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Building an EMP, having difficulties

Lonetau

Nov 19, 2015
3
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Nov 19, 2015
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I am building an EMP out of a 330V 120uF disposable camera capacitor. I am using a R13-423L2 LED toggle switch for my On/Off switch. The switch has three leads, Power, Acc, and Ground, and the Ground lead has a 680 Ohm resistor attached(http://www.rapidonline.com/pdf/75-0378.pdf).

I soldered a copper wire to the positive end of the capacitor and wrapped the wire around a 12" diameter cardboard tube 25 times, afterward connecting this wire to the Power lead on my switch. Then, I soldered another copper wire from the Ground lead on my switch to the negative end of my capacitor.

I placed a cheap calculator next to my device, charged the capacitor, and turned it on. The LED on the toggle switch turned on, but the calculator still worked. I did a calculation, and given the 680 Ohm resistor and 330V/120uF capacitor, the current is only .485 Amps, which resulted in a B field of .3 mT, way too low.

I redid the calculation, this time using the resistance of the copper wire(I figured the current flowing through the wire before it reached the resistor would also be generating a B field). The copper wire I am using is rated at .00751 Ohm/ft, and this resulted in a current of 1700-1800 Amps, a B field of about 1.1 T, powerful enough to use as an EMP. Obviously, this calculation is not representing reality.

My question is, what did I do wrong, and how can I do this correctly? Should I buy a switch with less resistance? Or did I just wire my device incorrectly?

Thank you for your time and thank you for any advice you may have for me.

EDIT: I am convinced that the 680 Ohm resistor on the switch is the limiting factor, will update again once I test with a lower resistance switch.
 
Last edited:

(*steve*)

¡sǝpodᴉʇuɐ ǝɥʇ ɹɐǝɥd
Moderator
Jan 21, 2010
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How can you build a pulse?

try triggering the pulse using the xenon flash tube.

The max current you'll get is around 50 to 100A.

Any significant inductance will reduce this.
 

Lonetau

Nov 19, 2015
3
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Nov 19, 2015
Messages
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How can you build a pulse?

try triggering the pulse using the xenon flash tube.

The max current you'll get is around 50 to 100A.

Any significant inductance will reduce this.
EMP generator, sorry my post wasn't clear enough for you to figure out what I was doing. I don't have a xenon flash tube. I have a cardboard tube. Again, I apologize that my post wasn't written well enough for you to figure that out.

If the ground terminal is unconnected it has no effect.
I'm sorry that my post didn't specify whether or not the ground terminal was connected, but it is.
 

Alec_t

Jul 7, 2015
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Jul 7, 2015
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Be aware that the capacitor can store enough charge to KILL you :eek:. Take due safety precautions.
 

Lonetau

Nov 19, 2015
3
Joined
Nov 19, 2015
Messages
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Be aware that the capacitor can store enough charge to KILL you :eek:. Take due safety precautions.
Yeah, I already shocked myself once when I was pulling the circuit board out of the camera so I bought some rubber gloves to help me out.
 
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