Ignition Help

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STHORNE
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Wed Mar 05, 2008 6:11 pm

EDIT: I got an ignition coil!!!!

I am trying to mak an electric ignition system for my combustion cannon and need some help.

I have/want to use the following supplies:
disposable camera flash circuit
stun gun (doesn't work anymore)
momentary switch
On/Off switch
LED light (indicating power)

I was thinking I could set up a circuit like This One but didn't have any ignition coils. So maybe i could use the coil from the stun gun instead? since i don't have the correct supplies, I have no idea what the hell I'm doing. I need help making a circuit with a momentary shock that works almost 100% of the time.

*And no, I don't want to spend any money on an electric bbq igniter or a new stun gun. I'm trying to not spend any more money on this gun (spent $70 on the pvc).

Comments and Questions always appreciated,
sthorne
Last edited by STHORNE on Mon Mar 10, 2008 5:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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TurboSuper
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Thu Mar 06, 2008 6:20 am

I think you can just use the camera flash board sans ignition coil. Put the high voltage lead in the middle of the two ~300V leads and it will ionize a path of air to create a spark...or something to that extent.
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STHORNE
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Thu Mar 06, 2008 6:01 pm

TurboSuper wrote:I think you can just use the camera flash board sans ignition coil. Put the high voltage lead in the middle of the two ~300V leads and it will ionize a path of air to create a spark...or something to that extent.
You mean the ignition coil from the stun gun, right?
I don't have a regular car ignition coil.

Also, the coil from the stun gun has 4 leads. 2 to the circuit board and 2 to the shocking studs.

Could you please draw me a diagram of what you mean.

thanks
sthorne
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SpudFarm
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Thu Mar 06, 2008 6:25 pm

why not go to the junk yard and pick a coil of a car?...
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STHORNE
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Thu Mar 06, 2008 6:50 pm

sadly, the closest junkyard is 30 miles away and by that time i would have spend about 15 bucks on gas. so thats out of the question :(
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Thu Mar 06, 2008 7:18 pm

To use the camera flash, youle see a wire coming of a smaller transformer on the camera board, the wire is usually white. Thats the HV lead. Connect wires to the cap (the big thing =p). The configuration should be like this (word art ftw):


| | |
| | |
| | |
| | |
cap + / \cap -

High Voltage line in middle

the electrodes have to be fairly close. You might wanna use the electrodes from stun gun. wont corrode as easy.
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BigGrib
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Thu Mar 06, 2008 7:21 pm

I think that TurboSuper was talking about not using a coil whatsoever, hence the word sans meaning without. As far as the rest of what he was talking about, I have no idea because I have no experience whatsoever with camera flash ignition. As far as your coil off of your stungun, you should be able to use that no problem. Take the two leads coming from the capacitor on the coil and hook those to the leads to the camera flash, and then take the two leads that go to the contact points and lead those to the chamber.
Yea, that's definitely going to get you at least a tazer.
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STHORNE
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Thu Mar 06, 2008 7:30 pm

thanks for the help guys!

rp181, I used your method a while back and didn't work so well (didn't meet my expectations), but thanks for the suggestion anyway.

biggrib, I'm going to try your method right now, sounds plausible. now would the capacitor from the camera flash be enough to make the spark i need? (even with the coil)
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BigGrib
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Thu Mar 06, 2008 7:34 pm

yeah i just ripped apart 4 cameras and pulled all the guts out of em all and shocked the hell out of myself a couple times i think that by itself would be enought to create a decent spark, but i would try using the coil too
Yea, that's definitely going to get you at least a tazer.
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rp181
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Thu Mar 06, 2008 7:37 pm

one of my camera flashes, dunno why, but dumped the cap through the HV transformer when flash triggered. Was a nice big bright bang :), but electrodes corroded fast. transformer burned up after a few.
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STHORNE
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Thu Mar 06, 2008 7:53 pm

BigGrib wrote:yeah i just ripped apart 4 cameras and pulled all the guts out of em all and shocked the hell out of myself a couple times i think that by itself would be enought to create a decent spark, but i would try using the coil too
Question is, how do i set it up to create a jumping spark, the only way to set off a spark using just the flash circuitry is to make direct contact between the two leads with something conductive. So basically, i need to know how to make a stun gun with the jumping spark. I'm almost done with the circuit using the coil from the stun gun, I'll tell you my results when I'm done/testing it out.
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BigGrib
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Thu Mar 06, 2008 7:59 pm

i just used the coil from my old electric bbq ignitor and i am now in severe pain i just zapped myself like 5 times. I didn't get it to jump across the working gap on the coil (it's just like the one you got 2 in 2 out) it just sparked at the in on the coil. and then fried the onboard transformer.
Yea, that's definitely going to get you at least a tazer.
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STHORNE
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Thu Mar 06, 2008 8:58 pm

idk why, but none of my circuits are working, not even my regular stun gun (flash circuit). all batteries are new, i even tested them. idk, ill try again tomorrow, i need to get a jump on my homework :x
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BigGrib
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Fri Mar 07, 2008 4:54 am

so I was sitting here trying to hook one of my four camera flash circuits to the coil from my old elec bbq ignitor and i dont know what the hell i did, but it's not working now. I removed the flash bulb from the circuit and wired in my coil and now it wont even charge so i dont know what the hell i did or why it's not working. i tried wiring the flash bulb back in and it worked fine so i just dont know what i'm doing. all i know is that it hurts to forget to discharge the capacitor and touch the wrong deal.

edit:
I wired two capacitor in series on one board, I dont know if it does anything special, it still works, but it feels like that one hurts more than the others
Yea, that's definitely going to get you at least a tazer.
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TurboSuper
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Fri Mar 07, 2008 6:09 am

Wiring two capacitors in series will make it less powerful, actually.
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