Brian -Actually, "anodized aluminum and "oxidized aluminum" are essentially the same thing, a surface film of aluminum oxide, just obtained by different processes.
Conventional anodizing is an electrochemical process for creating a surface of aluminum oxide; "hard anodizing" creates an even thicker oxide layer. "Oxidized aluminum" is the result of a naturally occurring process that occurs when a raw aluminum surface is exposed to atmospheric air.
(Anodizing leaves a surface that looks very much like raw aluminum; the oxide film is essentially invisible. After anodizing, a secondary dyeing process is frequently used to add a distinctive color to the oxide film.)
A typical anodized surface will be non-conductive when checked with a multimeter using blunt probes that do not penetrate through the thin oxide layer. A hard-anodized surface will be non-conductive even when checked with pointed probes, at moderate pressure. The natural oxide film on a random piece of aluminum can vary greatly in thickness, depending on the atmosphere that the aluminum has been exposed to, and the duration of the exposure. Any raw aluminum surface that's been exposed to a marine environment (but not submerged in salt water) will usually show a very thick oxide layer.
I think the potential problem with using aluminum as a high-current conductor (primary coil) in a Tesla coil is not so much the material's resistivity, or any "skin-effect" phenomenon, but the difficulty in creating reliable, low-resistance connections, especially at an adjustable tap-point.
Regards, Herr Zapp----- Original Message ----- From: "Brian" <brianv@xxxxxxxx>
To: "'Tesla Coil Mailing List'" <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Sunday, November 08, 2009 2:50 PM Subject: Re: [TCML] primary tubing
Greg,What I meant was oxidization not anodization, I had anodized aluminum on thebrain for some reason, just keep this in mind, anodized = Good, Oxidized = bad. Oxidized aluminum will cause hi resistive connections and in turn create heat. So I really did not mean anodized that was a my bad part on me. --Brian _______________________________________________ Tesla mailing list Tesla@xxxxxxxxxxhttp://www.pupman.com/mailman/listinfo/tesla
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