Ignition Coil Question

[revans]

I have put together a camera circuit as an spark ignition (this one here): http://www.spudfiles.com/forums/high-po ... 10486.html

and have wired it up to an ignition coil as shown in the tutorial (this one): http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing ... =142048864

Unfortunately its a bit bulky so I'm looking for a smaller coil. I found this one here: http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing ... =141907286

The smaller coil is in a different form factor though so I'm a bit confused. Would it work for the camera flash circuit above?

[mark.f]

Here's my suggestion: stick with the larger coil. I played around with one of those coils and fried it with only a 12 volt battery, much less a photoflash capacitor...

[revans]

That's bad, I really need to find a coil that's a bit smaller.

[TurboSuper]

Here's my suggestion: stick with the larger coil. I played around with one of those coils and fried it with only a 12 volt battery, much less a photoflash capacitor...

That's because it specifically said not to be used with a 12V battery .

I Googled about that type of coil, and apparently it's designed to run off a high voltage DC discharge from a capacitor. That sounds like a camera flash to me, although what size cap it should be, or what voltage is beyond me.

[revans]

So TurboSuper do you think the smaller coil would work with a camera flash circuit then, seeing as it's basically a capacitor discharge?

[TurboSuper]

I did some Googling around, and found this:

http://www.next.gr/view-link.php?id=353

This design uses a 2uF cap charged to about 340V.

The cap in a camera flash is much larger, but you can change it easily enough.

The real problem is the 340V; most camera flashes I see only go up to about 200V.

I'm not sure if it won't give you a spark, or just give you a smaller spark.

[rcman50166]

look up what a marx generator is. That is much more effective than any ignition coil, camera circuit, or tazer could possibly be. And even an idiot could make one!

[jimmy101]

The real problem is the 340V; most camera flashes I see only go up to about 200V.

I've looked at several flash boards from disposable cameras and they all charge to better than 300V.

look up what a marx generator is. That is much more effective than any ignition coil, camera circuit, or tazer could possibly be. And even an idiot could make one!

Not sure how you figure that. You need a pile of suitable capacitors, a fairly large construct to house all the caps and gaps, a voltage supply, etc.
A stungun is cheaper and a heck of a lot simpler. A photoflash is cheaper but a bit more difficult to get to work properly. A photoflash + igntion coil is trivially simple, fairly cheap and much easier to get to very high voltages than a Marx Generator.

[TurboSuper]

Oh, well I guess the flash board I had sucked then.

Anywho, it's a trivial matter that can be easily solved with a multimeter in a matter of seconds.

[revans]

Thanks for the suggestions. Unfortunately I'm in a country (NZ) where stunguns are illegal so as jimmy101 said my next best alternative is a photflash + ignition coil. Does anyone know if smaller coils like the one linked to in my first post would work with a photoflash instead of the big 12v ones?

[MaxuS the 2nd]

http://www.spudfiles.com/forums/high-po ... 10486.html

30 seconds of searching.

[TurboSuper]

Thanks for the suggestions. Unfortunately I'm in a country (NZ) where stunguns are illegal so as jimmy101 said my next best alternative is a photflash + ignition coil. Does anyone know if smaller coils like the one linked to in my first post would work with a photoflash instead of the big 12v ones?

Do you suffer from chronic amnesia or something? We've been in the process of answering that very question all day, haven't we?

[revans]

Maxus: I have seen that tutorial having searched for it previously and having used it to make the camera flash circuit I have right now. I know there are photos of the circuit being used with a similar small coil but they are not the same as what I linked to and I was merely wondering if anyone who might know of or have used such a coil could give me a definitive yes or no about whether it would work. Cheers.

[MaxuS the 2nd]

You just need to find the outputs using a voltmeter.

[revans]

The outputs of my camera flash circuit? Oh well, I don't have/want to spend money on a voltmeter anyway so can't do that one. Thanks though.