Resistance-No Resistance wire welder

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bapgood

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I have found 12 gauge solid wire makes for great spot weld leads.

I have decided to go away from a traditional spot weld clamp setup. The fixed bottom post, wires in single clamp, and "wand" lead is so versatile and open for viewing....I'm really liking it. I'm thinking a good hefty base with 12g solid wire post, and a wand with 12g lead and a cap recharge button on it. Since I'm using a fixed voltage the wand with button will be nice for double taps and possible other uses.

Also really liking the single 4700uF cap and 24v-27v range. Using the calculator it's right in that .8-1 joule range, barely hear or see anything during the weld.
 

comptechltd

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To limit the output current on the battery. I don't trust the internal protection on the $6 Chinese board so I put it there to set the max output to around 1amp. There is a 2 amp fuse in series with that as another protection. Ask Boeing if they agree with this decision :)

There has to be a good story behind that last sentence... lol

Steve

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2
 

Lentulusbatiatus

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I have found 12 gauge solid wire makes for great spot weld leads.

I have decided to go away from a traditional spot weld clamp setup. The fixed bottom post, wires in single clamp, and "wand" lead is so versatile and open for viewing....I'm really liking it. I'm thinking a good hefty base with 12g solid wire post, and a wand with 12g lead and a cap recharge button on it. Since I'm using a fixed voltage the wand with button will be nice for double taps and possible other uses.

Also really liking the single 4700uF cap and 24v-27v range. Using the calculator it's right in that .8-1 joule range, barely hear or see anything during the weld.
I like the idea of the recharge button on the handle. :)
 

bapgood

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This is the concept....need a titch more angle for the lead and a small button rated for more than 50ma 12v :D

04A46F8B-9F77-4BBD-AE8F-09281B5E34E6-28381-0000097DFB440348.jpg
 

dsy5

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Did anyone get one of these?

I think I'm going to try one, it should be perfect for what I want to do and no need to worry about the display discharging the cap.
I did not get one. It says that the LED will not display if input is less than 4V; so would require 2 lithium or maybe a 9V battery.
 

bapgood

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I like it. I am still confused on how you are holding the wires though. So is bopping with your forhead out or did you figure out a way to press the button with your nose?

The button will just be to charge the cap. Then I put both wires in a flat alligator clip and hold it with my left hand on top of the fixed bottom post, then make the weld by touching the wires with the "wand".

I tried to make a video but it didn't work out.
 

mre777

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I just finished making my version of one of these wire welders. I went to the thrift store and for $1.50 picked up a 30 volt power supply for a HP printer. It puts out 38 volts unloaded and works great with a 1000uf cap.

Now theirs an idea that never crossed my mind. I probably have a bunch of usable power sources in the old wire bag that could make a good desktop unit. Nicely done sir, mind posting a few pics of your build?
 

notsmoking

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Well, here it is. Took about an hour to slap it together and cost me less than $5, I already had the box and switch. I may do a more elaborate one but this one serves the purpose.
View attachment 172548

Az.... could you show the inside too and explain what you did so I can give this a try... I hope it is as easy as it looks.

Thanks :toast:
 

mre777

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Well, here it is. Took about an hour to slap it together and cost me less than $5, I already had the box and switch. I may do a more elaborate one but this one serves the purpose.
View attachment 172548

you could slap a LM317 or similar voltage regulator in there to help dial it in for different wire gauges
 

comptechltd

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Not sure if this will work or not since I have never done a public BOM with digikey, you probably need to be registered and logged in there to see it: https://ordering.digikey.com/RegisteredUser/BOMBillOfMaterials.aspx?path=1&exist=1&id=660037 if it does work, simply hit "create order" at bottom of screen. If not I will attach a screenshot. Then you just need the LM2577 board from ebay.



gsaf

GSA,

What do you plan to use for the posts where the 2 leads come out of the box?? Didn't know if you were gonna use banana clips or screws as posts.

Steve
 

bapgood

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Question....Im thinking about setting up a bank of caps (500,1000,2200,4700) with this boost module with display....The bank of caps would be selectable for any combination of the caps. I can do that with rc dean connectors, but they would require inserting and removing.

Now the question....Would a switch for each cap work as long it wasn't switched under power?

For instance...no caps charged, flip switches for wanted caps, charge caps, weld. Or would the contacts just get welded together when I tried to weld?
 

AzPlumber

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you could slap a LM317 or similar voltage regulator in there to help dial it in for different wire gauges

I probably won't do anything to this one as it seems to work just fine with all the wires I've tried. I do have an additional 470 cap in there, If you look close you can see two slide switches on the side. One is power and the other adds the 470 cap to the circuit in case I need it for heavier gauges. However, the one 1000 cap works just fine at the voltage I'm using.
 

AzPlumber

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Az.... could you show the inside too and explain what you did so I can give this a try... I hope it is as easy as it looks.

Thanks :toast:

Looking inside won't show you much as I've got too much crap shoved in there to see anything, it was the only size box I had on hand. It really is easy, a power supply, a capacitor and two switches (one for power on and one to charge the cap) is all you really need. Just make sure your cap is rated for the voltage used.
 
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