RE: smoking capacitors

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

Original poster: "Andy Cleary by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <cleara-at-twcny.rr-dot-com>

Hello,

	It seems as though you are using plastic pop bottles... if this is
the case - then that is most likely your problem.  I have never
actually used them myself, but from past discussions on the list it
seems plastic bottles are no good for Tesla Coil use.  What I would
recommend is for you to rebuild your cap using glass bottles.  Go to
the local bottle-return area, and see if you can "buy back" some nice
glass beer bottles.  It may get you some funny looks, but that worked
for me!
	Of course if you actually _are_ using glass, you might have a bad
glass type... Tesla used to import specific glass bottles from quite a
distance during his research at Colorado Springs, so I guess the types
do matter.  In general, I'd say to stay away from colored glass.  Hope
this helps!

-Andy C.

-----Original Message-----
From: Tesla list [mailto:tesla-at-pupman-dot-com]
Sent: Friday, April 19, 2002 9:09 AM
To: tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
Subject: smoking capacitors


Original poster: "by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>"
<HIGHWYRUNNER17-at-aol-dot-com>

I have built a small tesla coil for my physics class at school and I
have a
salt water pop bottle capacitors and the mineral oil has leaked out of
the
pop bottles and I have changed the salt water in the tank and resealed
the
bottles but there still is smoke coming off them. What should I do to
get rid
of the smoking, and is there suppose to be little sparks in the
bottles where
the mineral oil and the salt water meet?