I would say both work, so use what you have. But if you want, when I get my nickel we can trade some nickel and silver.
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I would say both work, so use what you have. But if you want, when I get my nickel we can trade some nickel and silver.
As contact with the clip is key, in my build I think I'm going with a stationary post on the box and a clip on a lead. For the stationary clip I was thinking of using something like this.
I would but I'm almost out what with all this experimentation
If you have good results with the nickel thats what ill order next, I think its a lot cheaper anyway.I have both and I am split. I really like the silver wire since it is dead soft, this is very helpful because I have a hard time seeing the joint sometimes when rolling a coil around a silica wick, with dead soft it very easy to "feel" where the joint is. If I was rolling a coil for a genny I think I would prefer the nickel because it is stiffer and I could pull it a little tighter. Thats why I like the 35v 1000uf since it seems like it is low enough to join silver but does nickle as well.
Since you have a LM2577 board now and a 4700uf cap, try setting the voltage to 16.5v that = .639 Joules which is where I am having good results welding both nickle, silver, nichrome and kanthal of all gauges.
Solid base.....check
Third and fourth hand.....check .... But another strike against silver....can't use my harbor freight magnets
Still contemplating a ram....possibly swing out of the way for wand use
Third and fourth hand.....check .... But another strike against silver....can't use my harbor freight magnets
Still contemplating a ram....possibly swing out of the way for wand use
for some reason, my lm2577 board maxes out at 33.2v. ive been able to get super consistent welds, no messing with a meter, just press for a few seconds and weld.
any ideas why my max output is only 33.2v?
any ideas why my max output is only 33.2v?
I was thinking about doing what I think Bapgood suggested in an earlier post that I can't find right now. Using a thicker solid wire (IDK maybe 14g) for say the positive lead to act as a holder for one wire. then you just tap it with the other flexible one. This would eliminate using the 'helping hands' holder I was considering using. See any reason why this wouldn't work?
Steve
My spot weld - fixed base and wand setup.
I made the wand with readily available parts incase anyone wanted to make one.
- the shaft is a 3/8" pex toilet riser part ~$2.50 from lowes
- the pex was a little flimsy, so I reinforced it with the handle of a used epoxy brush. A big pack of epoxy brushes is a couple bucks at harbor freight.
- the cap charge button is just a radio shack tact switch. It's not rated for this, but I tested it and it worked. So it might not last.
- the weld lead is 12g solid wire soldered to the blue 16g wire
- wires are just some I had.... The blue is 16g fine strand silicone shielded, and the tact switch wires are some ~24g servo wires.
The base is just some 2" steel round stock I had, with a hole drilled in the center for the 12g solid wire. There is screw coming in from the side to lock it in place. Another piece of 16g standed wire is soldered to the solid wire.
I made the wand with readily available parts incase anyone wanted to make one.
- the shaft is a 3/8" pex toilet riser part ~$2.50 from lowes
- the pex was a little flimsy, so I reinforced it with the handle of a used epoxy brush. A big pack of epoxy brushes is a couple bucks at harbor freight.
- the cap charge button is just a radio shack tact switch. It's not rated for this, but I tested it and it worked. So it might not last.
- the weld lead is 12g solid wire soldered to the blue 16g wire
- wires are just some I had.... The blue is 16g fine strand silicone shielded, and the tact switch wires are some ~24g servo wires.
The base is just some 2" steel round stock I had, with a hole drilled in the center for the 12g solid wire. There is screw coming in from the side to lock it in place. Another piece of 16g standed wire is soldered to the solid wire.
Adjust pot could be out of tolerance; replace it with another 10k pot. Or another part on the board is out of tolerance... tough to find those.
i tried to bypass the resistor and fuse, still same output. to be honest tho, its welding like ive never welded before. id guess 90-95% with nickel. my 28 gauge silver is still a no-go...waiting on 30 gauge silver to test that.
Thats awesome. I'm with dsy5 on the pot being out of tolerence, at this price I doubt they are tested through the full range (if at all). You could add another 200uf cap to compensate for the lower voltage.
My spot weld - fixed base and wand setup.
I made the wand with readily available parts incase anyone wanted to make one.
- the shaft is a 3/8" pex toilet riser part ~$2.50 from lowes
- the pex was a little flimsy, so I reinforced it with the handle of a used epoxy brush. A big pack of epoxy brushes is a couple bucks at harbor freight.
- the cap charge button is just a radio shack tact switch. It's not rated for this, but I tested it and it worked. So it might not last.
- the weld lead is 12g solid wire soldered to the blue 16g wire
- wires are just some I had.... The blue is 16g fine strand silicone shielded, and the tact switch wires are some ~24g servo wires.
The base is just some 2" steel round stock I had, with a hole drilled in the center for the 12g solid wire. There is screw coming in from the side to lock it in place. Another piece of 16g standed wire is soldered to the solid wire.
Bap,
I like your setup but am a little confused by the picture at just what is going on here. How does it work.
Steve
man, im loving this thing. i kept it so ive bypassed the resistor and the fuse, added the 120uf cap. blows me away how much of a difference for me its made to get solid welds. the camera was fun, but this brought it to a super functional machine. no dmm needed. my caps charge in 1 second. 1 14500 aw imr. lm2577 all the way.
I should get my nickel wire on Tuesday and I plan on doing a video then.
I didn't like the operator inconsistency I was getting holding one wire in a clamp and touching the other wire. So what I have is a base where both wires are held in place by a clamp/magnet setting on top of one the weld posts. Once everything is situated, I charge the cap and make the weld by touching the wires with the weld post on the wand.
Kind of like a typical spot welder except the person wielding the wand has to make proper contact to weld.
The resistor and fuse have nothing to do with output voltage nor total joules, they are there to prevent your battery from over discharging in an unsafe manner. On paper, the lm2577 board charging a cap should not deliver over what an aw 14500 battery can safely discharge but, the same paper also says it puts out 35v.....
yeah, rewired the fuse back just for safety.
heres the finished box, on/off switch, green LED for on, charge cap(s) momentary switch on right, red discharge button below with 1 10k resistor in series.
off:
on:
heres the finished box, on/off switch, green LED for on, charge cap(s) momentary switch on right, red discharge button below with 1 10k resistor in series.
off:
on:
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