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Re: Commercial Capacitors



At 10:25 AM 12/31/96 -0700, you wrote:
-=snip!=-
>using a 12 kV 30 ma neon which will require a 0.008 uF capacitor, (50 Hz
>supply in Australia).
>
>I have seen advertised in Information Unlimited's catalogue capacitors
>rated at 0.01uF -at- 30 kV for US$130 and 0.005 uF -at- 20 kV for US$60. Does
>anyone have any experience with this company's product and which cap
>size would give the best results. If I'm going to invest in a commercial
>cap I don't want to blow the bugger up if I can help it. 

It's better to use a capacitor that is smaller than the ideal value than
bigger. Generally capacitors are calculated to be the largest value your
transformer can charge reliably. One of the great things about coiling is
the fact you can look at your coil spitting streamers every which way, and
tell your friends "I made this!" If you're like any other coiler out there,
you're not made of $$..;) My suggestion is to create a saltwater capacitor.
They seem to have the highest capacitance of the home made types. You can
find instructions on how to make them on the 'net or, if you wish, i  could
mail the file to ya. There is a great program out there called TESLAC,
which will calculate how many capacitors you need, and a lot of other
things. They are generally made of beer bottles, and if coiling wasn't fun
enough, it's even more fun to drain the bottles...;)

73,
James