Re: [TCML] HV wire ?

[Steve Ward <steve.ward@xxxxxxxxx>]

Thats gonna be a rare item i think, aside from stuff made for power
distribution which i believe normally has a shield.  Those types of cable
are a real pain to work with.  Also, beware of "DC" cable voltage ratings,
its many many times easier to make HV DC cable, but when you apply AC to it,
the corona-free voltage is usually much less (maybe 1/4 of the DC rating).

With all the HV design work i do (and see) at fermilab, we typically avoid
HV wire, its a false sense of security and often times its best to just go
with bare conductors so that corona does not eat away the insulation over
many years.  For tesla coil use, welding cable with some extra vinyl tubing
sleeved over it works pretty darn good, especially when it isnt subject to
HV for years and years and is routinely inspected.

Im also a bit suspect over the request for 0 awg.  Given the skin effect,
how much current do you think is getting more than 1/16th of an inch deep
into that big cable?  The rest of the copper is just a heat capacitor.  A
bunch of smaller wires in parallel is better if you are really going for
performance for both cooling and for AC resistance.  I admittedly use 2awg
wire a lot for convenience, it gets pretty darn hot... i dont think going to
0 awg would ever fix that because its nearly all AC resistance and the
surface area isnt going up tremendously.

Steve


On Mon, Jun 14, 2010 at 12:34 PM, Ian Charnas <ian.charnas@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> Hi we're looking for 20 feet of 0 AWG rated to 15kv, does anyone have any
> they would sell or know of a good supplier?
>
> Ian Charnas
> http://teslaorchestra.com
>
> _______________________________________________
> Tesla mailing list
> Tesla@xxxxxxxxxx
> http://www.pupman.com/mailman/listinfo/tesla
>
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