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Hi everyone, been a few years since I posted on these forums. I'm thinking of pickup on my thompson coilgun project again. I have yet to come across any detailed diagrams of a high-powered thompson.
Capacitor: I have a single 3900uF 450V flash capacitor. Is there a simple circuit to charge it? I remember someone on these forums selling pre-made circuits for $20 a pop (push-pull design, if I recall). Is he still around? Anyways, looking to charge capacitor with batteries. I will probably use subC 40A 1.2V NiMH rechargeable cells.
Coil wire thickness: In the low voltage (12V)/high amperage (40A) I work with, we use tin-coated copper strand wires (very low resistance). As most current flows on the surface of the wires, I'd expect strand wires to work better than solid core copper for coilgun applications too. How thick should each strand be to not vaporize with this capacitor? I've got lots of 14awg 7-strand wire (each strand is ~24awg). Also, would strand wire affect coil efficiency at all? If it's not advised, I'll go for some 20awg solid core copper wire.
Core: I've got 20" long 2mm thick iron rods as a first option. Is there anything I can coat the rods with to prevent current transfer between rods to increase efficiency? I wouldn't mind spending a little money for a better paramagnetic material. Any clues? I remember some iron material used for antennas due to it's great paramagnetic properties, but I forgot it's name.
I'll draw a sketch later and post it. Sorry for the newb questions, I'll keep doing research on my own in the meantime to refresh my memory on electromagnetics.
Here is a little sketch of what I'm hoping to achieve. Should probably have written "circuits" instead of "mosfet", as it includes the charging circuit.
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Thompson Coilgun Revisited
