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Re: Homemade Rolled Caps

>>From richard.quick-at-slug-dot-org Sat Feb 24 01:18 MST 1996
>> To: nikki-at-fastlane-dot-net (Bert Pool)
>Talking about failed capacitors:
>
[snip]

>The cleanliness of the construction must be factored in. Dirty
>plates or dielectric don't hold up. Lint, dust, hairs, sanding
>grit, towel fibers, etc., that infest a homemade capacitor will
>drasticly reduce the voltage rating of the completed product.
>
>I make sure that my capacitors are meticulously clean, to the
>point of setting up a temporary "clean room" to assemble them.
>If you roll your caps up on a carpet floor, they aren't worth
>the effort rolling them.
>
>Richard Quick
>

I didn't make a clean room, but I did set up a special 8 foot long work 
bench for assembly.  All aluminum flashing edges were sanded down smooth, 
and afterwards both aluminum and plastic got wiped down thoroughly before 
assembly.  No carpet fibers, hair or small children got rolled up.

I am going to tear down all my failed poly caps and rebuild them into a flat 
plate capacitor.  I'm going to mount the plates in a pole pig housing that I 
just gutted.  I'm going to to use multiple sheets of poly to make 120 mil 
dielectric, and I'm assembling it under oil, sheet by sheet, to eliminate 
air pockets.  This will be the last poly cap I build - I'm going to buy 
commercial caps from that point forward.

Bert