30 replies to this topic

[Ross Fox]

I built a resistance soldering unit, basically out of curiosity, and I also love a new challenge. So, now after using it for awhile, I am using it more and more. I also built the tweezer handpiece for it. So, basically you can solder on a new piece (brass or steel) on the chassis, and worry very little about the heat making other adjacent parts loosen up, as the current flow and heat goes straight thru the piece being solder and on into the grounding plate. I use the probe more than the tweezer handpiece, but the tweeze is extremely good for a lot of things. I have about $80 in parts, and probably 20 hours in experimentation. But I now have it perfected and I would say it is as good as an American Beauty unit which starts at around $500, not counting including the tweezer handpiece. Check out resistance soldering on YouTube - pretty neat.

[Zippity]

How about some photographs of your creation?

[Ross Fox]

Yes Zippity, I should have thought of that. I will take some this afternoon and post them.

[Bill from NH]

The local. club/home track owner built a resistance soldering unit about four years ago. At that time, it didn't work perfectly but I don't know if he ever got it refined or not. He's a guy who built snow skis for his RC planes so he could fly them up here during the winter.

[SpeedyNH]

that wouldn't be Itchy, would it?

[Bill from NH]

Yes, that is Itchy, I quickly learned he had more than his fair share of mechanical talent. I guess running pulling tractors isn't all fun if they have three hemis in them.

[Ross Fox]

Hello all. I took 8 pictures of the resistance soldering unit I built, and the first one I tried to upload said that the file was too big. I am limited to 2.93 mb for pictures here, and all of my pictures are around 4 mb. So, not sure how to get them posted. I don't think my camera will go down to a low mb for picture taking. If anyone wants to look at them, then say so, and I can PM you and get your email, and I will get them to you. If someone knows how I can upload here to this site, let me know how. I seldom fool with uploading pictures, so not real knowledgeable about that.

[MSwiss]

Try emailing me at:
mikeswiss86@hotmail.com

[Ross Fox]

Okay, so I got some pictures taken and here they are I HOPE!!. This unit operates on a 6 volt gel cell battery with 12 amp hours. I can solder about 14 pieces of 3/32" or 5/32" square brass tube or round brass tube about 1/2"  to 3/4" inch long onto a brass plate like a pan would be. Same with the heavier steel wire that we would use for a chassis. The battery was $18 on Amazon, so I may buy another battery and swap them out or parallel them. However, usually I can do a lot of chassis building on the battery charge before it runs down. The probes are stainless steel. I tried carbon probes first and they work good, but the stainless steel work really great. The probe is a 25 watt Weller soldering iron gutted out. The tweezer hand piece I made from a cheap tweezer from Amazon. The cables are 10 gauge super flex speaker wire. I added a digital voltmeter to monitor the battery voltage, and that way I know how much power is left in the battery. I also added a programmable timer that would pulse the power in any interval from .1 second to 10 minutes. I use it for really thin stuff for another hobby I have. I have it set for 1 second, so the heat is slow to form. Typically, it takes about 2 to 3 seconds to make a joint on a chassis. The foot switch powers a 6 volt starter relay in the box, so that the foot pedal only sees a very small current. Also a single pole switch that turns the starter relay on so that the probe is hot as soon as it touches a grounded piece.The good thing about resistance soldering is that you hold the piece to be soldered with the probe, and then hit the foot switch to energize the probe. The current and heat is straight thru the piece, so it has very little effect on already adjacent soldered pieces. I usually flux the piece to be soldered, and then cut a short piece of solder maybe 1/4" long and lay it next to the piece. Hit the foot switch and wait a couple of seconds, and the solder melts instantly, and flows where the flux is, just like regular soldering.

 

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[snolde]

Well done Ross!!!

[Eddie Fleming]

impressive Ross.

 

What are you using and how long to charge the battery?

[Ross Fox]

Thanks Scott! Eddie, the battery is a Mighty Max 6 volt battery rated at 12 amp hours. I got it at Amazon and it was $18.  I think maybe kid's ride on toys use this battery a lot. I have a cheap 6 volt battery charger, so I usually charge it overnight, but I think probably 8 hours charging with my cheap charger. Some have used a salvaged microwave oven transformer for power. The microwave transformer has to be rewound, but I didn't want to fool with that.

[Bill from NH]

I like how you neatly mounted everything in that one plastic box/case. Is there any rechargeable battery you could use, or have you already checked that out?

[John Luongo]

very nice "spot welder" you've got there! very practical and usefull!

[Ross Fox]

Thanks John for the compliment. So Bill, the battery is rechargeable. It is a gel cell, 6 volt, 12 amp hours from Amazon - $18 It is just a cheap one. I may buy a second one and parallel them, at some point, but right now it works fine for me. 

[Mark Onofri]

Tractor pulls are a riot. Unfortunately, some people in the know tore down the grandstands @ N.Y State Fair . And in their infinite wisdom decided to remove the oval track. A while back, someone posted slot car tractor s. I would say that they had about 7-10# of lead on them !

[Mark Onofri]

I thought about hooking my Miller syncrowave to a steel chassis block . Then I stopped to think again and never got started. If you're good, you can write your name in a beer can with this machine. I just don't have the expertise in electric welding to proceed

[Ross Fox]

Mark, okay on the Miller syncrowave. I am a retired electrical contractor and I specialized in industrial electrical power design and industrial electrical installations for many years. I enjoy making electrical doo dads. Just don't have as much time as I wish I had.

[snolde]

"I enjoy making electrical doo dads" 

Ross your new nickname is going to be Doo Dad !!!!         

[Ross Fox]

Ha ha Scott!!!  Doo Dad sounds good to me. I knew a guy who named one of his greyhounds Do Dad, and the other one Dang It.

[snolde]

ROSS (DOO DAD) FOX
I can see it on the lap master display at Atlanta now!!!

[Ross Fox]

     

[Mark Onofri]

Hmmm , soldering with a Miller sicrowave 2000 & Water cooled cricket ( that's what they call it). Like hunting ducks with a Gatling gun. I'll start with decoys & a wrist rocket.
I'm pretty sure that in the English version (is that what you call it) of Slotblog, the post said they start at $850 I don't know if it's $ or £ or
But, at that price you can buy a lot of cars,parts,etc.
I suppose if you were doing a production

[Mark Onofri]

I have to get this phone to a exorcist.
Any way,
I suppose if you were doing a production run the price($850+) could be justified if you wanted a quality product.Unlike Cobra , who's chassis were assembled with spit & match solder , on hotplates, by people who were sight challanged.*
Your's is a true example of American ingenuity. I know you have no interest in selling them but, have you considered selling the schematics?
*{ I hope that's the politically correct way of saying blind.}

[Ross Fox]

Okay Mark, but I am wondering where $850 came from??? Is that for some type of machine?? You know, I actually thought about making a few of them, and I told a lawyer friend of mine. He said to be careful about doing this because of liability. He also went on to say that because we are living in a time of stupidity, lawsuits over nothing are filed all the time, and won by idiots that filed the lawsuit, of which they have no right to win anything. I was an electrical contractor for years, and liability was very high for both personal injury and property damage. Fortunately for me and my company, we never had that happen, but I was very happy when I sold my company to another contractor. As to schematics, that is indeed a good thought. Any comments on these things by you Mark or others?? Let me think about schematics.