Any thoughts about using a bank of Camera Flash Charger's for disposable camera's ?
Edit: Maybe I will just use the Microwave Transformer and cut out the secondary and replace it with a heavy double rap of some thick cable and see what that will do. It's really small stuff.
killivolt,
Sorry I took long to respond, but yeah you can make a welder with a MOT (Microwave Oven Transformer) or a bunch of capacitors from camera flash units. You can get those cheap disposable ones from any store that processes the film for them, they then throw out the cameras with electronics, and batteries after processing the film. what a waste
Make sure that if you use camera flash caps that they are all connected in parallel, and use a decent size wire to connect them together. Using the thick wire makes the resistance of the path of discharge much less, so more current will be transferred to the weld joint in a smaller amount of time, and with much less losses. You will probably need like 2000uF of flash capacitors to make a decent small scale spot welder. The good thing with flash capacitors is that they have a low internal resistance for quick pulse discharging
You can use one or two charging circuits, they will just take much longer to charge the caps though.
If you use a MOT be careful not to overheat the primary and/or secondary, cause some MOTs can draw up to 30A at 120v with a shorted secondary. You will need to use VERY THICK wire for the secondary, and say 6-10 turns should be enough for the secondary. To help limit the total current the MOT draws make sure to leave the shunts installed on the transformer! If you have trouble with the MOT tripping your breakers, wire the MOT in series with a 500W or 1000W heating element, depending on the rated wattage of the MOT
-Ben
BTW gonna get my first MOT to play with in two days
don't worry I will be VERY careful