BOSS LEVEL CUSTOM SPOT WELDER

rojitor

100 kW
Joined
Mar 23, 2011
Messages
1,029
Location
vigo spain
I just got a couple days ago a custom spot welder. It has tons of potential so i want to share this info with the community.
I live in a small house, we are swimming on electric and painting stuff so i can't afford to have big machines. I looked for small custom spot welders on the net: microwave, car battery, supercapacitors.... all of them too big or not what i was aiming for. Then i found this welder. It's not a new device, was created time ago, since it is interesting many guys tried to buy it and the creator sold a few in his area but refused for a long time to ship overseas, i guess it's looong time consuming for a low profit.
People insisted so recently he opened his hands to the world and i managed to get one for me. I'll make a small review.

20160210.jpg

It's made out of arduino custom shields. The creator is a korean genius named Aulakiria. He did many prototypes, ac powered...dremel size...this is the final item.
It's powered by a 3s lipo, YES! lipo hates being shorted but he managed to limit the short to 16ms so no damage at all. The size is minimal 4x3x8 cm.
20170610.jpg

This is how i got it. The module, a pen, a momentary switch for manual use and a hakko solder iron (It solders as well) The shipping was incredibly fast 7 days from korea.
20170611.jpg

He sent me as a courtesy some nickel strips and the matching xt90 connector for the lipo.
20170612.jpg

everything fits inside this small box. PERFECT! my dream size.
All you need is a 3s lipo to use it. Just solder the xt90 and you are done. Aulakiria recommends top lipos, above 40c. It will work with whatever you have but the better the lipo the better the welds. He even did the demos with crappy b grade 25c to prove it.
UPDATE MARCH THE 25TH OF 2018 The new model has updated firmware and has become more resilient to 4s lipo use. Also many new users reported low performance on thick/wide tabs using unknown lipo brands or just crappy bricks around. Therefore i recommend ONLY top quality lipos. HOBBYKING Turnigy NanoTech and Graphene have been reported to be perfect. Use only high C lipos. They are often overrated or even exaggerated at C ratings so do not trust blindly the manufacturer claims.The thickness of the wire also matters.The continuous C is irrelevant. Look for the burst. Aim for 130C(burst) 5000 mah.
I use https://hobbyking.com/en_us/turnigy...s-65-130c-lipo-pack-xt-90.html?___store=en_us
You can use several bricks in parallel in case you do not reach the amps required. Avoid wired adaptors for parallel. The transport will lose lots of amps. Use only adaptors like this:

s0vgn5.jpg

b_grad10.jpg

It has top quality IFR1404 mosfet manufactured in Korea and Taiwan. He recommends to keep the mosfet under 50º celsius. The shield has a port for a 5v fan. The left side is negative and the right side is positive.
fan10.jpg

I installed a fan but totally failed. The temperature was always high, the welder stops automatically to avoid damage.
So annoying! My country is VERY HOT these days.
tpol10.jpg


Well...maybe not that hot but very hot anyway so i installed some heat sinks on the plate.
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and two 12 volt fans.The temperature never goes above 30º celsius now.
20170617.jpg

In normal conditions any 5v will do a perfect performance. If you have a soft weather there's no need to mod.
mod video:
[youtube]aj5TiHdT5vM[/youtube]

I did a small video to show the performance:
[youtube]fCa2QP1jjBE[/youtube]
To use the hakko solder you need a power supply 12-35v. 19+ prefered .Any laptop power supply will do.
solder10.jpg

This is me testing the iron
[youtube]73xb6SiqcRs[/youtube]
This is Aulakiria himself using the iron:
[youtube]SA7HLQKWx88[/youtube]
Aulakiria translated the menu so we can read it. It's easy to play.
aulaki10.jpg

using it:

[youtube]75XBlGjcBVQ[/youtube]
in depth testing
[youtube]voWpcxBbxoA[/youtube]

How to make your own welding pen
[youtube]hkQBYMse_DI[/youtube]
Part two, welding pen with interchangeable tips
[youtube]AchVGnmf68Y[/youtube]

The welding times are usually:
For nickel strips
0.1 1.4ms
0.15 4ms
0.20 7ms
The machine is copper welding capable but requires 4s lipo. That is dangerous for the machine and yourself. The intense use of 4s lipo on high flux times may cause premature failure of the machine. Use it at your own risk.
copper times are:
0.1 5-6 ms x2
0.2 10-12 ms x4
Do not use copper unless you know what you are doing. The use of gloves and glasses are mandatory.

when the A is blinking is ready to weld in the waiting time you set. When manual set selected it will weld when you press the button. I plan to install a pedal.
My honest verdict:
if you are low on budget,have a small house and you just make small packs every now and then like me this is perfect.
If you have a huge garage plenty of room, you can afford semi-professional machines and/or you do intensive use of spot welder maybe you prefer something bigga hardda fastta strongga.

update february 21th of 2019
Let me introduce the MinispotA

Lee has built a mini version of the Boss spot welder.
take a look here
[youtube]F2fO-ywiLt8[/youtube]
DISCLAIMER:
I am not affiliated, associated, authorized, endorsed by, or in any way officially connected with Aulakiria. THIS IS NOT A SALES THREAD. And i have no profit nor gain with this, i just think it's a nice thing and i am sharing it with you. If you are interested on buying one just mail him saying you want one here aulakiria@naver.com that's his paypal account as well. If you mail him be brief and use only perfect academic understandable english. Something google translator can deal with.
The prices are :

basic set : usd $ 95

Hakko T12 soldering iron Handle & Tip : usd $15 (option)

full set : usd $110

Paypal fees 3.5%, Usd-krw Exchange fees 3%…It is double charged so please consider the option send money to family/friend

shipping method

Global RR (KOREA post registered airmail) : $15 (20~40 business days)

Global EMS fee : most $27 (10~15 business days)

U.K (Great British) : $33

Italy : $38
https://m.blog.naver.com/aulakiria/220992039512
 
Aulakiria automatic spot welding
[youtube]FckcBbeYytg[/youtube]
testing
[youtube]dd-Vb1LqkLA[/youtube]

dremel size prototype
[youtube]9SxOxlckQU8[/youtube]

PORN TIME

dremel11.jpg

dremel10.jpg

dremel size

arduin10.jpg

arduino custom shields

mosfet10.jpg

IFR1404 mosfet installation
mosfet11.jpg

0910.jpg

version 0.9 ready

09_vs_10.jpg

0.9 vs 1.0 (solder added)
 
6S1P Li-ion 18650 LG mg1 with pure copper 0.1mm strips
[youtube]iYOh_15mri8[/youtube]

Electroplating copper tabs for battery packs
[youtube]1bOJF5fWgJo[/youtube]

making of a short range electric skateboard battery pack
6s2p sony konion vtc6 with nickel plated copper 0.2 wide tabs
[youtube]_iKuUNYCXRk[/youtube]

making of a lights battery pack from salvaged cells 2s3p
[youtube]LdBI8JwCI4o[/youtube]

step by step diy triangle battery pack for electric bike
[youtube]hrvplvwQM7s[/youtube]

super cheap 10s battery for electric skateboard(also suitable for ebike)
[youtube]yOnGAHu_odw[/youtube]

Triangle pack by bike2018
[youtube]mmZdo-yNTZg[/youtube]

How to make a flat pack for electric skateboard
[youtube]dKD0CIumcZw[/youtube]
 
Wow, inrush current so high you can se the wires twitch from the magnetic flux generated by the current flow.
 
This is quite a cool little device!! I love the small package, the soldering capability and the use of a 3S lipo (i have a ton of those).

Looks like this will be one of my next new toys/tools to incorporate. Thanks for taking the time to share this with us and write up a review. (I would never dare trying to post something like this on a Spanish-speaking site because my español is terrible; kudos to you)
 
Looks super cool!!..

Lipo leads jump around a bit, I take it this is normal? 12vto35v so can be run on 6s as I have spares of them just not 3s..

Thanks for sharing top stuff!!!
 
Yeah. No problem. The wires jumping is normal.
For the solder 12-35v is ok. Above 19v you get better performance.
 
rojitor said:
Above 19v you get better performance.
So my 24v 18650 pack might be a good option?
 
Yes. For the solder iron I am using a 25.2v charger I have around. Your 24v pack or a 6s lipo with an adapter will do.
I guess you can do some field job off the grid. That's the part I luv about this tiny thing.
 
Please connect the soldering iron tip to the handle and turn on the power.
So the tip temperature is displayed correctly.

The soldering tip may occasionally have a different resistance value.
(Japanese Hakko original products and Chinese copy products)
Pressing the spot manual switch initializes the tip temperature info value.



A few people ordered according to your review.
I sent it today.

Thank you again for your review.

I recorded the orderer and tracking number.
http://blog.naver.com/aulakiria/221036236888
 
Sure would be nice to get more feedback!
 
Hey! Welcome to the forum aulakiria.
When I watched my video I realized I have Turned it on before plugging the hakko. My bad. I know that's incorrect.
The solder at 25v works fine. I had really low expectations for 12v but it worked surprisingly well. It is a good choice for some off the grid field Jobs.
Your invention is boss!
 
I did a small video. How to use it. You can see how to navigate the menu.
enjoy
[youtube]75XBlGjcBVQ[/youtube]
 
Hey Aulakiria! Got your Boss spot welder just the other day and about to test.

I have more 4s packs than 3s... Can this use 4s Lipo instead of 3s? I'm charging an old 3s now, but not sure how long it'll last to be honest only a 25c 5000mAh zippy.

Fast shipping and seems really well made from first inspection!
 
rojitor said:
Yeah. No problem. The wires jumping is normal.
For the solder 12-35v is ok. Above 19v you get better performance.
mxer said:
Looks super cool!!..

Lipo leads jump around a bit, I take it this is normal? 12vto35v so can be run on 6s as I have spares of them just not 3s..

Thanks for sharing top stuff!!!

I asked to use 6s for welding as I have no 3s and I think that was confirmed as a YES so 4s should be fine too.

The unit works from 12vto35v so should be fine but can't confirm 100%as I haven't received mine yet.
 
No! That was for the solder. The solder works 12-35v
The spot welder 3s. They have different ports.

solder10.jpg


A crappy 3s will work. It will need more time flux.
Also you can connect several 3s in parallel and you will have a perfect performance.
 
It also works on 4s lipo.
However, the higher the voltage, the more dangerous it becomes.
High voltage causes metal deep penetration.
Spot welds of 18650 must be concentrated on the metal surface.
When the voltage increases, it is Arc welding.

[youtube]u52h--99Umg[/youtube]

The inside of the metal is melted. It damages the battery.
So try not to use 4s for the welder and definitely do not use 6s.
 
I introduce spot welding test results.
See http://blog.naver.com/aulakiria/221044436774.
I want you to do your battery and spot welding tests.
 
I installed a pedal today.
20170710.jpg


It's easy to do. There's 3 wires com,normally open and normally closed. You need to solder com and normally closed to a dupont wire,insulate the third and you are done.
Dunno why the sellers send a tiny wire, I had to add an extension.
20170711.jpg

also the diagram was incorrect. white,red and black were actually yellow,red and green...and red was not the supposed red. After a few combinations i figured it out.
I did a few welds and is quite comfortable.
 
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