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My caps seem to be a reliable explosive ;-)
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From: Gregory R. Hunter [SMTP:ghunter-at-mail.enterprise-dot-net]
Sent: Wednesday, February 25, 1998 12:58 PM
To: Tesla List
Subject: Re: My caps seem to be a reliable explosive ;-)
Scott,
How did your bottle caps fail? I'm using bottle caps with a 15kv NST
and they work fine. Just curious.
Greg
> From: Scott Cutler [SMTP:spcutler-at-ucdavis.edu]
> Sent: Monday, February 23, 1998 9:31 PM
> To: tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
> Subject: My caps seem to be a reliable explosive ;-)
>
> Ok, well I haven't finished my caps yet, so I don't know for SURE that
> they'll work, but the calculations seem sound and there's no reason that
> they shouldn't work. My original estimate was somewhat wrong; you
> actually need about 10 boxes of bags.
> Here's the parts list:
> 145 gallon size freezer bags (they must be freezer bags; the other types
> are too thin. Make sure that they're at least 2.5 mil thick, pref. 3
> mil)
>
> aluminum foil
>
> tupperware container (I haven't figured out the ideal size for this yet,
> but I think one that's close to half the size of a bag and a few inches
> high should do the trick)
>
> misc wire, bolts, nuts, washers etc.
>
> First, if the bags have a white writable surface on them, remove this with
> nail polish remover. I don't know if this is absolutely necessary, but
> why risk it? Actually, it may be worth the risk; this part will take
> several hours. Then soak the bags in water to remove any acetone residue.
> Dry them thoroughly. Then, cut off the ziplock tops to form approximately
> a 27 x 27 cm square. Then, cut this in half to form two 13.5 x 27 cm
> rectangles. Now, divide your bags into 5 piles of 58 half-bags. For
> each pile, cut 20 pieces of aluminum foil, about 12 x 25 cm but with a 4
> cm (or so) wide tab coming from the middle of the long side. Now, find 20
> "non-loop" (that is, with a solid bottom) half-bags and center the
> aluminum foil rectangles in them. Now, stack the bags like this:
> tab to left
> empty bag
> empty bag
> tab to right
> empty bag
> empty bag
> tab to left
> ...and so on
> And of course, do this for each of the 5 piles. Now, use small
> bolts and some washers to connect the foil tabs on each side, connect the
> five bags in series, alternating (you may want to stick a few extra bags
> between the individual piles), connect the ends with heavy wire, and stick
> the whole mess in the tupperware container. Fill the thing with oil
> (mineral is best, although motor will probably do), attach the lid (with
> holes for the wires to come through), and let the thing sit at an angle
> for a few days so the bubbles rise out. You may want to put this in a pan
> to catch any oil leaks.
> This is the first capacitor I've planned other than the failed bottle
> caps. It should provide ABOUT 5.4 nF of capacitance at 15 kv. This is
> good for a 15 kv, 30 mA NST. It's pretty much my own design, but I got
> the idea of using plastic bags from a posting on Bill Beatty's website.
> Comments from experienced coilers would be most welcome, as I am as much a
> beginner as the original poster.
> Thanks!
>
> Scott Cutler
>
>
>
>