SpudFiles

Hey all, I'm looking to begin work on a flyback ignition circuit for my launcher for a physics project. The only problem I've run into so far is getting a hold of a flyback DC-DC "transformer".

I was wondering if anyone had any particular model types to use or even vendor sites that sell these.

Thanks again!

The easiest way to get a hold of a flyback is to tear one out of an old tv.

Most newer TVs run in the 20-30kv range I believe.

Edit: Somehow I completely missed the word "launcher" in your post, and figured you needed a steady HV source for something else physics related. But anyway a flyback is kind of unnecessary for a normal gun.

Flybacks are pretty pricey if you buy from the normal suppliers.

You might take a look at the surplus places. I checked AllElectronics and Electronics Goldmine but neither currently have any flybacks listed.

Got an old TV or monitor laying around? (9 months or so from now there should be a huge increase in the availability of old TVs )

I wouldn't recomend using a flyback anyway. To complex. Finding the pinouts is next to impossible. You usually have to go by trial and error to figure out what the 8 or 10 pins on the flyback are for. (There are a couple sites with pretty good write-ups on how to go about figuring out the pinouts.)

I would suggest using an automotive igntion coil instead. You can get one for cheap from an auto junkyard or a new one from any auto parts store. An ignition coil is a heck of a lot more robust, and simpler, than a flyback. A small igntion coil isn't much bigger than a typical flyback.

I know it's unnecessary, but the particular project I'm working on calls for circuitry use and thus, I have chosen to use flyback. But if there is another way please tell me, I've so far looked at ignition coils but it wasn't quite as technical as I would have liked.

Believe me, if I could, I'd just stick a piezo BBQ igniter into it

Well, you could always build a 555 timer circuit to drive the coil and create repetitive sparks. That's plenty of circuitry

I made a flyback driver once, but all it did was make a spark about as long as an amoeba's weewee and a bunch of *very* cool sci-fi noises.

Well use the ignition coil circuit from the Sparker reference guide
http://www.thespudmall.com/educator/help.htm

Edit: oops wrong link. I'm in a proxy right now at school.

why not get a cheap stun gun off e-bay or the like, I think I spent like 8 bucks for mine a year or two ago. then you could pull the guts out and rewire it to a spark strip. That would look purdy circuity. Plus it makes a hell of a good ignition spark.

Good luck unbreakable,

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