On 05/21/2013 11:34 AM, Mike Gray wrote:
For the same money I can get roughly 250% more PVCu tube from here: http://www.pipestock.com/pvc/pvc-pipe/pvc-pipe-10-bar-metric/ So is there any real difference between acrylic and PVCu? What's the electrical property of primary concern here, relative permittivity? I'm still wondering about that volume resistivity figure I was given for the PVCu... anyone able to shed some light on that one? Or am I over-engineering this whole decision...? Is it just a case that any old (pure) plastic will do a good job?
From my understanding, it makes little to no difference in the functional performance of a tesla coil. Some have taken steps to ensure that their PVC pipe is lower in moisture content, often by hanging a lightbulb inside of the tube to help warm it up, and then coating it in polyurethane (or other compound) to help seal it up.
Personally, I just keep the pieces I use in the house, and they have worked out fine for me. I do prefer the "drainage" type of PVC pipe (ASTM D2729 here in the states), as it has a much thinner wall than PVC pipe intended for use for pressurized water.
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