Re: [TCML] 2 beginner questions

[jhowson4@xxxxxxxxxxx]

Hello, 

Cool on the science project! 

With regard to question 2, it wont matter, the high voltage sparks will care little about the thing layer of adhesive between foil layers. I find it useful to smooth the whole thing out with a plastic spoon, that helps a little. 
You can see the mini arcs between layers of foil in my video 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_L2VJ-jnVZ4 

As for question 1, its dependent on the capacitance and voltage. the RMS current is what you have to look out for. 
according to this chart 
http://tb3.com/tesla/capacitors/mmc_cap_chart.pdf 
it looks like a single string of 16 is adequate for short runs on your system. With a few min of cooling time between runs. 





Thanks, 
John "Jay" Howson IV 


"Why thank you, I will be happy to take those electrons off your hands." 

----- Original Message -----
From: "eitreim family" <eitreimfamily@xxxxxxxxxxx> 
To: tesla@xxxxxxxxxx 
Sent: Tuesday, May 8, 2012 6:18:13 PM 
Subject: [TCML] 2 beginner questions 

Hi Folks, 

I'm trying to help my son and his friend build their first tesla coil as a science project. They have done a lot of work, and are about ready to wire it up and test it out. We have 2 questions: 

1. They are using 942 series .15uF capacitors, which they have soldered in series in a single string (with parallel bleed capacitors) to achieve the required (2x DC rated) voltage and capacitance recommended by Teslamap software. However, we read recently that the primary section is high current as well as high voltage. Their OBIT is rated about 240Watts (10KV, 23mA). Will this string be able to discharge quickly enough? Or will we need parallel strings? (These caps are not cheap.) A photo: 




2. They have assembled a dryer duct toroid, bondo-ed and sanded, and applied aluminum foil tape. It is pretty well done. However, I don't have continuity from strip to strip of tape, or from strips to inner plates, due I believe to the adhesive acting as an insulator. Is this a consideration at the voltages that the toroid will see, or will the electrons jump readily all over the surfact? Is there an easy way to unify the toroid electrically? Another photo: 




Thanks very much for your help. 

Jeff 


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