Homemade Capacitor Formulas (Voltage and uF)?

[dankie]

so poor...

[the_big_m_in_ok]

so poor...

@dankie,
Well,okay.  Could you be more specific?

Before you answer, I assert that I remember this information as being more than merely *cost effective* awhile ago (years) from an Internet site devoted to high voltage experimentation.  20-30 KV capacitors cost a lot and a string of these in series can be built for much less.  They need to be carefully built and not exceeded in thier voltage capacity, or arcing and/or foil burn-through will result, obviously.  Adequate testing and quality control is required, but if it's done, you will have saved a significant amount of money.  The diligent experimenter will need to decide if it's worth the effort.

I didn't invent these, someone else did, and I've only had the wherewithal to study and research literature on high voltage up to the present.

[nueview]

tRULY HIGH VOLTAGE CAPACITERS ARE IN A WORLD OF THERE OWN

i say this because i tryed building some at one time in the past and found that transformer oil from your local power utility works really grreat it is a good stable fluid but even it will break down due to sharp edges on the foil or even a sharp bump on the surface corners are a deffinate no go round is best and open plates in a tank of oil gives good adjustment but the plates will flex under that tension any additional supports should be of equal or better dielectric value or they will conduct as well any air in your fluid can also cause arcing after a certain tention the larger it gets the more dangerous it will become so always leave it shorted when its just sitting around as it can accumulate a charge.

[the_big_m_in_ok]

tRULY HIGH VOLTAGE CAPACITERS ARE IN A WORLD OF THERE OWN

"...transformer oil from your local power utility works really grreat it is a good stable fluid"

>>Good, I agree.  Awhile ago power companies used sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), since it's nontoxic and unreactive toward many materials.  Good dielectric, too.  What it did do was form a sub-compound, trifluoro methy sulfur pentflouride (CF3SF5), which was a gas, rather than a liquid originally in the transformer.  Today, more stable compounds are being tried.





"but even it will break down due to sharp edges on the foil or even a sharp bump on the surface corners are a deffinate no go"

>>I agree.  Sharp edges will cause coronal discharge in such thing as high voltage multipliers like Cockroft-Walton and others.





"...round is best and open plates in a tank of oil"

>>Your statement reminded me that the description in my posting above should have had appended to it:  The homemade capacitor should also be immersed in a dielectric liguid, like oil.  This will increase the voltage carrying capacity of the capacitor(s).  Because styrofoam is made of hydrocarbon Styrene, mineral oil might be okay,  as long as the styrofoam doesn't disolve in the dielectric liquid.




"air in your fluid can also cause arcing after a certain tention"

>>Right.  I have some professional experience in high voltage R&D, and I agree.  Air could easily break down before some higher density liquid dielectric compounds.




"...the larger it gets the more dangerous it will become so always leave it shorted when its just sitting around as it can accumulate a charge."

>>This would have free energy applications, wouldn't it?  Place a zener diode or a string of them across the terminals in which the zener(s) have a threshhold lower than the dielectric.  This would periodically short the terminals which could have a step down transformer in wired parallel agross the zener(s)/transformer, to a diode and a battery.

Spark gaps in inventions from the early 1900's worked the same way for free energy applications.  An automobile spark plug is obviously a more modern adaptation.

[the_big_m_in_ok]

tRULY HIGH VOLTAGE CAPACITERS ARE IN A WORLD OF THERE OWN

"...transformer oil from your local power utility works really grreat it is a good stable fluid"

>>Good, I agree.  Awhile ago power companies used sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), since it's nontoxic and unreactive toward many materials.  Good dielectric, too.  What it did do was form a sub-compound, trifluoro methy sulfur pentflouride (CF3SF5), which was a gas, rather than a liquid originally in the transformer.  Today, more stable compounds are being tried.





"but even it will break down due to sharp edges on the foil or even a sharp bump on the surface corners are a deffinate no go"

>>I agree.  Sharp edges will cause coronal discharge in such thing as high voltage multipliers like Cockroft-Walton and others.





"...round is best and open plates in a tank of oil"

>>Your statement reminded me that the description in my posting above should have had appended to it:  The homemade capacitor should also be immersed in a dielectric liguid, like oil.  This will increase the voltage carrying capacity of the capacitor(s).  Because styrofoam is made of hydrocarbon Styrene, mineral oil might be okay,  as long as the styrofoam doesn't disolve in the dielectric liquid.




"air in your fluid can also cause arcing after a certain tention"

>>Right.  I have some professional experience in high voltage R&D, and I agree.  Air could easily break down before some higher density liquid dielectric compounds.




"...the larger it gets the more dangerous it will become so always leave it shorted when its just sitting around as it can accumulate a charge."

>>This would have free energy applications, wouldn't it?  Place a zener diode or a string of them across the terminals in which the zener(s) have a threshhold lower than the dielectric.  This would periodically short the terminals which could have a step down transformer in wired parallel agross the zener(s)/transformer, to a diode and a battery.

Spark gaps in inventions from the early 1900's worked the same way for free energy applications.  An automobile spark plug is obviously a more modern adaptation.