. Am
> I likely to see significant improvements in performance if I go to the 
> effort
> of replacing these parts? After all, it seems overkill when the wires 
> leaving
> the capacitors of my (and everybody elses) MMC are made of (thin) steel.
>
> Thanks in adavance for any advice.
>
> Tom