Andrew Robinson wrote:
Ok... thanks for all your replies... but now I have conflicting opinions. One says yay Al and another says boo Al. Can you guys show some supporting data so I can make the final decision on which material to use. FYI in case you didnt look at our engineering diagrams, the Al will only be used for the conducting ring and electrode supports. The actual electrode electrodes are .25" tungsten. Look at the diagrams and note the materials at the bottom of the designs. Thanks, Andrew
One of the challenges in building things, including Tesla coils, is dealing with things you didn't plan for. That's a hurdle that vexes even the best builders, and can be frustrating when you want to get something done, but have to wait until such a time as sufficient knowledge and materials are available.
Gary provided you with the numbers from his experiments, but I haven't seen any other published data on the subject.
Fortunately, you seem to be affiliated with a university. This might be a good opportunity to make use of the resources of that setting, and perhaps collaborate with another department to come up with the experimental data which you are looking for, and contribute those results here.
Probably not a step you had planned for, but you never know where it might lead you, and that's half the fun.
Jon _______________________________________________ Tesla mailing list Tesla@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx http://www.pupman.com/mailman/listinfo/tesla