Lets Build a Capacitor from Paper and Tin Foil. Will It Work

Lots of videos on YouTube about a DIY paper and tin foil capacitor. I haven't seen any of them put through any real tests to see how well they would actually work in a circuit. Lets build one and use several types of meters to check if it is any good.

[RussellTeapot]

I counted the squares on the cutting mat and guessed the dimensions of the tinfoil strips, it's roughly 3 x 25 cm, so an area of 75 cm squared. Didn't expected 2 nF of capacitance at all, quite surprised! Thanks for the video, really informative: I appreciated that you showed both the entire building process and you took the time to make all sorts of measurement, the most interesting to me being capacity since I would like to assemble my own for fun and exploration and I wanted a ballpark figure to know what I should expect out of it

[mikesudalnik]

and a BIG Plus, Sir, to increasing knowledge of electronics!

[thomasheckhaus]

We made Leyden Jars when I was a kid in science class. I did this years ago but just on my own, no plans. I used all sorts of insulators and conductors, sadly back in the 60s I had no way to test them other than an old Heathkit VTVM to see if low voltage A.C. would pass through. The one you made with the double stick tape and shrink wrap was a thousand times better than mine were. An interesting video especially with all the test gear. BTW I received my pcb to build the capacitor tester, now to get the parts. Regards, Tom

[roman_abelardo]

Faltó pintar las láminas con carbón activado 💪
Excelente instrumental 👌
Gracias por su aporte, saludos desde Argentina 🇦🇷👋

[Turboy]

Check the videos on youtube from CE Manufacturing showing how they make capacitors, and their videos include the process of forming the capacitors after assembly. They set a high voltage variable power supply to the rated DC current value of the capacitor and ramp it up at the current limit, topping out slightly above the intended operating voltage. (540 volts for a 525 volt rated capacitor) In their case, the current setting is about 1.3 A.

[TobyCharlesThompson]

How to increase the capacitance and how to charge it?

[amsterdamn]

would be nice with a bit of commentary