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Re: Rectifying Action? Might it be that simple?



Tesla List wrote:
> 
> Original Poster: Hollmike-at-aol-dot-com
> 
> >  Mike's thought of the oxide barrier in
> >  conjunction with the Cu possibly creating a rectification is interesting.
> 
> Reinhard, Bart, all,
>      This wasn't actually Mike's thought.  I was just remembering that
someone
> from the earlier posts on this subject suggested that.   The only thing I
> could think of that supports this notion was that aluminum electrolytic
> capacitors are polarized due to this oxide layer and conduct in one
direction.
>      It may be simply that when the spark is initiated, a pit forms in the
> aluminum that exposes a conductive surface.  The exposed surface may then
> quickly reoxidize and create a resistance that helps to quench the spark
once
> the voltage drops at a notch(was this mentioned in earlier posts?).
>      My only conclusion is that this is definitely worth investigation :o)
> Mike

	The rectification is a function of the terminal geometry, not the
material.  Any aluminum oxide layer would be much too thin to withstand
the voltages involved.

Ed