Capacitor design using poly tubing as dielectric
GimpyJoe, Sun Jul 29 2007, 03:48PMIt's been a while but I'm starting to get back into my HV pursuits again. I'd like to get my tesla coil up and running again without dumping a bunch of money (again) into my MMC. Here's what I've come up with:
Take a piece of 4" pvc and run a bunch of pieces of 3/8" poly tubing through it. Now put endcaps on the PVC with holes drilled for the poly tubing to poke through. Seal around the holes and fill the PVC tube with salt water and add a copper electrode into the salt water. Then fill the poly tubes with salt water. Put copper electrodes into the poly tubes.
__________________________________________________ _______PVC____
l salt water (plate 1) l
================================================ ===
salt water (plate 2) poly tubing
================================================= ==
l_________________________________________________ _______________l
I'm out of town right now so I can't try this for another week. Does anyone see any problems with it?
Re: Capacitor design using poly tubing as dielectric
Steve Ward, Sun Jul 29 2007, 04:19PM
I actually had this idea when i was just starting tesla coiling. The only real issue is that the surface area is pretty small so you need a lot of tube, so it might get expensive.
Steve Ward, Sun Jul 29 2007, 04:19PM
I actually had this idea when i was just starting tesla coiling. The only real issue is that the surface area is pretty small so you need a lot of tube, so it might get expensive.
Re: Capacitor design using poly tubing as dielectric
Marko, Sun Jul 29 2007, 04:25PM
You must consider the low dielectric constant and thickness of HDPE tube, you'l really need a lot of it and if you don't have some free source MMC will actually be cheaper.
I think you will also have trouble insulating the lower end. I think best shot would be sanding both tubes throughly, putting a cap on and them pouring few centimeters of resin for a seal.
Still it is a lot of work and hassle, will be extremely bulky and I don't think it's worth building an MMC. I actually haven't seen a homemade cap good (and cheap) enough to match MMC's.
Marko, Sun Jul 29 2007, 04:25PM
You must consider the low dielectric constant and thickness of HDPE tube, you'l really need a lot of it and if you don't have some free source MMC will actually be cheaper.
I think you will also have trouble insulating the lower end. I think best shot would be sanding both tubes throughly, putting a cap on and them pouring few centimeters of resin for a seal.
Still it is a lot of work and hassle, will be extremely bulky and I don't think it's worth building an MMC. I actually haven't seen a homemade cap good (and cheap) enough to match MMC's.
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