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  1. oldusedbear

    Build your own CD battery tab welder for about $100.00+-

    Waaaaay back on page 16, I show a picture of my rather rudimentary spot welder. Since that time, I've made thousands of welds with it - - primarily upon sub C nicd cells in the process of rebuilding rechargeable battery packs for tools. We are using .005 nickel tabs and the welder does a quite...
  2. oldusedbear

    Build your own CD battery tab welder for about $100.00+-

    Jeremy is doing a great job of being polite and patient. The kind of current that can be released from 50 farads is awesome and can be incredibly dangerous. This is an elephant gun approach to swatting a gnat. As the cliche goes, "Don't try this at home!!"
  3. oldusedbear

    Build your own CD battery tab welder for about $100.00+-

    In an earlier post, I mentioned that I was making modifications to my electrode holder system in order to get more equal pressures on each electrode. I'd originally "floated" the individual electrode mounts by drilling oversized holes for the mounting screws, and then putting an O ring over the...
  4. oldusedbear

    Build your own CD battery tab welder for about $100.00+-

    I received my new sheet stock from Admiral Steel. Pretty disappointing - - The pieces were in a folded piece of cardboard, and then strapped to a wooden board. However, it looks like they were treated to a lot of sloppy handling before they were even packaged. Lots of bends, creases, curled...
  5. oldusedbear

    Build your own CD battery tab welder for about $100.00+-

    I'm doing increasing numbers of sub-C battery packs with my welder now. Have ordered several pieces of the sheet stock ( 6" x36") from Admiral Steel. Found that freight and handling, about 20 bucks, was the same for 5 pieces as it is for one piece so ordered 5. In the meantime, I've set up...
  6. oldusedbear

    Build your own CD battery tab welder for about $100.00+-

    Update - comments - questions. I've made several hundred welds with my simple device (pictures on page 26). All of them on sub C and 4/5 sub C nicads. We are using both the .250 and .375 width nickel stock - - .005 in thickness. Have the voltage up to almost 15 volts now, and seem to be...
  7. oldusedbear

    Build your own CD battery tab welder for about $100.00+-

    Another view - - My handy tensioner (the throbmopple with the two red stripes), was a precautionary device. I have a pacemaker and wasn't sure if I could stand up close to the welder when triggered. Turns out I can - - no effects at all. The power supply is reasonably adjustable - - maybe...
  8. oldusedbear

    Build your own CD battery tab welder for about $100.00+-

    Well Rats! I was gonna put in 4 or 5 pictures with some comments. The "system" grabbed the first one and posted it in one swell foop. Anyhow, that's what it looks like. You can see one of the Volfenspitzer caps peeking around from the rear of the beast. The cyclops eye on the top is...
  9. oldusedbear

    Build your own CD battery tab welder for about $100.00+-

    Finally got my welder up and running. My objective was to make good welds on tabs for sub-c's. I think it does this job quite nicely. Here's some pictures with comments:
  10. oldusedbear

    Build your own CD battery tab welder for about $100.00+-

    Thanks for the update, Fritz. I have a pair of the Volfenhags in my just completed welder. Mine are rated at 2.0 Farads each, but I've made no attempt to measure their true capacity. The "beta tests" of the welder have surpassed my expectations tho. I'm not doing anything all that...
  11. oldusedbear

    Build your own CD battery tab welder for about $100.00+-

    Hi Fritz - - I think there are a lot of readers here who would LOVE to know which brand of capacitor you found to be performing so well. So many of us have purchased ones that are not within a country mile of reaching the specs claimed by the manufacturer. If there is a really good one out...
  12. oldusedbear

    Build your own CD battery tab welder for about $100.00+-

    GREAT reply, Terramir. Thanks for going into the details for me. I ordered the SCR you suggested. Looks like it should have plenty of headroom for my piddly application. We live in a little podunk coastal town. THE auto stereo store (as in quantity of ONE - - and not very big) stocks 1...
  13. oldusedbear

    Build your own CD battery tab welder for about $100.00+-

    Well - - My easily derailed train of thought involved a mixture of what both of you are saying. I was thinking of a substantial (15 Amp or so) AC relay on the input side of my battery charger. Using a 5 amp NC microswitch to open the relay contacts when the foot pedal is pushed. When I just...
  14. oldusedbear

    Build your own CD battery tab welder for about $100.00+-

    That is 1 AWG welding cable - - Nice and flexible. You've no doubt noticed it is still a one piece loop - - Thought I'd wait to see how I'll be situating the caps and the SCR before cutting the cable. As regards the electrode pressure question: You may very well be correct, Terramir - - The...
  15. oldusedbear

    Build your own CD battery tab welder for about $100.00+-

    I had thought about spring loading the whole plate that carries both electrodes, as well as spring loading the individual electrode holders. Jeremy's mention of using rubber got me thinking in THAT direction however, because it is so simple. I had already thought about a testing scheme that...
  16. oldusedbear

    Build your own CD battery tab welder for about $100.00+-

    Many thanks, Jeremy. Your mention of the rubber sheet has fostered a simple idea: Perhaps all I need to do is enlarge the four holes in my electrode mounting plate. Then fit each mounting screw with a rubber sleeve (could be a very short length of rubber tubing), then change out my present...
  17. oldusedbear

    Build your own CD battery tab welder for about $100.00+-

    I've been reading the mail here for a while, but this is my first post. New kid on the block. Hopefully, I can build a successful welder for my limited objective - - tabs on sub-C's for rechargeable tool battery packs. (I do have a store bought e-bike tho - - and had a DIY electric scooter...
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