Latest build from Maker Faire NYC

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Latest build from Maker Faire NYC

Postby Jetguy » Thu Sep 26, 2013 1:11 pm

When I bought the last kit they had at MakerFaire, it was missing the aluminum torrid at the top which they are mailing to me. But I couldn't resist trying it. So, having studied these forever, I took a piece of packing foam from a box that already had a hole in the middle and then wraped it with a couple of layers of aluminum foil to make a squarish but semi torrid shape. Yes, quite horrible I know and every corner I expected to be a point source for discharge. However, it works great!!!!
I can't wait to compare it VS the real one.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/90025904@N04/9953951063/
BTW, that is only 50% power at most. This thing is a beast!!!!
I cannot imagine it pushing to max.
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Re: Latest build from Maker Faire NYC

Postby Bayley » Thu Sep 26, 2013 3:10 pm

I am thoroughly impressed that your square topload works :)
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Re: Latest build from Maker Faire NYC

Postby Jetguy » Fri Sep 27, 2013 2:49 pm

Thanks for the kind words! I'm amazed it works as well but the proof is in the video. I do not try to push full power in this setup but I can say that sound wise, it's insanely loud with the multiple discharge points.

This is a great kit and I soldered it together in about 3 hours the first evening I had time after getting back from Maker Faire. To be fair, I have huge soldering experience, I have always wanted to build one of these from scratch and the kit makes it so easy.

Notes for others:
Just like the manual states, the biggest issue is ensuring all through hole joints, especially the ground plane ones are properly soldered. Due to the massive surface of the ground plane, you must get a lot of heat to conduct into both the pin and the hole surrounding it for the solder to flow.
Careful attention to detail and mine worked the first time out of the box.
One thing I did deviate from the instructions is that they indicate to put the solder lugs inside the secondary tube fixed over the bolts with hot glue. My concern is that hot glue is not conductive and therfore could easily give you a bad connection to the bolt. SO I put the lug and wire on the outside of the cap after gluing the bolt through. The advantage here is that then the lug terminal makes direct contact to the one on on the main enclosure as the ground. Yes, you in thoery would catch a bad ground provided you followed the instructions for testing before firing it up, but then the huge question is how to repair it using the stock method if you had an open ground?

As they say, the devil is in the details and between the solder joints and years of experience with electrical connections, ensuring you have the high voltage and high current connections made very solid will prevent a lot of blow-ups and component failures. As you can imagine, the last thing you want is the ground or the high end side to open up under full power leaving that energy with nowhere to go. It will go somewhere and I guarantee it will go somewhere you didn't want it to. The fine wire of the secondary makes for a fragile joint so it is imperative during tensioning of the mounting bolts to not twist the lugs.

All that said, the manual is great and the startup checks are spot on. Provided you follow the directions to the letter, I hope a lot of people have the same success I did!!!
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