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Have been reading this thread of and on for several weeks but didn't finish until today. Have shipped a few pages so I don't know if someone has a better solution for those like myself with shaky hands and old eyes who find matching up two ends of wire to get a good weld is difficult if not impossible. If so, my solution may help.
Just imagine a wooden tube with a hole about .030" that you can secure one end of the wire in one end so it won't move. Connect your electrical clips to both wire and insert the second wire into the opposite end of the tube until it makes contact with the first wire.
I have made the equivalent out of a 3/4" block of wood and had about an 80% success rate. Sorry no pictures.
FWIW I've done my welding with a throw away camera with no mods except to remove the flash bulb, modify the battery holder to make it easier to get the AA battery in and out, soldered two leads to the appropriate points and closed it back up again. Hold the charge button until the light comes on and touch the wires. Been using AWG 30 to 33 wiring in various combinations.
Errol
Just imagine a wooden tube with a hole about .030" that you can secure one end of the wire in one end so it won't move. Connect your electrical clips to both wire and insert the second wire into the opposite end of the tube until it makes contact with the first wire.
I have made the equivalent out of a 3/4" block of wood and had about an 80% success rate. Sorry no pictures.
FWIW I've done my welding with a throw away camera with no mods except to remove the flash bulb, modify the battery holder to make it easier to get the AA battery in and out, soldered two leads to the appropriate points and closed it back up again. Hold the charge button until the light comes on and touch the wires. Been using AWG 30 to 33 wiring in various combinations.
Errol
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Errol I have found that ribbon kanthal and 30g nickel wire are very easy to weld and the strongest out of anything I have tried.
The ribbon gives you a wider target, and I usually overlap about a 1/16".
Other than that I found matching wire gauge really helps on the round stuff. Temco industrial power on eBay (ships from California) has a big selection of nickel wire. I have got 28, 30, & 32 from there.
Kidney puncher is in AZ and has ribbon wire
Both places get to our neck of the woods in two days regular mail.
The ribbon gives you a wider target, and I usually overlap about a 1/16".
Other than that I found matching wire gauge really helps on the round stuff. Temco industrial power on eBay (ships from California) has a big selection of nickel wire. I have got 28, 30, & 32 from there.
Kidney puncher is in AZ and has ribbon wire
Both places get to our neck of the woods in two days regular mail.
Hi Bap, Have also had good luck with Temco. Have a pretty good supply from 24 to 34 gauge kanthal but haven bought ribbon yet. Heard some good things about it. With a US supplier I will get some ordered.
Have had reasonably good luck using 30g nickel with various size kanthal using my method of welding. Freehand was always a moving target, sometimes a kill, most of the time just a wound.
Errol
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That is what led to me finding this thread and building this. Thanks.
This is my preferred configuration.
I used thumb screws and banana plugs so I could store the clip leads inside the case when not in use, and mount the battery internally. Can't believe how many wires now need to be welded... well... just because. This is going to be a great for tuning in my GG style atomizers. Special thanks gsa.
This is my preferred configuration.
I used thumb screws and banana plugs so I could store the clip leads inside the case when not in use, and mount the battery internally. Can't believe how many wires now need to be welded... well... just because. This is going to be a great for tuning in my GG style atomizers. Special thanks gsa.
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I've been reading this thread as well as Breaktru's site. Just so I'm understanding.....I want to make sure I have the right capacity parts and don't smoke anything. I have a schematic from Breaktru's site.
In my parts list that I have on hand I have the following parts:
Project box
Three Fuji camera boards, caps not marked. Perhaps 120uf/350v each?
On/Off switch 250v
Momentary switches x2 to charge cap and discharge cap 250v
What size/wattage resister to discharge cap? I have RS multi-pac with 10k & 15k (many others also) both 1/4w and 1/2w
AA Battery compartment
18/20/22 GA wire which do I need to use internally?
What gauge wire for external leads?
Copper toothless clamps from Radio Shack
Several style banana clips and such. Would like to have one lead vertical on box, easily removable for storage/transport. What is the best part for that?
As I understand it I need to wire the caps in parallel to get to around 340 although this would probably be 360 with the three caps I mentioned above. Would like to use the higher uf/lower voltage model others have come up with as opposed to the lower uf/higher voltage model.
Thanks for the input all. This would be my first project of this type so I want to do it right, and safe.
Repent
In my parts list that I have on hand I have the following parts:
Project box
Three Fuji camera boards, caps not marked. Perhaps 120uf/350v each?
On/Off switch 250v
Momentary switches x2 to charge cap and discharge cap 250v
What size/wattage resister to discharge cap? I have RS multi-pac with 10k & 15k (many others also) both 1/4w and 1/2w
AA Battery compartment
18/20/22 GA wire which do I need to use internally?
What gauge wire for external leads?
Copper toothless clamps from Radio Shack
Several style banana clips and such. Would like to have one lead vertical on box, easily removable for storage/transport. What is the best part for that?
As I understand it I need to wire the caps in parallel to get to around 340 although this would probably be 360 with the three caps I mentioned above. Would like to use the higher uf/lower voltage model others have come up with as opposed to the lower uf/higher voltage model.
Thanks for the input all. This would be my first project of this type so I want to do it right, and safe.
Repent
I've been following this thread since it started and *finally* got around to getting my wire welder up and running. Just wanted to say thanks for all the ideas and helpful tips for all those involved. Many thanks
I have an Ithaka on pre-order from COV. When I watched Scott's vid and saw the zapper I instantly had two thoughts. Firstly, that is how COV and others are creating the pre-made wires they sell and secondly, I'm fairly handy with tools and modding and such but a relative noob when it comes to electronics, could I make one of these devices myself?
Now that I'm "retired", as of yesterday, electronics type projects and learning is on my hobby list. I've been reading this thread and also BreakTru's forum on the Spark-O-Matic. I have a parts list put together from my local RS store.
I even bought the O'Reilly Make:Electronics book and both kits so that I can teach myself these and other concepts now that I'll have some extra time.
Mev, can you take a look at my parts list in my post above? The switches I bought are all rated to 250v and I'm thinking that is fine because the 350v isn't happening until you reach the capacitors and everything "north" of them is still at 1.5v. Is that right in my noob thinking?
Does the resistor connecting the leads south of the caps (via momentary 250v? switch) need to be any certain wattage? I read on one of the schematic that a 15k oHm is good for a trickle down in voltage but no mention of rated wattage. That shows the noob in me, not understanding that it's probably a "given".
Now that I'm "retired", as of yesterday, electronics type projects and learning is on my hobby list. I've been reading this thread and also BreakTru's forum on the Spark-O-Matic. I have a parts list put together from my local RS store.
I even bought the O'Reilly Make:Electronics book and both kits so that I can teach myself these and other concepts now that I'll have some extra time.
Mev, can you take a look at my parts list in my post above? The switches I bought are all rated to 250v and I'm thinking that is fine because the 350v isn't happening until you reach the capacitors and everything "north" of them is still at 1.5v. Is that right in my noob thinking?
Does the resistor connecting the leads south of the caps (via momentary 250v? switch) need to be any certain wattage? I read on one of the schematic that a 15k oHm is good for a trickle down in voltage but no mention of rated wattage. That shows the noob in me, not understanding that it's probably a "given".
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Just ordered all the parts to make one, i'll post a pic when it's done
Much appreciated !!!
Hello dsy5;
Thank you for the info. I have a lot of different oHm resisters in 1/4w and 1/2w that I bought in multi-packs from RS. Just wanted to make sure I was going to be good.
Would 1/2w resisters still be OK if using in a bleed-down scenario, if for example I overshoot the target voltage? Or do you mean for your answer to cover that scenario?
I apologize if I'm being dense here. I'm really in the learning stage with all this. Now, if you need branch offices to be interconnected world wide, and need someone to create that infrastructure, I'm your man. LOL
Chris
I use a 6800Ω 1/2W in my bleed down circuit. The fact is, with the camera type zappers, you only will need around 70V to get a decent weld (depending on the cap size - stock cap around 120 - 330µF). So you are not anywhere near the 300V or so that the camera board is capable of.
Hi. If you want to be absolutely sure that your resistors won't fail, you can use Ohm's Law to calculate the wattage that the resistors will be subjected to. You need to know the maximum voltage that will be applied to them.
Ohm's Law Calculator
For instance, if you can charge up to 250v, and choose 30k ohms for the bleeding resistor, you'll dissipate a maximum of about 2 watts in the resistor. That wattage will drop quickly at the higher voltages, as the voltage is dropped from the capacitor, and drop more slowly as the voltage approaches zero. This is why you should be fine with a lower-rated resistor, as they can endure short periods of higher wattage.
The more resistance that you choose, the lower the overall wattage will be, but the longer it will take to discharge the cap. That may be beneficial for fine-tuning the voltage. For example, 250v, 30k ohms, and 350 uF would discharge in about 10.5 seconds.
Capacitor Discharging
You can put multiple resistors in series and/or parallel to reduce each resistor's power dissipation. Putting two or more in series would add their resistances, thus lowering the overall current and wattage of the circuit. Putting two or more in parallel would increase the overall amperage and wattage, but split it between each resistor, based upon their individual resistance.
Series and Parallel Circuits
For example, with 250v stored in the cap, a single 15k ohm resistor will see about 4 watts for the beginning portion of the discharge. If you went with 3 x 10k ohms in series, you'd increase the overall resistance to 30k ohms and double the discharge time, but each resistor would drop only 1/3 of that voltage, while all would pass the same current, thus each would only drop about 2/3 of a watt at the beginning of the discharge.
Here's another calc that you may find useful:
Energy Stored on a Capacitor
That will show you how many joules that you're storing, based upon the voltage and capacitance. My earlier example of 250v and 350uF would store about 1.1 joule. I've found that .9 to 1.4 joules works for the range of wires that I use.
Changing out the stock cap to around 1000µF will also lower the overall voltage needed to get a good weld. The higher the cap the less voltage required. I think I am using a 1200µF in my build.
I have this professional camera strobe that I haven't used in years.
Is there another post here or video of someone using one of these to weld wire. I guess I have to get some leads with alligator clips and maybe solder them to the bulb clips. I don't know. what do I need to do?
Is there another post here or video of someone using one of these to weld wire. I guess I have to get some leads with alligator clips and maybe solder them to the bulb clips. I don't know. what do I need to do?
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