RE: Commercial Caps for Tesla Applications

["David Trimmell" <davidt-at-pond-dot-net> (by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-uswest-dot-net>)]

Hi, Actually the CP cap I have does have air space, you can here it slosh.
I talked to one of the engineers at CP and they were very specific: The
Tesla coil caps they were selling had been designed for a "STATIC" spark
gap (120 PPS), not a rotary >120 BPS. I have no qualms with CP, they sold a
very economical quality TC cap. A 15KV AC 0.02 uF went for $160, including
shipping (ran mine with a 15 KV 120 mA neon for years till the neon died).
Plastic Capacitors makes TC caps of greater quality, lower series R, etc,
but were much more expensive. Maxwell seems to have the greatest reputation
for pulse caps, and also the highest ticket price. CP's current policy is a
product of our litigious society.

Regards,

David Trimmell
www.ChaoticUniverse-dot-com

At 04:36 PM 8/16/00 , you wrote:
>Original poster: "Atkinson, Chip" <CAtkinson-at-Circadence-dot-com> 
>
>There was actually more to the problem than just that.  Some of the caps
>were defective in the first place and blew up.  Apparently they were willing
>to work with the people who had the problems until one or two people started
>threatening them with legal action and being rather unpleasant.  This was
>probably the genesis of their policy.
>
>Personally, I wasn't too awfully impressed with the quality of the caps.  I
>had two blow up (loud, like 1/2 an M-80).  I wasn't running them too hard I
>thought.  I was running them about 500bps at 14,400 volts.  I was under the
>impression that the TC caps were designed for Tesla Coil service and that
>they were therefore capable of handling the resulting resonant rise, etc.
>If I remember correctly, I even had a safety gap across them.  Oh, the other
>thing is that they were cylindrical and thus resistant to a fair amount of
>pressure.  There was no air space in them, so when they blew, they really
>blew.  The home made rolled cap that I toasted had a bunch of air space at
>the top, and when it went, it was just quiet gurgling.
>
>Chip
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Tesla list [mailto:tesla-at-pupman-dot-com]
>Sent: Wednesday, August 16, 2000 1:13 PM
>To: tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
>Subject: Re: Commercial Caps for Tesla Applications
>
>
>Original poster: FutureT-at-aol-dot-com 
>
>In a message dated 8/16/00 11:18:26 AM Pacific Daylight Time, 
>tesla-at-pupman-dot-com writes:
>
>> By the way I live about
>>  10-12 miles from Condensor Products Corp.  Unless your a buisness or can
>>  convince them that you know what you are doing they will not sell Tesla
>>  Caps. to private individuals. I have been reviewing some of the old
>>  Tesla List Archives and from what I have read they did sell to private
>>  individuals at one time. I have been messing around with high voltage
>>  for 13 years Im still here and they told me "NO".
>>  Best Regards Jeff KD4LYH 
>
>Jeff,
>
>Yes, Condenser products sold to individuals until some of the buyers
>of their caps overvolted them (unknowingly), and blew them up and
>then blamed Condenser products.  
>
>Cheers,
>John Freau
>
>
>
>