Build thread: nickel strip spot welder from microwave oven transformer

User avatar
5chn3ll
Six shots...or only five?
Posts: 4640
Joined: Fri Jan 05, 2018 4:35 pm

Re: Build thread: nickel strip spot welder from microwave oven transformer

Post by 5chn3ll » Thu Apr 11, 2019 11:07 am

Intelligent, yes. Good judge of character, nope.

Also, she's Mormon, so she can't just bail. :D

Understeer: You will hit the wall with the front end.
Oversteer: You will hit the wall with the rear end.
Horsepower: How hard you will hit the wall.
Torque: How far you will move the wall.

Gone hunting with Alec Baldwin and Dick Cheney. Back soon.

User avatar
32wildbilly
Never gonna run around and desert you
Posts: 5758
Joined: Sat Jan 06, 2018 2:46 pm
Location: Kneebraska

Re: Build thread: nickel strip spot welder from microwave oven transformer

Post by 32wildbilly » Thu Apr 11, 2019 11:44 am

5chn3ll wrote: Thu Apr 11, 2019 11:07 am Intelligent, yes. Good judge of character, nope.

Also, she's Mormon, so she can't just bail. :D
Didn't know Mormon's were "locked in" even if an unfortunate decision was made in a partner. Just the women, right? Men get wider range of choices and correcting mistakes, right?
Never gonna make you cry...

User avatar
5chn3ll
Six shots...or only five?
Posts: 4640
Joined: Fri Jan 05, 2018 4:35 pm

Re: Build thread: nickel strip spot welder from microwave oven transformer

Post by 5chn3ll » Thu Apr 11, 2019 11:49 am

Not locked in, but divorce is really not an option unless I turn out to be even more of a bastard than I _actually_ am...

No, the male vs. female thing isn't quite accurate. Mormons believe that you can be "sealed" to your family - which basically means that you are guaranteed to be reunited with them in the afterlife ("afterlife" isn't quite accurate for the LDS religion, but it's close enough). Even back when the mainstream church permitted polygamy, the focus was on creating more offspring, not ex-wives.

Understeer: You will hit the wall with the front end.
Oversteer: You will hit the wall with the rear end.
Horsepower: How hard you will hit the wall.
Torque: How far you will move the wall.

Gone hunting with Alec Baldwin and Dick Cheney. Back soon.

User avatar
5chn3ll
Six shots...or only five?
Posts: 4640
Joined: Fri Jan 05, 2018 4:35 pm

Re: Build thread: nickel strip spot welder from microwave oven transformer

Post by 5chn3ll » Mon Apr 15, 2019 8:55 am

Picked up one of these from Amazon - if you need to spot-weld some batteries and/or accidentally commit arson, you can't go wrong! And the bonus: I was expecting the control panel to be printed in Chinese, but it's in English! Win!!!

These are junky internally, but it was cheaper to buy one and rob it of parts once it dies than it was to piece together a proper enclosure with correct welding tips.
788H.png
788H.png (344.52 KiB) Viewed 2272 times
The only two useful pieces of advice I can offer thus far:
Use a welder with built-in electrodes like this one instead of one that REQUIRES using a handheld electrode pencil - even 2 feet of cabling may require twice the welding current.
Slow down - these cheap welders are not meant for a constant duty cycle, ESPECIALLY when you're working at the upper end of the power settings (probably because you're using extension electrodes!)

Understeer: You will hit the wall with the front end.
Oversteer: You will hit the wall with the rear end.
Horsepower: How hard you will hit the wall.
Torque: How far you will move the wall.

Gone hunting with Alec Baldwin and Dick Cheney. Back soon.

User avatar
gnat
Power-drunk moderator
Posts: 4171
Joined: Sat Jan 06, 2018 6:54 am
Location: Lobby, VWGofA HQ

Re: Build thread: nickel strip spot welder from microwave oven transformer

Post by gnat » Mon Apr 15, 2019 9:01 am

Screenshot from 2019-04-15 12-00-43.png
Screenshot from 2019-04-15 12-00-43.png (27.97 KiB) Viewed 2272 times
That's awesome! I can't believe how well that came out.


:lol:

User avatar
5chn3ll
Six shots...or only five?
Posts: 4640
Joined: Fri Jan 05, 2018 4:35 pm

Re: Build thread: nickel strip spot welder from microwave oven transformer

Post by 5chn3ll » Mon Apr 15, 2019 9:17 am

Now don't be ugly, as my dear old Southern grandmothers would have said.

The DIY rig is functional, but the electrode pencils I fitted it with over the weekend require running the transformer at full power, and I do not like switching that much current directly. The amount of resistance heat generated by the 0-gauge secondary winding was sufficient to split the outer layer of insulation after being plugged in for only a few seconds - I need a relay to kill power to the primary so it's not energized the entire time I'm working with the welder.

Ultimately, the mot transformer will be the one powering the spot welder, but my experimentation thus far has reinforced that I REALLY want to properly contain that much current.

I had not planned to incorporate a capacitor in the "basic" build, but after reading up on what the tail spike can do to lithium cells (spoiler: explode 'em), my "you're going to fuck up" alert system went crazy and hasn't stopped since. I have all of the parts necessary to properly build the "right" version (shunts, relays, switches), and the hum of the re-wound transformer was a great audible cue that maybe a bit more discretion was warranted.

TL;DR: Pussed out on scary version.

Understeer: You will hit the wall with the front end.
Oversteer: You will hit the wall with the rear end.
Horsepower: How hard you will hit the wall.
Torque: How far you will move the wall.

Gone hunting with Alec Baldwin and Dick Cheney. Back soon.

User avatar
gnat
Power-drunk moderator
Posts: 4171
Joined: Sat Jan 06, 2018 6:54 am
Location: Lobby, VWGofA HQ

Re: Build thread: nickel strip spot welder from microwave oven transformer

Post by gnat » Mon Apr 15, 2019 9:25 am

Well at least the site will continue to have a sponsor for another week...

User avatar
5chn3ll
Six shots...or only five?
Posts: 4640
Joined: Fri Jan 05, 2018 4:35 pm

Re: Build thread: nickel strip spot welder from microwave oven transformer

Post by 5chn3ll » Mon Apr 15, 2019 9:42 am

The hosting and name registration are all auto-renew, so even in the event that I roast myself, things should keep going until my credit cards all expire.

I'll miss y'all. Except Gnat.

Understeer: You will hit the wall with the front end.
Oversteer: You will hit the wall with the rear end.
Horsepower: How hard you will hit the wall.
Torque: How far you will move the wall.

Gone hunting with Alec Baldwin and Dick Cheney. Back soon.

User avatar
gnat
Power-drunk moderator
Posts: 4171
Joined: Sat Jan 06, 2018 6:54 am
Location: Lobby, VWGofA HQ

Re: Build thread: nickel strip spot welder from microwave oven transformer

Post by gnat » Mon Apr 15, 2019 9:49 am

You should turn it into a LLC with someone less likely to Mad Science their self to death.

We'd miss tales of Pee Pee Eye's adventures though.

User avatar
5chn3ll
Six shots...or only five?
Posts: 4640
Joined: Fri Jan 05, 2018 4:35 pm

Re: Build thread: nickel strip spot welder from microwave oven transformer

Post by 5chn3ll » Mon Apr 15, 2019 9:52 am

I once made the mistake of shorting a coffee-can sized cap in an 80's-vintage Calcomp drafting plotter with a giant-ass slotted-head screwdriver. The blade was completely vaporized, and the screwdriver was about an inch shorter overall.

I was 16 or 17 at the time, and it still makes my butthole clench when I remember it...

Understeer: You will hit the wall with the front end.
Oversteer: You will hit the wall with the rear end.
Horsepower: How hard you will hit the wall.
Torque: How far you will move the wall.

Gone hunting with Alec Baldwin and Dick Cheney. Back soon.

Post Reply