Disposable camera flash

[forrestgump]

Disposable camera flash <p>I seen an article in the nuts volts magazine about finding a use for disposable camera flashes has any one seen a follow-up? <p>I would like to use them to create a small arc however not sure if they will produce enough voltage I would like to produce a 3mm spark? Thought maybe replace the cap with a larger one? I will do some experiments on my own since there free! I can afford to fry a few! But if anyone has more info or other ideas it would be fun to look at!<p>Thanks
Mark

[forrestgump]

I did find this link after posting
http://www.geocities.com/lemagicien_200 ... flash.html<p>Mark

[josmith]

I am always compelled to remind anybody who is working with this type of circuit that it can KILL YOU.
Be careful especially around c1. Gloves wouldn't be a bad idea.<p>Adding a bigger capacitor won't increase voltage. It will give more power at the tube at a lower cycle rate. You would have to add a multiplier to the output of t1 to get more voltage.<p>I don't think these circuits output enough power to sustain an arc.

[Edd]

Mark:
Getting a repetitive 3 cm spark probably won’t be compatible with the specs of
The components in the flash camera unit. Referring to your first schematic from the
site you provided there is the initial ~350VDC from the inverter power supply and
then there’s the HV provided by the output of the trigger xformer T2 which might
put out about a 1-2 kv spike when activated.Thats the two voltages produced, of
which the latter would be the highest, but not any where near the ~9 KV level that
would be required to arc across 3mm of fresh, dry Canadian air.As meager as
trigger transformers are built, their windings dielectric specs would not be
conducive to overdriving up to that spec.
The supply portion that feeds the 160 ufd cap is capable of many joules of power
to the electrodes of the flash tube,.so one might use it for the B+ supply for a
capacitive discharge ignition type of circuit with a different/proper higher
breakdown voltage transformer rating to be able to get that desired 9 KV
73’s de Edd
eddw35@attbi (Interstellar ~~~~ Warp~~~~Speed)
[email protected] (Firewalled-Spam*Cookies*Crumbs)

[forrestgump]

Thanks Edd for the info. My electronics knowledge is basic but growing so this may sound a bit off. Would it be possible to use a flash circuit to feed a larger cap? I really only need a charge every 30s to a min. Or would the flash circuit only feed to about 300v? I think I can probably find my answer from experimenting however its hard to measure that high of voltage with regular meter. Maybe I would be better off using a more suited coil to get the desired charge I need. It just seams like such a deal getting so many free flash circuits! Thanks again for the info! I will keep playing maybe some more reading! <p>Mark