I see, so in Tesla's drawings those are just normal capacitors, not WFCs of any kind. And Tesla never actually dabbled in any kind of electrolysis then, someone has simply swapped out Tesla's real capacitors for two conducting plates submerged in water! :s
No. Tesla dabbled in WFC's too and those are cells.
Then I've certainly not seen that patent... anyone got a link to it?
Just starting this thread but thought I might have some insight on this particular topic. Very few people catch it but it was stated in one of Tesla's transmission patents that he intended to transmit between balloons maintained at 30,000 feet. I his day that would have been accomplished with hydrogen. So maybe that is what you are thinking of. I don't remember seeing a patent for this device but it is described on page 47 of his Colorado Springs Notes compiled by Aleksandar Marincic published by BN Publishing
www.BNPublishing.comColorado Springs Notes 1899 - 1900Page 47
June 26, 1899
In following up an old idea of separarting gaseous mixtures by the application to them of excessively high electomotive force, the following apparatus is to be adopted with a new oscillator.
Three tubes t
1 t
2 t
3 (assuming only three will be needed) are slipped one into the other, being held apart by insulating plugs a b c. In these plugs are fastened outlet tubes A B C to lead the several separated gases away to reservoirs into which they may be compressed.
There is more description and a drawing but the intention was to separate hydrogen from air by high voltage electrical means. It is not explicitly stated that this is to maintain the elevation of the balloons but that is probably the intented use for the hydrogen.
So no, this wasn't water cells but it is sort of related.
What's more interesting is his July 4, 1899 notes where he tracked lightning from storms across the high plains of Colorado by detecting their electrical output with one of his devices. I think this is when he determined he could transmit through the crust of the planet and didn't have to use the balloons. As far as I know he never tried the balloon method which is just as well because it probably would have failed. The altitudes he was talking about were in the jet stream which was unknown at the time. But the idea was sound at the time because there were no airplanes, the jet stream was unknown, and the cold temperatures (-40) and reduced air pressure at that altitude would both be beneficial to conduction.
One other thing you will find interesting about the Colorado Springs Notes: he measured capacitance in "bottles", like the wine bottles shown in the earlier posts but I don't remember if they were wine bottles or Champagne bottles. You can see them sitting in tubs in some of the pictures. They are just Leyden jars, the original capacitor or "condenser" as it was also called. So jars, bottles, condensers, and capacitors are all the same thing.
Added: An interestin demonstration showing that the charge of a Leyden jar is stored in the dielectric.
Dissectible Capacitor (The video's owner prevents external embedding)
