196 lines
10 KiB
Plaintext
196 lines
10 KiB
Plaintext
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| File Name : SALTCAP.ASC | Online Date : 12/19/95 |
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| Contributed by : Chuck Knight | Dir Category : ENERGY |
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| From : KeelyNet BBS | DataLine : (214) 324-3501 |
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| KeelyNet * PO BOX 870716 * Mesquite, Texas * USA * 75187 |
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| A FREE Alternative Sciences BBS sponsored by Vanguard Sciences |
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| InterNet email keelynet@ix.netcom.com (Jerry Decker) |
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| Files also available at Bill Beaty's http://www.eskimo.com/~billb |
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The following file deals with brine or saltwater as the dielectric for high
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charge capacitors.
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Date: Thu, 14 Dec 1995 17:01:45 -0600 (CST)
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From: Chuck Knight <chuck@utdallas.edu>
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To: keelynet@ix.netcom.com
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Subject: Salt Water Caps (fwd)
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Message-ID: <Pine.SUN.3.91.951214170138.15884E-100000@infoserv.utdallas.edu>
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MIME-Version: 1.0
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Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII
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---------- Forwarded message ----------
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Date: Sat, 9 Dec 1995 03:44:00 GMT
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From: Richard Quick <richard.quick@SLUG.ORG>
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To: Multiple recipients of list USA-TESLA <USA-TESLA@USA.NET>
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Subject: Salt Water Caps
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* Original msg to: rmr@christa.unk.edu
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* Carbons sent to: tesla@grendel.objinc.com
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Quoting Ryan Ruel <rmr@christa.unh.edu>:
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> I have completely finished my coil except for the capacitor.
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> I'm planning to build some rolled polyethylene caps as soon as
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> I gather the required materials and find the time. Until then,
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> I would like to easily construct a salt-water capacitor so I
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> can play with the coil until I build a better unit. I was not
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> really able to find anything online about salt-water caps, but
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> I keep seeing references to them. What would be required to
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> build one capable of withstanding a 15 kv, 60 ma neon system?
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> The secondary is 24 inches, 6 inches diameter, 880 turns 22 awg
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> magnet wire. Primary is 14 turns, conical spiral, 1/4 inch
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> copper tubing. Spark gap is a 6 inch, 16 electrode disk rotary
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> system. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
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Before I jump into salt water capacitors I would note that the rotary gap is
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overkill on a neon power supply. The rotary may even cause a premature failure
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in a neon. This is not to say the gap won't work, it will, I just prefer a
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decent static gap when using internally limited (read neon) transformers...
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Now, on to the subject at hand, salt water capacitors:
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Tesla used salt water capacitors in the primary circuit of the industrial
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sized Colorado Springs coil. He took ceramic standoff insulators and placed
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them on wooden planking layed down over the wooden floor. On top of the
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insulators he placed another layer of wooden planking. This formed an
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insulated raised platform.
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On top of the raised platform Tesla placed seven square metal tanks. The tanks
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were made of tin or galvinized sheet steel and had soldered seams to prevent
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leaks. Each tank was about three feet square and two feet high. An excellent
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photo of these tanks appears on page 324 of the Colorado Springs Notes.
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Inside of the tanks, Tesla placed a number of glass mineral water bottles.
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Using a saturated solution of rock salt and water (brine), Tesla filled the
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bottles about 2/3 of the way to the top and inserted an electrode into each
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bottle so that the conductor was in contact with the brine.
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Each electrode extended out of the top of the bottle. The bottles in each tank
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were grouped into three equal parts or sections. Each group had their
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electrodes wired together to form a high current buss.
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Once the bottles in a tank were filled and connected, brine was carefully
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poured into the tank until the level of salt water in the tank and the level
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of salt water in the bottles were the same. This is a salt water capacitor.
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The brine in the tank forms one of the two capacitor plates. The glass bottles
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are the dielectric. The brine inside of the glass bottles forms the second
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plate of the capacitor.
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Tesla had some simple covers that fit over the tops of the tanks. There were
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three holes in each cover. A high voltage buss cable passed through a
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porcelain insulator placed in each hole. Each cable represented 1/3 of the
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capacitance of a tank.
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Salt water capacitors of this type are messy to build, difficult to maintain,
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and very lossy; but they do work. In order to supress corona losses, prevent
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flashovers up and down the sides of the bottles, reduce churning of the liquid
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plates during pulse operation, and prevent evaporation of the brine plates;
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both the bottles and the tank were topped off with several inches of heavy
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mineral oil.
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For today's coiler a smaller and somewhat simpler salt water capacitor may be
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easily and cheaply constructed for use until a suitable plastic film capacitor
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can be constructed/purchased. The most common is the beer bottle/brine cap.
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I have heard all of the jokes about these... That you don't really need the
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brine, just get a case of cheap long-necks and let nature take it's course:-)
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But anyway, you do need about a case of long neck bottles (clean with labels
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removed) and beer bottles do work very well. You will also need the twist off
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caps. Buy a standard Rubbermaid plastic dishpan (11-1/2 x 13-1/2 x 5-1/4
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inches, Wal-Mart under $7.00).
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Shop around at a hardware store(s) and buy twenty-four 1/4 inch diam. by 6
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inch long galvinized steel carriage bolts. You will also need seventy-two, 1/4
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inch thread, nuts that will thread onto the carriage bolts. You will need a
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few quarts of the cheapest grade, straight 30W, non-detergent, motor oil;
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don't spend money for multi-viscosity high detergent oil; you can use the best
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mineral oil in a pinch, but it works no better than cheapest straight grade
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engine oil.
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You will need some heavy duty aluminum foil, and you may want to get a large
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tube of clear silicone sealant. Get a 1/4 inch diam. by 1 inch long brass
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screw and two nuts.
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Using a hole punch, punch a 1/4 inch hole into the center of each twist-top
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bottle cap. If you punch from the top of the cap down it will bend, so flip
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the caps over and punch them through from the bottom. Run a nut down the
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threaded shank of the carriage bolt about an inch, slide a bottle cap over the
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threaded shank, then run another nut down and tighten.
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This should produce an electrode that will drop down inside of the long neck
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bottle and will secure with a twist on the bottle cap. After fitting and
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adjusting, you may want to remove the top nut and the cap. By bedding the cap
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to the electrode with silicone sealant you can prevent leaks and stop the nuts
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from loosening.
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After completing the electrode assemblies for all of the bottles, mix up a few
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gallons of warm saturated brine in a five gallon plastic bucket. I use the
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cheapest grade of rock-salt which is readily available here in the winter
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season. In many parts of the country water softener salt is available year
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around.
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Fill each bottle with brine to a depth of about 4-3/4 inches, insert the
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electrode part way, then top the bottle off with a couple of inches of motor
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oil. Use a small funnel or "squirt bottle" here to prevent sloshing and do not
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overfill with the brine or oil.
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Now if things are going right you have a bottle with the electrode assembly
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inside and held over to the side. Before fully inserting the electrode
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assembly and cinching down on the cap you can smear some silicone sealant
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around the threads on the cap and around the top of the bottle. This will
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prevent leaks. Cinch down firmly on the cap.
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Fold a very large sheet of aluminum foil over double and scrunch it down into
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the bottom and sides of the plastic dishpan. Some dishpans have a hole molded
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into the lip, if yours doesn't then cut or drill one. Get a 1/4 inch diam. by
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1 inch long brass screw and two nuts. Roll up a bit of the foil at the hole
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end of the dishpan, punch a hole through the foil, and make a terminal by
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passing the brass screw through the plastic lip and foil. Secure with one nut.
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The second nut is for securing the connection to the tank circuit.
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Set the bottles into the dishpan. You will find that only 16 of the bottles
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will comfortably fit, but you will most likely need the other eight bottles
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and a second dishpan to get a .012 MFD capacitor. One dishpan with 16 bottles
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gives about .008 MFD.
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Wire the tops of the bottles together with some stout copper cable, strap, or
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copper tubing that is pounded flat and drilled for the 1/4 inch carriage bolt
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electrodes. You can use some strips of aluminum flashing with holes punched
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through if you smear a little electrical corrosion inhibitor on the
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connection.
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When everything is set and settled down, fill the dishpan up with brine to
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within a 1/2 inch or less of the rim. Pour a thin layer of oil over the brine
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to suppress corona. With the dishpan this full it is not fair to say this
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capacitor is portable. It will slosh over if moved. It is probably best to
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fill the pan right where you intend to use it.
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There are as many variations on these capacitors as there are coilers building
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them. Heavy plastic bottles or buckets give a much higher Q factor, but the
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dielectric constant ("K") of the plastic is a low ~2 compared to the much
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higher K of bottle glass which comes in ~7. This means the capacitors must get
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physically larger.
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I have seen a pretty nice vertical stack brine capacitor made from five gallon
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plastic buckets. A strip of stainless steel strap was hung across the bottom
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of the bucket, up the side, and over the rim. About 1.5 quarts of brine was
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poured in.
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Another bucket was firmly seated inside of the first, another strap, more
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brine, another bucket, etc. The guy was processing 8 KVA from a pole pig
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through this corona-glowing; ozone-producing monstrosity.
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Like I said, these are messy, inefficent, high maintanence... but they are
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very cheap and they do work.
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Richard Quick
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... If all else fails... Throw another megavolt across it!
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___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12
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