Thank you for posting this! definitely gonna give it a try. what's the worst thing that can happen (other than electrocution or burning my house down)?😁I am kidding, I understand electric well enough to be safe. I built a static grass machine, and my heart is still working fine, so I think I'll give this a try!
thank you for your video, I used your explanation and parts and built my own soldering station. I used a 12v 30 A power supply, same dimmer and instead of soldering Iron i bought 16 gauge wire with alligator clips that directly connect to the output of the dimmer, one is negative and the other clip holds a 4 mm carbon gouging rod (Cut to 3 inches ). works brilliantly so far ! the only difference i have is, i put the foot switch between the mains and the power supply so its never powered on unless activated. everything was bought off amazon for all under $75 in Jan 😀2024
FYI Micromark now offers a unit for $200. Problem is, all it states in the ad is "63 watts". It has high and low outputs but doesn't say what the output voltage and current capability is.
hello I recently saw your res. soldering unit. I purchased what you show on line. power supply 110vac input 12vdc output 30amp, dimmer 12vdc input 12vdc variable output 30a with foot sw. I used 12ga stranded wire. and 10 ga. stranded to work probe and 10ga to ground post. carbon rod etc. I get 12vdc out to dimmer to ft. sw. but I don't seem to get any amp. to solder my brass part. any ideas. again built and used same parts as you are showing. thanks mike
@@cllhmodelrailroad1867 I rechecked everything as far as my connections etc. I also noticed that when I connect my gr. probe and my work probe my power supply cuts out. maybe I can't use cheap parts. any other suggestions. thanks again. I'm thinking of buying new power supply and a new dimmer maybe of better quality.
Hi, it sounds odd that when you connect everything your power supply looses power. Amps are important in welding. Just cause it says the amp rating it doesn't mean it's a continuous amount. The power supply must be strong enough to push the amperage continually. Another thing is the parts your grounding, have they been stripped of any paint or varnish? Sorry your having issues. I know this works, I use it all the time and other modelers have built it and it works for them too. Stay on it, you'll figure out the issue, probably a little step that's causing the issues.
Thanks for sharing this. I built one using an old 650W computer power supply and solder off the 5V output and use it exclusively to solder copper wire rolling ball sculptures. I couldn't have done it without your video so much appreciated. My Machine: ru-vid.commAhxsKRF6-I?si=MpGYPSojyY7Lzsa9 My last rolling ball sculpture: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-dAo9GpIjYl8.html
I've been having some issues sold in g joints that are near previous soldered joint without coming unsoldered or out of alignment. resistance soldering would be my solution then? I have the ability to make this so I'm thinking of giving it a shot. I see some people use transformers specifically and your using a power supply which I guess they are one in the same. what thickness of brass are you able to solder in your experience? thank you for your time
Hi and thanks for your question. So if you were to build a brass locomotive from the start, you would be using a resistance soldering unit for the reasons you discussed. What your doing with this device is your welding the pieces together, not soldering. A little side note here is to use a low heat solder as well.
@@cllhmodelrailroad1867 okay cool good tip I never really pay attention to the melting point of solder but I will definitely look for it next time I'm out to solder. now I want to build myself a resistance soldering unit I know all the components I will need but I'm not sure what size transformer would be good. what are good parameter to stay with in for a transformer? I know 115volt primary but I have seen multiple secondary used anywhere from 6volt to 24volt using a power control kno, and with a power of 50VA to 250VA one forum said. what specs would you recommend in a transformer? thank you for responding back I appreciate the wisdom.
Posted question in wrong place first time so hopefully I've got it where it needs to be. Why use the carbon tip on the soldering iron? Why not just use the original tip built on to the iron?
I have question for you, I made a similar set up as yours but with a more powerful(50 AMP) power supply, the probe and the ground wires are connected directly to the power supply (I did not connect it to a dimmer), the problem is, when I complete the circuit to solder, the fan stops working until I lift the probe, then it starts again, does the fan in your power supply behave this way? thanks.
No mine stays on..I'm wondering if you disconnected the ground wire from your design and wire it the way I did if your problem would stop. I'm thinking it's shorting out your power supply, or puttingto much load on it..??
@@cllhmodelrailroad1867 someone explained a more reasonable possibility , he says when "I'm soldering, the voltage drops too low for the fan to run," which makes sense, I'll check other possibilities, thank you for taking the time to reply.
@@cllhmodelrailroad1867 Mate Mine did the same thing did you try disconnecting the earth on the power lead as suggested and did it work? If not did you work out a solution? My power supply drops all voltage not just the fan when it sees the short circuit.
@@weepierre101 Hi, I abandoned the idea of using a ready made power supply, but instead I used an old microwave transformer and removed the top wire coil( secondary?) portion and wrapped 3 turns of 4AWG wire, it works perfectly as a low resistance soldering. as you can guess I am a total novice in electrical world but this LRS works better than I had hoped. good luck.
