Re: ~Geek Group Bucket Cap- part two

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

Original poster: "Christopher Boden by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <chrisboden-at-hotmail-dot-com>

>
>I bought the 5-way  binding posts like it said to buy....radio shack 
>#274-662A
>
>Anyway...they were alot smaller than I expected.

Don't worry, they're fine :)

>
>I also got some #10 wire which is alot thinner than I expected...about 1/16 
>of
>an inch in diam.
>
>It fits perfectly in to the 5-ways.......but why would you use such thin 
>wire
>with such a hugh cap??

Because it's NOT a huge cap :) It's a grossyly overengineered (they will 
take about 50-80kV), very poorly designed (WAY too heavy and bulky) cap. 
When you put an MMC next to it you'll see. My Bucket caps weigh about 
20Lbs...a MMC of the same rating you can lift and carry with your pinky :)


>
>I have read about using 1/4" carriage bolts going into the bottles??

You can, I just use the wire...works fine for me...and I used 12AWG...even 
smaller then 10.

>
>Also, I see that one end of the 5-way unscrews, and you put the wire 
>through
>the hole and screw down onto it.....but the other side is just a very thin 
>post
>with a tiny nut on it....
>
>Do I just wrap the wire around the post...and clamp down on it with the 
>nut?
>

The little post goes through the bucket to the inside. I wrapped the inner 
wire around the post and soldered it in place...you could use a crimp 
connect as well. The big plastic part (the red or black part) goes on the 
outside of the bucket.

>Part 2
>
>I have high voltage neon wire coming from my NST terminals.....going from 
>such
>a 'high load' wire into a #10 bare copper wire?
>

That 10AWG wire will carry 10 Amps for the ret of your life and never get 
warm...the 60 MilliAmps coming from your NST won't do a thing :)
The wires in the tank circuit (and off the cap) will see thousands of amps, 
but only for VERY brief instances. 10AWG will be FINE for your setup. As you 
learn and build bigger coils you will stop using 10AWG for the tank circuit 
and go MUCH bigger (I use 2AWG Pro-Audio cable), but for now, you won't 
notice the difference...you're loosing a LOT mroe in your Gap and the Cap 
then in the cables. Like..ORDER OF MAGNITUDE more...Cable losses in small 
NST coils are VERY small. The Gap is where all your loss is :)


>How will the copper stand up to the load...will it be ok?

For many, many years...it will erode in 20 years from the brine before you 
kill it with overpowering it.

>
>One more thing...
>
>It says in the geek group bucket cap instructions to bend the wire into a 
>'U'
>shape and connect the bottles....(which I understand)
>
>But with two or three wires in each bottle, AND the terminal from the top 
>going
>straight down into the center bottle..(or anyone for that matter) won't you 
>get
>some arc(ing) from wire to wire, inside the cap?

Nope, we never have, just make sure ALL the wires go well down into the 
water.

>
>Just food for my brain...
>
>Thanks,
>Jaime


Christopher "Duck" Boden Geek#1
President / C.E.O. / Alpha Geek
The Geek Group
www.thegeekgroup-dot-org
Because the Geek shall inherit the Earth!




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