RE: Metal Screws and Salt Water Caps

["Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>]

Original poster: "Lau, Gary by way of Terry Fritz <teslalist-at-qwest-dot-net>" <Gary.Lau-at-hp-dot-com>

You didn't mention what size capacitor you have or what voltage your power 
supply is.  In general, the formula for the voltage on a capacitor C 
discharging through a resistor R is Vo = Vi (e^-(t/RC)).
Example:  Say we have a .01uF cap, initial voltage Vi=20kV, bleeder 
resistor R=100Meg.  The voltage remaining on the cap after 5 seconds is 
20,000 * e^(-5/100E6 * .01E-6) = 135V.  The energy in a .01uF cap charged 
to 135V is quite safe.  The 100 Meg resistor would need to be constructed 
of at least ten 1/2 Watt resistors in series, so ten 10Meg resistors in 
series would do it.

Gary Lau
MA, USA

  -----Original Message-----
From: 	Tesla list [mailto:tesla-at-pupman-dot-com]
Sent:	Sunday, January 12, 2003 11:26 PM
To:	tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
Subject:	Re: Metal Screws and Salt Water Caps

Original poster: "Centauri by way of Terry Fritz <teslalist-at-qwest-dot-net>" 
<centauri010-at-attbi-dot-com>

Alright, so the resistors are a good idea. How many of what kind do I need
to connect in series?

Thanks,
Alan

Tesla list wrote:

 >Original poster: "Centauri by way of Terry Fritz <teslalist-at-qwest-dot-net>"
 ><centauri010-at-attbi-dot-com>
 >
 >Hello everyone,
 >
 >I'm assembling the base into which I will place all the components of my
 >coil, and I was wondering if I need to avoid using metal screws, bolts,
 >etc.. in certain places? Specifically, is it alright to use metal screws
 >to attach the legs. The head of the screw would be directly below the
 >primary coil with a separation of approx. 1". Is this acceptable? Also,
 >what other places should metal be avoided?
 >
 >Second, do I need resistor(s) across the terminals of my salt water bottle
 >cap or is it too lossy to matter? If I do, could I just wire a number of
 >small resistors in series?
 >
 >Thanks,
 >Alan
 >
 >
 >