Hi, I have built a microvawe transformer spotwelder, I have put a single turn of welder wire for in the secondary and I’m timing it with arduino. Worth mentioning it was/is a 230V transformer. Electrodes are sharpened copper rods. I believe the voltage is still high. The spotwelds it produces are slightly discolored and not as...
An MPPT solar charge controller using Arduino as well as a homemade Li-Ion battery. Also an 18650 battery tester. So 3 projects simultaneously because they’re closely related.
I’m using a CC CV boost converter to convert solar energy to the voltage for a 7s Li-Ion battery. The arduino reads voltage and current and will try to adjust the CC value to obtain an optimal wattage. I have removed the CC potentiometer and replaced that with an Arduino PWM pin with voltage divider that sets the corresponding current limit. This way a relation between CC pwm duty cycle and solar output can be set.
DIY Li-Ion battery goes hand in hand with the solar project. I’m making a home battery out of salvaged laptop batteries. That requires a battery tester as well which I’m also making myself. The battery tester works by charging a battery with a TP4056 module and discharging as soon as it’s fully charged over a resistor while monitoring voltage/current over time. This happens 16x in parallel using multiplexers so 16 batteries can be tested simultaneously.
I’m also taking safety very seriously so all batteries are equipped with both thermal fuses and current fuses. That involves 3D modelling battery holders, printing them, spot welding/soldering etc. As well as an additional monitoring system on top of a commercial BMS so that the battery status can be monitored remotely. I intend to have a smoke detector, thermostats and an emergency cutoff switch controlled by that second BMS.
Once everything works to a somewhat satisfying degree I intend to post the projects in more detail.
Every project tends to explode in scope in terms of what it all requires so I’m not making as much progress as I want but it has been very educational.
In a transformer, why are both coils apart from each other? Wouldn’t make more sense to have the ferrite core (tube shape), wind the primary coil around that and then wind the secondary coil on top of the primary? So that the magnetic fields are as close to each other as possible?
Hello, I did manage to kill my cheap-ish bench supply causing it to randomly output up to like 300% the set voltage when under load which did already kill one board. Probably I didn’t actively kill it but the chinesium did its job 🤷🏻♂️. It was a single output supply, when needed I hooked up additional buck- or...
I just came across this and thought I’d share. I’ve struggled to get headers and IC’s off boards after soldering them on backwards/upside down. This video shows a cool trick with a piece of copper wire that makes them very easy and quick to get off without expensive tooling. I was thoroughly impressed. Hope someone else...
I replaced my laptop’s battery after it was swollen. I found out that services like call2recycle do not take swollen batteries since they are potentially hazardous material. How can I get rid of that damned spicy pillow? In Dallas. Thanks....
Those wet solder sponges cause a thermal shock every time you wipe the tip. I recommend using brass windings instead. They also won’t completely wipe the solder off the tip either.
You always want a small layer of solder on your tip at all times to prevent it from oxidising. Oxidation means bad heat transfer causing soldering to be much more difficult. Also store it with a small blob of solder on it.
You should avoid scraping or sanding the oxidation of the tip. There is a small layer of silver that won’t oxidise so quickly but below that is normal iron. Not sure if that applied to cheaper Chinese irons but it’s better not to learn bad habits. Once you remove the silver layer you’ll get oxidation much more quickly and you’ll have to keep scraping until the tip is gone.
You can remove oxidation with the brass windings much more easily than with a sponge. When you apply solder with flux the rest of the oxidation should come off fairly quickly.
Buying a cheap model to practice is a great idea, when you are used to that you can look into a better iron. I’ve been very happy with the TS100 but the Pinecil is the newer model apparently.
Pretty basic question but I am struggling to find the words to get the correct search result. The soldering iron I bought came with very narrow tips that I think are supposed to be used for circuit boards and components....
With soldering you want to maximize heat transfer at all times so flat surfaces (chisel tip for example) are usually ideal. If you want to remove solder from a hole in a PCB you’re better off with a round tip as that has the most contact area then. It will make it easier to use a solder sucker in that case for example. Personally I have the chisel tip on 90% of the time and might be willing to switch to the large flat one.
Wattage does not mean how hot it gets, it means how fast it gets to the desired temperature. Also Chinese vendors tend to exaggerate greatly with specifications, especially with cheap products.
Seems your linked website as a very believable conclusion attached to it. I have a similar issue where the relay module would behave erratically. In my case it was when the relay module/595 chips received power before the Arduino was fully powered up. It’s unlikely that a load affects your relay module as they should never be connected to the main circuit.
I guess something like a pulldown resistor on the SER, CLK and RCLK pins would solve the issue since that would kill any noise. The noise is probably the kind of voltage that BARELY registers as HIGH but highly random.
That or making the relay module only turn on after the microcontroller has finished starting up using a mosfet or something.
I want to connect five OV2640 cameras via FPC to an ESP32 on a custom PCB. Is this generally possible and does the ESP32 have enough power for this or do I need an ESP32 for each camera? The frames per second are not so important as the cameras will be used as QR code scanners. Which components allow to run so many cameras with...
Wanna reuse some old HDDs in the new PC as misc storage and I saw this on a really old drive (the PC it was pulled out of was built in I think 2008/9). Could the discoloration on E9 be because a capacitor leaked? The discoloration seems (from this side at least) to be fully contained on the circle and off of the rest of the PCB
Well. That would be the overpriced commercial version. I'm not a fan of Tesla because of their anti repair practices and I'd rather build my own anyway. The learning experience alone makes it worth it.
Tech workers - what did your IT Security team do that made your life hell and had no practical benefit?
One chestnut from my history in lottery game development:...
I hate this job (lemmy.world)
Microvawe transformer spotwelder. Is there a way to improve it?
Hi, I have built a microvawe transformer spotwelder, I have put a single turn of welder wire for in the secondary and I’m timing it with arduino. Worth mentioning it was/is a 230V transformer. Electrodes are sharpened copper rods. I believe the voltage is still high. The spotwelds it produces are slightly discolored and not as...
Huzzah! (slrpnk.net)
deleted_by_author
PSA To people watching YouTube with AdBlockers
You might have noticed that even on Firefox (depending on your lists) YouTube may detect uBlock Origin on Firefox now...
Vegan food: The west vs India (lemmy.ml)
What project are you currently working on?
Finally got some free time was thinking about taking up new project but it got me wondering what everyone else is working on? Please share!
Transformer question
In a transformer, why are both coils apart from each other? Wouldn’t make more sense to have the ferrite core (tube shape), wind the primary coil around that and then wind the secondary coil on top of the primary? So that the magnetic fields are as close to each other as possible?
I need a new bench power supply
Hello, I did manage to kill my cheap-ish bench supply causing it to randomly output up to like 300% the set voltage when under load which did already kill one board. Probably I didn’t actively kill it but the chinesium did its job 🤷🏻♂️. It was a single output supply, when needed I hooked up additional buck- or...
Neat trick for desoldering many-pin components (youtu.be)
I just came across this and thought I’d share. I’ve struggled to get headers and IC’s off boards after soldering them on backwards/upside down. This video shows a cool trick with a piece of copper wire that makes them very easy and quick to get off without expensive tooling. I was thoroughly impressed. Hope someone else...
How to get rid of swollen laptop battery?
I replaced my laptop’s battery after it was swollen. I found out that services like call2recycle do not take swollen batteries since they are potentially hazardous material. How can I get rid of that damned spicy pillow? In Dallas. Thanks....
Attempting to repair controller, Have I damaged it beyond repair?
Hey all, have I damaged this xbox 360 controller circuit board beyond repair?...
Soldering Iron Tips Stop Working/Melting Solder
Hey everyone,...
What tip should I be using to solder wires together?
Pretty basic question but I am struggling to find the words to get the correct search result. The soldering iron I bought came with very narrow tips that I think are supposed to be used for circuit boards and components....
Shift register > Relays - inconsistent results when load is attached to relay (discuss.tchncs.de)
First of all, I apologize for the lack of a “formal” schematic… I tried to draw one out, but got buried in the nuances of it :)...
ESP32 with multiple cameras
I want to connect five OV2640 cameras via FPC to an ESP32 on a custom PCB. Is this generally possible and does the ESP32 have enough power for this or do I need an ESP32 for each camera? The frames per second are not so important as the cameras will be used as QR code scanners. Which components allow to run so many cameras with...
18650 li-ion fire safety cabinet suggestions.
Hi all...
What software do you use for PCB design?
I’m interested in learning how to make a proper PCB rather than perf board with wires all over the place.
Is this a sign of a capacitor leak? (lemmy.world)
Wanna reuse some old HDDs in the new PC as misc storage and I saw this on a really old drive (the PC it was pulled out of was built in I think 2008/9). Could the discoloration on E9 be because a capacitor leaked? The discoloration seems (from this side at least) to be fully contained on the circle and off of the rest of the PCB
deleted_by_moderator