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marcros

House Bee
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I am just trying to put wax into wired frames, trying to use a battery charger for the first time.

Am I doing something wrong, but nothing seems to be happening when i put the red and black clips to ends of a wire? Could I have a battery charger that prevents this- it is a simple automatic model.

thanks
Mark
 
When I do it I do a couple of inches at a time, it is not that slow and works well, and like you when I tried to do a whole length it was not very successful.

PH
 
Some battery chargers (the better ones) have interlocks which will prevent reverse connection or dead shorting, by sensing battery voltage and polarity before actually allowing any current to flow. You may have one of these. Alternatively, it could be dead.

And I hope you are trying to embed wire into wax sheets/frames!

Regards, RAB
 
I use an old charger that has 6 and 12 volt option.

Using the 6 volt option I touch each end of a single wire for a count of 3 then its perfectly embedded.

Hope this helps.
 
Even the simple automatic models can have fuses - might be worth checking.

It is brand new, bought some time ago albeit for charging batteries rather than embedding. Seems I bought too good a one for this job!!

The spur embedded is out and is doing a reasonable job.

Thanks everybody.
 
Do you have to use a bat charger. Could you use a 12 V battery instead?
 
Do you have to use a bat charger. Could you use a 12 V battery instead?

I believe that this would work, but I dont have one of these either.

I have read somewhere that a motorbike battery is ideal
 
The spur embedded is out and is doing a reasonable job.

There is a new style spur embedder availabe here in the US from BetterBee. Appears to work much better than the old style and the solid wheel retains heat much better.
 
There is a new style spur embedder availabe here in the US from BetterBee. Appears to work much better than the old style and the solid wheel retains heat much better.

Thanks for that, I will have a look.
 
Perhaps :-

1. Are you sure you have a full circuit? i.e. clipping on at the right places (sorry if this insults your intelligence)

2. Are you giving it enough time? Mine is 9 volt and it takes about 12 seconds to embed 2 horizontal wires.

3. Is there some pressure for the wires to push against the foundation? Somewhere on this forum is a thread about wiring and it tells you how to make a simple board for this purpose.
 
Do you have to use a bat charger. Could you use a 12 V battery instead?
Maximum current from a charger around 6 to 8 Amperes. Maximum current from a fully charged battery? Too much to contemplate really under accidental short circuit conditions.

It would probably work, but there is nothing quite like a bit of self limiting to keep the operation on the safe side. I've never vapourised a bit of stainless steel wire with a battery charger.

There will doubtless be adherents of, "just a dab" large battery folk out there doing quite well though.
 
Max 6 to 8 amps

!!!??!? Mine goes to over 100 amps before it trips! But it would not embed as it needs that signal voltage before passing current.

Regards, RAB
 
Have only played with this method and just the once. Wire melted in succesfully, but ends heated faster and higher than middle (you'd probably want to clip on at every other direction change in parallel). Method used was an old starter battery from my caterham and re-charge as necessary. Most chargers provide a low amp, stable voltage output. Power (P) = Voltage (V) x Current (I). A direct slow charger link will not give you the current. As a minimum you need a battery as a buffer (high current output), even then you are likely to discharge faster than you re-charge. R
 
Max 6 to 8 amps

!!!??!? Mine goes to over 100 amps before it trips! But it would not embed as it needs that signal voltage before passing current.

Regards, RAB

Your charger sounds like a bit of a beast to me. I bet it cost more than the £10 that I paid for my basic model a few years back and requires the wearing of a truss just to lift it. I think the meter on my humble model disappears off the scale somewhere around 8 Amps. It was of course built before the concept of battery chargers being expected to crank engines was conceived and smart it isn't.

Do they use capacitor assistance for the instantaneous high currents I wonder and what is the VA rating of the transformers in such devices? I'm obviously a bit behind the times regarding current battery charging technology - or is it that I just haven't got a lorry LOL?
 
Hombre,

You lost! Mine actually did cost a tenner (I think) but may have been a little more. I don't lift it a lot - it does have wheels! A case of the right place at the right time! The only downside, apart from size, is that it is 6 and 12 volt only. I do have other battery chargers around as well, I must admit.

Now back to embedding; the power is also (current squared) times resistance so it is easy enough to select a length of wire to give a suitable heating effect to embed in a short time, then move further along the wire. Bearing in mind, of course, that the next batch (reel) of wire may be of a different diameter or material.

I daresay a very small soldering iron tip with a 'v' cut in it would suffice just as well, once the technique is perfected.

Regards, RAB
 

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