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Registered Member #75
Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 09:30AM
Location: Montana, USA
Posts: 711
Every once in a while you see these white plastic block Maxwell capacitors with ratings like 40kV 80nF and rediculously low ESL for sale on eBay. I know that people use these as tank caps for tesla coils, but I was wondering if there are any other hobbyist uses for these?
More to the point, I was pondering the use of these for electromagnetic projectile accelerators. Even though these capacitors don't store a lot of energy (64J in the above example), the efficiency could be way beyond what is achievable by conventional means, since the incredibly short discharge times (in the ns range?) would make for insane magnetic fields. I like scaling things down, and since I can't work on my 15kJ EM-gun for the time being....
Another thing that came to my mind was a plasma pinch device for some nuclear play. There is a pdf somewhere out there describing a hobbyist device of that kind. Irradiating things with neutrons could be big fun! Introducing f-center crystal defects, getting stuff to glow in the dark, endless posibilities. Suitable vacuum pumps can also be had for less than 200€.
Would it be stupid spending money on a cap of this type with these things in mind, or would it actually be suitable for these experiments?
Registered Member #97
Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 05:40PM
Location:
Posts: 61
I don't think that one of those capacitors has anywhere near the energy for a plasma pinch device. The smallest plasma pinch devices have use around 2KJ to produce neutrons. I am not sure what you could do with one of those, but if you bought a lot you could make a ridicoulous marx generator.
Registered Member #75
Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 09:30AM
Location: Montana, USA
Posts: 711
I have seen Marx generators made of exactly those caps desribed in the literature, and they were used for some serious relativistic electron beam stuff. But thanks, I don't feel like spending 1000s of bucks on capacitors.
But the point is a valid one, what is the minimum energy required for this pinch stuff? I think I read somewhere that the detonators in nukes work by exploding foil detonators which are doing this z-pinch thing aswell. I don't know if this is true, but it would certainly be below the kJ energy range.
Registered Member #97
Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 05:40PM
Location:
Posts: 61
Nuclear weapons use a exploding bridgewire detonator (EBW.) One of those capacitors looks like it would have more than enough energy available for an EBW. More info on EBWs here Other than a tesla coil capacitor or for EBW the only thing I can think of is a low pressure nitrogen laser.
Registered Member #75
Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 09:30AM
Location: Montana, USA
Posts: 711
I'm not sure I want to build a detonator, high explosives are illegal in the country so I am not playing with them. A miniature neutron generator would be much more appealing to me! But if that is out of the question, what about the idea with the miniature, über-efficient ring launcher type of thing? Come on, I need an excuse to buy one of those lovely white caps, and I am sure I cant use it as a tank cap for a DRSSTC!
Registered Member #75
Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 09:30AM
Location: Montana, USA
Posts: 711
Maybe not nitrogen, but I think a lot of various gas lasers can be excited in that way. Oxygen, various metal vapours... Many of these work superradiantly, but still a lot of work.
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Uses for ultrafast Maxwell pulse caps?
