Self Charging Leyden

[argona369]

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[argona369]

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[Caractacus]

We seem to have wandered off the original simple question - Can a high voltage capacitor 'self charge'?

My experience is yes, they can. I leave all of my good caps 'strapped' with an aluminium shorting bar.
There is much written on the matter. Be it dust particles migrating charge or whatever - the simple answer is that a GOOD capacitor will accumulate charge.
Leyden jars are rarely thought of as a good capacitor - they have a lossy dielectric that allows charge to bleed away. The answer then is strictly - NO. Not a Leyden jar - but a high quality HV cap will accumulate charge.
Just my 2 cents..

[argona369]

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[Koen1]

Sorry? We're talking about the "self-charging" Leyden jars right?
Leyden jars by definition ARE capacitors.
So if it is really a Leyden jar, then it must be a capacitor.

If it is not actually a Leyden jar at all, then what is it?

As far as I know the Testatica Leyden jars are exactly that: simple, primitive, but effective capacitors.

The use of electret materials in the Testatica has long been suggested, but a possible mode of operation without electret can be worked out as well.
As long as we're talking about electrets, I would like to point out the substantial difference between an electret and a corona triode.
You speak of them as if they are nearly the same thing. A triode is fundamentally different from an electret.
And the remark that the wax type electrets lose their polarity or may switch them within a few days is not really truthful either...
The original Carnauba wax electret for example retained its polarity and electret effect for years before losing it.

But to my knowledge the Testatica uses a Wimshurst-type electrostatic generator which both ionises the surrounding air and seperates charges, and it uses periodic discharges through a 'valve' which acts as a rectifyer, along with the principles of the electrostatic motor to keep it spinning, while at the same time electrostatic attraction and electron cascade effects absorb charges from the ionised air in different parts of the device such as the metal mesh 'capacitors' and the pulsed magnet+capacitor "cacade generator".
It does not necessarily need electrets...