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RE: First coil
From: Esondrmn-at-aol-dot-com[SMTP:Esondrmn-at-aol-dot-com]
Sent: Wednesday, November 05, 1997 6:33 AM
To: tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
Subject: Re: First coil
In a message dated 97-11-04 01:00:17 EST, you write:
<< 90mils of polyethylene (is this the same as Polythene?) to withstand
15000v AC sounds very thick (2.3mm) which sounds impossible to roll in
to a rolled capacitor. I know i can make this thickness up with
multiple layers of thinner Poly.
Also does anyone have a good spark gap and safety gap design (without
air quenching as I dont have access to a compressor)
Is the best primary design the saucer shape? for this size TC?
Anyway, hopefully i will be able to start my TC soon.
Thanks to those who have helped so far.
Matt. >>
Matt,
I don't know what polythene is, you definitely want polyethylene. I have
built three rolled poly caps. The first two used a single layer of .062"
thick poly (today I would use two layers of .030). The second used two
layers of .062 (produced about .005 mfd). These went in a 6.0" dia pvc pipe.
The first two both failed at 12 kv. One layer of .062 (or even two layers
of .030) is only safe to run at maybe 8 to 9 kv. For 15 kv, I would build
two caps using two layers of .030 each. These will produce about .02 mfd
each for a total of .01 mfd in series. I remember these costing about $80.00
to $90.00 each to build. If you need .02 mfd or larger, you will either need
to make 4 of these and use in series/parallel - or buy a commercial cap.
Your total investment will be about the same. I believe one cap built with
three layers of .030 poly will work safely at 12 kv. In a 6" pvc pipe, you
may only get somewhere in the neighborhood of .015 mfd. I did use aluminum
roof flashing for the plates.
For a spark gap, I would recommend the Richard Quick cylindrical gap. I have
built two, they work great.
For the primary, I would build a flat spiral primary using soft copper
tubing.
Ed Sonderman