I am trying to build a flash triggering circuit, and was looking for some information on Capacitor charging, specifically the part mentioned at
An image of the part is here-
Its extremely difficult to find an miniature inverter transformer that can be bought off the shelf. Has anyone ever tried to do this?
Go down to your local Walgreens, or anywhere that develops single use 35mm camera pix on site. They get 17.5 cents for every camera they return to be refurbed. I had no trouble getting them to sell me as many as I wanted for 20-cents each. It will have everything you need.
Be very careful taking it apart, 'cause the big cap is usually charged to lethal voltage. Stated another way, you can die... mike
The schematics would be a big help. The flash tube I have has a higher W-s rating than the ones in disposable cameras.My thinking was, if I can figure out what the 'miniature transformer' (don't know what else to call it) does I can get one which would work better with the flash tube I had...
What's important is the voltage required. You can get as many watt-seconds as you want by paralleling up caps. Just takes longer to cycle. mike
The above response is IRRESPONSIBLE!!!!! Just because you didn't die, doesn't mean that people should be casual with a charged cap from a flash. You can die just as easily from the head injury you get when the shock knocks you on your ass...except maybe if it was protetected because you already had your head up your...
I've got an eye that doesn't work quite right. I accidentally grabbed the second anode cap on a tv that had been off for days. When I flew out the back of the set, my shirt caught on the antenna lead. It flipped up and scraped across my cornea. The thing that hurts you ain't always the primary stupidity.
mike
The step up transformer. One of the not-so-cheap flash units had about 750V across its capacitor after about 7 seconds, running off 6V DC. What kindoff transformer do they use for the stepping up part ?
Same advice here. I even have the schematics for some of the most popular ones if you want.
lethal voltage yes, but the charge is not that big. It will give you a shock but will not kill you if you are in good health. I did take a few "strikes" while poking around those things, it hurts, but I'm still alive (I think).
You'll find transformer design info and vendors at:
Are you talking about the trigger transformer or the step up transformer?
Al
Call it a "trigger transformer" and you'll probably get more google hits. :-)
Good Luck! Rich
That was very helpful.
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