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Tesla Questions

 * Original msg to: Msr7-at-po.cwru.edu
 * Carbons sent to: usa-tesla-at-usa-dot-net

Quoting msr7-at-po.cwru.edu (Mark S. Rzeszotarski, Ph.D.):

> Hello Richard,
> Do you know if the usa-tesla server is down, or have I been
> tossed  off the subscribers list again?  I seem to get feeds 
> from them very slowly,  nothing since 10/13.

The server is most definately down. Send complaints to 
<tesla-at-usa-dot-net>, if just one or two people complain then 
Dick does not go to the listproc administrator, if fiver 
or six people complain then he complains, and gets answers.

> Another question, I just got my hands on a 42 inch tall
> section of  acrylic tubing (1/4 inch wall thickness, 8 inch 
> diameter). Should I stick  with a 3:1 height:diameter ratio? 

Yes.

> What is the "optimal" wire gauge for this beast?  

22 AWG

> Should I coat it with polyurethane?  

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> Question: 

> Besides polyurethane what is a good sealer for a secondary coil
> form and and where do I get this sealer?

Quoting Chip Atkinson:

The coating that I used is called 

Super Gloss 
Build 50

by Behr.

I got it at the hardware store. (Hugh M. Woods, aka Payless Cashways)
It is in two paint cans, shrink wrapped together.  The can wrappers are
orange.  The stuff is stocked in the varnish section, right next to the
polyurethane.  The potential problems are bubbles, which didn't seem to 
make much of a difference for me, and annular bulges.  The bulges appear 
if you don't get the coating on evenly and the form is turning.  I would
recommend using Build 50 as an outer coating unless you feel confident 
in your abilities to apply it smoothly and evenly.  I ended up with some 
bulging, but it doesn't detract from the over all appearance.  It would 
however cause problems if one used it to seal a pvc pipe.  This would make
the windings irregular and probably cause the top coat to be very lumpy 
as the stuff on the underlying bulges would probably climb to the top 
of the bulges as the form turned.  Nevertheless, I still recommend 
Build 50 since it goes on in one coat and is quite tough and hard.


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Quoting jbiehler-at-teleport-dot-com (Jerry Biehler):

> I got the 8" PVC today. Cost me $7.00 for 3 feet. It is solid wall
> about 5/16" thick. I am going to setup something to dry it later today.
> I got a basic polyurethane varnish to coat it with.

No problems here.

> Oh, how did you cut the plexiglas disks in a circle? 

I use a band saw or a jig saw. A plastics dealer will be able to custom
cut these disks if required, and the same plastics dealer is usually 
able to supply the correct blades and cutting advice if you ask.

> And what about using a Silicon RTV type cement to attach the ends. This 
> stuff is deffinitly non-flamable and is hard to screw-up with.

Good Question!

Sounds great does it not? But... These adhesives leave a residual acetic
acid vapor which is trapped in the coil form. The acetic acid is highly
conductive and ionizes readily. Don't use these products in this par-
ticular application.

> I am also going to order the wire today. What gauge should I use?

I would used about 888 turns of number 22 AWG enameled magnet wire.
You will need about 3.75 pounds of wire to complete this project, so,
figure on buying four pounds of No. 22 AWG enamel covered magnet wire.
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> I hope to eventually put together about a 5 kVA system with a magnifier 
> coil, using one or more chunks of this stuff (after I learn more about 
> them).  

Sounds like a very worthwhile project.

> Could I go with a 4:1  ratio and use a saucer shaped primary (expesive 
> and heavy!), or does it present too much of a coupling problem? 

See my remarks etc. above.

> I am still building a HV capacitor at present, operating my 4 inch 
> coil at 3 kV right now.  Hope to get her up to 15 kV this weekend. 

I wish you the best of luck and the longest of sparks!

Richard Quick


... If all else fails... Throw another megavolt across it!
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12