coil gun V2

This is a small coil gun that can be built in a weekend for under 30 bucks.
WARNING; I am not responsible for any deaths, injuries, or property damage. Built at your own risk .This project deals with projectiles that can kill and voltages that exceed 600 volts.
Please, I don't want to be sued on my first Instructable.

Step 1 Parts and tools

Parts:
1. 10 disposable cameras ( I got them for free at walgreens )
2. large project box (radio shack)
3. 2 switches(one needs to be at least 30 amps)
4. c batteries and clip
5. 22 gauge enamaled wire
6. 1.5" washers (2)
7. plexi glass sheet
8. wire
9.3/8" tube ( I used a aluminim arrow)
10.straws
Tools:
1. drill press or drill
2. soldering iron
3. hot glue gun
4.bench grinder
5.big nails(I used steel)

Comments

[lionboy55555]

 I'm sort of new to this: i've seen videos and read a few of the instructables, but have never actually built a coil gun, so i was hoping someone could help me out with this. i just wanted to make a small scale to check the theory, so would it be safe to just take  a straw, wrap a bit of wire around it, and hook up the wire to where the flash normally is on a camera?

thanks.

[tangytacoman]

you can for sure, i started by using a 9 volt battery, a ball bearing, and a hollow solinoid from a dishwasher to understand the theory of how it works

[tazerboy]

hey dude u might want to replaces the barrels the eddy current generated during fire is gonna cause so serious drag to your projectile.

[tangytacoman]

yeah, im pretty much over coil guns now, i built a tesla coil two years ago and im now thinking of starting a rail gun with my newest 24,000uf capacitor bank, but i appreciate the comment, when i made the intstructable i didnt know much about electricity but people like you who post on forums have given me vast amounts of knowledge so thank you for the input, Tangytacoman.

[tazerboy]

haha glad hear that, also i am also making a Tesla coil during this summer
however i am somewhat new to these things.Could you by any chance
tell me what i need to watch for beside the extraordinary voltage that i am going
dealing with. To further input, i will be using five TDK 50kv 1700pf capacitors,
and a 7 kv 60ma neon sign transformer. would this particular provide me a
high repetition discharges? i would assume that the pulse energy level will be low due the fact the Neon sign transformer supplies low voltage however the amperage allows high repetition. ( is this right?)lol Also could i use a Marx generator to increase the voltage? Thanks a bunch.

[Muscelz]

that is incredibility dangerous, the charge circuit for "Flash Camera's" is lethal, that knife switch probably is the master on switch which would probably be hooked up either to straight out the the caps or the main battery feed is LIVE, at 350v 1000mfd (you mean 1000ufd) IS LETHAL! IT WILL KILL YOU! a open circuit like that is beyond stupidity, im sorry for being like this but your going to hurt urself, or kill urself if your not careful. ALWAYS when using high voltage caps YOU MUST HAVE DISCHARGE circuits and isolation circuits to keep you and any other operator away from the guts of that, and any live part of that should be only 12vdc or lower when not in operation.

[tazerboy]

chill dude i got shocked by two 450volt 870uf caps and i am still a lively
dude.

[Speedmite]

If saftey is of your concern, you may not want to be searching in high voltage, and leave it to a couple of people who are perfectly responsible for their own actions.

[tangytacoman]

The knife switch is the charger only with 1.5 volts in it, the red safety toggle switch has the 660 volts in it.

[Muscelz]

good, but you chould really be using isolation switches and etc, but good :) i got myself 7x37000ufd @ 60vdc and 3x44000ufd @ 55vdc caps, all up i have approx 391000ufd. my max charge voltage will be a low 50vdc but i will be able to put a out a reasonable 600joules, enough to power a small coil gun. i also got 2x 390amp 1.2kv Westcode SCR's which i picked up out of a old Mig. i am currently working on making buzz bars for my caps which i will be making out of flattend copper water pipes, ill be flattening them in the press, and then my trigger circut is 1/2 finnished, very simple. and yet to make coil for coil gun :S hopefully i can wide it a tad faster than normal in dads lathe.

[fughilli]

by the way, a camera charger circuit is not lethal... it's being powered by a 1.5v at 200mw AA battery. and even with a C battery, the current is nowhere near high enough to kill you. just wanted to point that out. no offense.

[Muscelz]

lol, the charger circuit is hooked up to a high voltage auto transformer, that means one of the secondary is to your charging circuit, seriously why am i explaining this. find out how they work, and come back to me. if u touch one side of a cap fully charged at 500v or more it will discharge into you, that sorta voltage is ground frenzy

[greenbean]

Yes, a camera charger will convert low voltage with some flow (amps), into around 250 to 300 volts with practically no amperage. I would like to point out that a static shock is usually at least 12000 volts, and is harmless. One camera charger will not kill you. I have been shocked by several, and seen others get shocked. I know a guy who was shocked by four in parallel, and he is still alive. (Although I don't think it was pleasant, as he was unable to move or even speak for 10 minutes.....

[tangytacoman]

I have been shocked by all ten capacitors while they were fully charged. It hurt and left two little burn marks on my thumb and thats it. The main reason that it doesn't kill you is because it is DC so it doesn't cause all the twitching that you get with AC.

[greenbean]

That is also incorrect. A defibrillator uses DC current and will either start the heart if it is stopped or stop it if it is already beating.

[fughilli]

I just want to clarify that you understand a basic electrical principle, so I am going to put this in simple terms: electricity is lazy. It wants to travel the shortest and/or easiest path through a medium. This means that it will go through the channel of least resistance. If you touch a fully charged capacitor, the electricity is not going to travel all the way up your arm, through your heart, and back down your arm. You would need to have an electrode on each arm for any effect on your heart at all. That's why defibrillators have two electrodes on each side of the chest, to force the electricity to pass through the heart. So, touching a camera flash capacitor, even a large array, worst case scenario, your finger explodes, and you get the s**t scared out of you. Best case scenario, you feel a little tingle, and touch it again, just for the heck of it. So to summarize, if you're going to touch a high-charge capacitor, use one finger. :)

[Muscelz]

use 1 finger? it will still ground, and i thought u grounded it some other way. and if u get hit on the tip of ur finger, the electricity will take the shortest path which is in a straight line to the ground but not all of the current will go that way. that higher voltage, electricity is eratic, and will disperse mildly over the area of "zap"

[fughilli]

You are somehow making the assumption that a complete circuit is formed between the capacitor, you, and the ground. If you are to touch and get shocked by a capacitor, you must touch both terminals of the capacitor. If the capacitor is to ground its charge through you, one of it's terminals must be in contact with the ground you are standing on, you must be touching the other terminal, and the capacitor must have sufficient charge to push through the high resistance of the floor, your shoes, etc...

:)

[fughilli]

BTW, this comment was directed towards Muscelz.

[Muscelz]

well your very lucky, ur heart must be abnormally strong. it wudnt be so alright to someone else. and it may have givin ur heart a mild off beat or defect. that sort of shock is worrying

[tangytacoman]

its been awhile but i just wanted to let you know muscelz that i was recently shocked across the heart by a capacitor bank with 24,000 uf at 300 volts DC and im still around, so perhaps im superhuman

[greenbean]

The word "ground" isn't always literal. A capacitor works by creating a voltage difference between two plates. One is the positive, and one is the negative, or in this case, the ground. The positive wants to get to the negative plate, not the earth. Fughilli is correct. Also, the fact that there is a high voltage does not make it deadly. You can have a high voltage with a low amperage safely. That is why you can get shocked with 12,000 volts rubbing your shoes on carpet and touching a door knob without injury, and yet die from the 120 volts out of a wall socket.

[tangytacoman]

Again fughilli is right, I have been shocked by tesla coils, high voltage transformers, mains voltage, and the coil gun. As you can see I AM STILL ALIVE. You must have a miss understanding in electronics muscelz.

[tangytacoman]

You can get buzz bars for curcuit breakers at home depot that can handle 500+ amps

[Muscelz]

buzz bars are way to expensive :S so i have to substitute with something else

[electric_destruction]

 sorry, but just so you know, they're "bus" bars because they "bus" the electrical connections together.... though they could be "buzz" bars if you touch them...

[Boppo3]

how to you check the overall capacitance?

[coilsinamotor]

C=c1+c2+c3+etc...

[jj.inc]

would adding a ferrite core help, one that is hallowed out in the middle

[wiebevandomburg.hotmail.com]

is there really no problem with iron or copper barrels? Besides the insulation , i mean , doesn't it affect the magnetic field somehow?

[max0506]

does al caps load as fast as 1 if the awnser is no why don't u connect all the circuits together

[electricfan]

wky is circuit spelled wrong

[bombmaker2]

why is why spelled wrong?

[DingleNutZ]

lets clear a few things up. first of all, it the capacitor bank does not need to be 1000µf, it needs to be proportional to the coils dimensions. (larger coil, large cap bank) secondly, with enameled wire you do not need to insulate every layer, this can decrease efficiency. and you may all think that more volts will make it go better, well sorry you are wrong if you think that. a high voltage does help but the main thing creating the em field as the amps. a cap bank stores energy in it and the when a complete circuit is formed is discharges as much energy as possible to even out the electric field withing the caps (the caps never reach zero volts, there discharge is exponential) produce an amperage proportional to the energy given out, and the amps determine the strength of the electric field

[geniusbomberman]

 if you're fortunate enough to be under 18, it is for a school project.  Otherwise, it could be for a college project or your kid's project.  I have gotten over twenty cameras free with no questions asked.

[amando96]

K my coil has 22 gauge wire, 5 cm(2 inches) long, 6 layers, eache taped individually, i have some power but want more, i thought about making another coil... but can i solder the tip of the other wire and continue winding the coil i already have?

[dumb1962000]

you could try, but i've heard that it might not work

[amando96]

hmm ok thanks, i think i'll use this coil as the first stage, and make a stronger one for the second stage :)

[pratheepgoldy]

having more layers only ruins the power (cause it causes shielding effect) so try having more capacitance the maximum power is always realised only from the first four layers .

[IX Smith XI]

So what is the "shielding effect"?