Ok, I am set up in the Air conditioning, as opposed to my insanely hot workshop in the garage, and experimenting with the AwithZ P20B, and 0.2mm copper, No nickel sandwich, no flux.
@glyphiks and @Pecos showed interest in not having to use nickel or nickel plated steel sandwich, with Pecos coining the ‘raw dog copper’ verbiage and future band name, in another thread.
I worked up the gears until it started sticking, slightly, and was up over gear 500 (999 max) before that occurred. Closer to gear 650 one electrode started having an almost weld, and at gear 690 this just blew right through the copper, into the cell can, puncturing it, and the other electrode’s weld was weak, at best.
The electrode which blew through the copper had part of the steel can stuck to the tip, and the diamond file provided with the welder, was struggling to remove it.
I smelled the sickly sweet smell of electrolyte and got a different cell.
I used a small smidge of Nelvick’s copper welding flux/Brazing paste, and used the same settings. 0.2mm copper, no Nickel, and two solid welds occurred.
The copper tore when removing the strip, but in my opinion 0.2mm copper is just not strong enough on its own. I’ll estimate it takes well more than twice the force to remove 0.2 copper with 0.1mm Nickel plated steel on top. If there is never any physical stress placed on the 0.2mm copper I guess it could be considered adequate. i think if one wants to skip the sandwich, Aim for 0.25 or 0.3mm copper.
Here is a link to the copper flux/brazing paste I am using.
I am still working on the depth of field and focus with my camera. I am out of practice. Expect higher quality images in future posts. The flash made it look like the weld on the left is silver on top, but it is not.
That weld occurred using these welder settings. Again that is 0.2mm copper, no Sandwich, using flux.
Here is the copper strip once cleaned of the excess flux. The Flux tins the copper in close proximity to the weld. I cannot tell if this also stuck to the cell’s can. I honestly cant tell if it did. It does not look like it. Perhaps it can only chemically bond with copper.
I Did not really experiment with the preheating duration, not the pulse interval.
I do not have any 0.3 copper, but I can try stacking 0.2 with 0.1, and see if it works. I am honesly reluctant to not use the flux, as i only have 5 test cells left, am in my bedroom, and puncturing the can again is not something I look forward to experiencing again.
Some other observations, is that the welders 9 volt DC 15 amp power supply has a fan inside of it. It runs briefly after a weld.
I broke out new welding tips. At first I tried experimenting welding a 0.2 Nickel Plated Steel ( but non magnetic?) buttontop to some 0.2 copper., then welding both to the cell positive, and folding the copper over the button and welding it to that. The worn electrode tips are too fat for this.
I basically failed in this endeavor, and decided to table it for now. If I tried it on the Ampace JP30 instead of a 0.0631volt test cell I’d likely have ruined it in my haste. I have a flashlight that needs a button top cell. It does not require a JP30, but I couldn’t resist ordering two of such an incredible cell when I ordered the flux.
As the electrodes wear, their surface area increases, and depending on how one files them, their shape will change. This can lead to significant variances in the power required to achieve consistent welds.
I think it would be nice to have a way to insure the same tip shape and diameter of the electrode tips, something like a manual pencil sharpener.
In my ‘junk’ thread I determined this welder could do 0.2mm copper, 0.1mm nickel plated steel at gear 990 with no flux, and gear 790 with the flux. With the Flux the welds also appeared wider and seemed to require more force to peel off the can.
Welding with the flux, has some smoke happen. I did not notice the pink color Nelvick mentioned in his videos, but did stick my nose into it for a light sniff and it is not excruciatingly unpleasant, but I’d not want to be making huge amounts of it indoors.
I’m gonna grab another beer and see if stacked 0.1 and 0.15mm copper, no nickel sandwich, but with flux is possible and if so how strong it seems. I guess I can try 0.2 and 0.1 stacks too.