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High voltage wire

Posted: Tue Jan 30, 2018 12:20 am
by Leonardo Chen
I am wondering, would this high voltage wire work? It is rated at 40kv but there is no current rating listed.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/10ft-HV-Tesla- ... Swr6RZg3H2 Thank you.

Re: High voltage wire

Posted: Tue Jan 30, 2018 12:53 am
by Richard Hull
The current rating on HV wire is never important especially in the fusor's case. Only the voltage rating is important. Be sure that the voltage rating is correct..... super important!! Unmarked wire is always suspect, but a good, trained eye can make a close guess.

Are you planning on pushing a single little amp through the wire delivered at 40,000 volts? Will your house handle that 40,000 watt delivery rate??

You need to be very concerned about the current capacity of HV conductors if if your putting up giant high tension towers delivering 10 to 100 megawatts of power continuously.

Richard Hull

Re: High voltage wire

Posted: Tue Jan 30, 2018 2:53 am
by ian_krase
Otoh, I have to say I'm a bit skeptical as to the thickness of that insulation.

Re: High voltage wire

Posted: Tue Jan 30, 2018 3:01 am
by Jerry Biehler
It will hold up. This is not the typical silicone wire.

Re: High voltage wire

Posted: Sun Feb 04, 2018 11:39 pm
by Duncan Wilkie
I have a length of this wire, and it is indeed rated 40kv on the casing, however, there are only 7 22-30 gauge copper strands in the conductor. Here's a pic:
IMG_2585.JPG
Don't know whether this is suitable for fusion work, probably not for Tesla coils though due to tiny current capacity.

Re: High voltage wire

Posted: Mon Feb 05, 2018 12:10 am
by Jerry Biehler
It's 22ga, this is very common HV wire used on lasers and stuff. 22ga can actually handle up to 9 amps with PE insulation which this wire uses.

Re: High voltage wire

Posted: Mon Feb 05, 2018 6:40 am
by Richard Hull
Even if you used only 4 amps at 30,000 volts, that wire could not even get warm passing 120,000 watts of fusion electricity!!.... Something no household in the U.S. could ever have enter it, but that little conductor could handle it if you needed it.

More likely you will do fusion at 10 ma at 30,000 volts..... 300 watts.

Richard Hull

Re: High voltage wire

Posted: Thu Feb 08, 2018 9:08 pm
by Bob Reite
Yep, I've never seen a residence with a 600 amp service! When I lived on the west coast, I did encounter a resistance heated Bel Air mansion with a 400 amp service. It was built in the mid 1930's or so for Warner Baxter. Being a movie star, he could afford a big electric bill.

Re: High voltage wire

Posted: Fri Mar 16, 2018 11:23 pm
by prestonbarrows
You will never have to worry about current carrying capability (ampacity) of wire for fusor level endeavors. To exceed the ampacity of even the thinnest wire at fusion relevant voltages would require more power than industrial installations and $100,000's of specialized power supplies.

Voltage insulation is all you really care about. Generally, in the realm of cheap amateur shit, silicone stuff is best (adding a braided ground shield helps a lot). Fully shielding any electronics from power arcs is always good. Standard RG8 can be pushed up towards 20-30 kV without much issue, plenty to get your foot into the fusor door.

As a quick example, 40 kV wire is available on mcmaster at around three bucks per foot. The current rating is ~THIRTY AMPS. Or ONE POINT TWO MILLION WATTS power capacity.
https://www.mcmaster.com/#standard-elec ... e/=1c0461r