Date: Thu, 3 Aug 1995 16:07:30 -0600
From: Erik C Schwartz <ECS9211@tntech.edu>
Reply to: usa-tesla@usa.net
Subject: Re: Capacitor sources

Hello,

I have an excellent idea for those of you who make glass and foil caps.

Build a box out of wood about three inches taller than your glass plates, the
box need not have a lid. Using a table saw or a hand saw (the power kind with
the blades that are used on a table saw), abjust the blade so that instead of
cutting through the wood it cuts a slot. Use nails to assemble the liddless
box, making sure that the seams are together (no cracks). Slide your plate
glass caps into the box, leave about 1.2" to 2" space between the caps, you
don't want any arcing. Now go outside, this can get messy! Heat, in a double
boiler, some canning parifin, enough to cover the caps completely. While the
parifin is melting, get duct tape and go over every seam, then go over the
seams again and this time over lap the edges of the tape already on the box. I
also forgot to mention, you need to connect your caps in parralell(sp?), run
uncoated copper wire from each plate to the top of the box, placing the wire
opposite sides of the box for each capacitor. Now the parifin should be
completely melted use a candy making thremometer to measure the temp. It needs
to be about 190 F. When it reaches this, pour the parifin into the box,
covering the caps completely, you will want to parifin to come almost to the
top of the box. Make sure that the parafin is not leaking out of the seams of
the box. if you discover that it is, use more duct tape to stop the leaking. If
you have a limited budget, you might want to get a large cookie sheet, that has
lips on all sides, then if parifin leakes you can reuse it. It will take about
24 hours for the parifin to completely harden, in the first 45 - 120 minutes
you may want to check on it. I have had experience making candles, and the wax
tends to get air bubbles, these cause sinks in cooling wax. If any air bubbles
are seen, use a dowel to try and move them to the surface, the parifin should
be clear enough to see through went molten. If any sinks occur, the only time
you can correct them is during the 45 - 120 minutes. Use the dowel, and poke it
through the hardened sink and the move it up and down, then pour more parifin
into the hole, and file the sink.
	This project can get annoying, when you have to continue to fill the
sinks, how ever if you manage to remove the air pockets under the sinks ond
fill the sink, this protects the caps from losing energy to ionize the air
around it. Unprotected glass/foil caps glow blue, this may not seem like a
large lose, but every little bit counts.

Erik Schwartz
ecs9211@gemini.tntech.edu

After thoughts : I forgot, It is a good idea to also allow 1 or 2 inches on the
bottom of the box to keep the highly charged caps from arcing around the
parifin. Just don't make the slots go all the way to the bottom of the box so
that the parifin will cover all sides of the caps. 

If this procedure works well for anyone, please give some feedback!
