Raymond Magdziarz wrote:
I'm building my capacitor using window glass and brass sheets. I plan on using paraffin instead of transformer oil. I would draw a vacuum on the container while the paraffin is liquid to get the bubbles out and then let it solidify. Will this work, or what problems will I have. Ray M. _______________________________________________ Tesla mailing list Tesla@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx http://www.pupman.com/mailman/listinfo/tesla
Hi Raymond,If you are using glass as your dielectric, you'll likely encounter significant heating, since most glass is fairly lossy when used in Tesla Coil (RF) use. This heating will soften and melt nearby paraffin. When it cools, the paraffin will shrink, introducing air gaps. These gaps will allow corona to form, eventually leading to degradation, tracking, and eventual failure of your capacitor. Any hot spots in the dielectric become increasingly electrically conductive, which can also lead to localized thermal runaway, punch through, and shorting of the dielectric. Since glass plate capacitors tend to have limited life when used in Tesla Coils (especially when operated for extended periods at higher voltages), low loss polypropylene capacitors have pretty much replaced them.
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