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T-minus 7 days and counting...




Hello all!
  
Well I made a test saltwater cap today.  Here's the spec's:
  
Container:    16oz Nestea Bottle (Sweetened-No Lemon)  empty of course!
                    -Glass appears to be in the .050" thick
  
Wrapped the bottom third (including the bottom) of bottle with Reynolds
Heavy duty foil.
  
Filled with 12 oz. Saltwater
                    -Mixture is 3 tablespoons salt to 12 oz water
                    -the apex of the water is at the same height as the
aluminum foil on outside of bottle.
  
Filled remaining space to the top with NAPA brand 10w30 motor oil (I own a
NAPA auto parts store).
  
Used 5/16" "all-thread" rod it's about 1" from bottom of bottle
  
Capped with an all rubber automotive type expansion plug.  This works great
because it can be sealed tight and removed again.
  
Here are more questions for you to ponder:
  
1    Does anyone have a formula for calculating the capacitance of a
saltwater cap based on physical properties?
  
2.    We live in a rural area in Ohio.  We have a water well and the water
is high in iron.  Is this a plus or minus for these caps?
  
3    In saltwater caps, I would assume the saltwater is the storage for the
charge.  Would it be a benefit to use as large (or small) as bolt as
possible?  Or not important?
  
4    These rubber expansion plugs use a large rubber grommet that is
squeezed between two steel washers.  The washer on the top (outside) of the
bottle is actuall touching the glass (nothing else except for the rubber).
Does this pose a problem?  I really can't see how it's just that the plans
I saw called for a plastic lid to be screwed on the bottle and I couldn't
find a cap that would fit this bottle.
  
5    The plans called for wrapping the exposed foil on the outside of the
cap with at least two layers of electrical tape.  Why is this when if it
would get next to another bottle this would just be the ground anyway?
Wouldn't it be better if all the bottles touched anyway?
  
Sorry for all the questions we're both just here to learn as much as we can.
  
Kent