Rotary spark gaps

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Original poster: "Mr Gregory Peters by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <s371034-at-student.uq.edu.au>

Hi all,

I was wondering how how the rotating electrodes on a ~10kVA RSG get? 
The reason I ask is I want to use 1/2" LDPE as a rotor. I can get this 
easy and cheaply from a cutting board. It seems strong enough as I have 
mounted two bolts in one and tried pulling them apart with vice grips - 
I can't. What I am worried about is the rather low (somewhere around 
130 Oc) melting point. If the electrodes get hot and melt the plastic 
I've got problems. Has anyone ever used it before?

Cheers,

Greg Peters
Department of Earth Sciences,
University of Queensland, Australia
Phone: 0402 841 677
http://www.geocities-dot-com/gregjpeters