General > General Technical Chat
DIY Resistance wire
Labrat101:
Though sheer boredom I was was looking for a Shunt resistor .
So going though years of stock piled parts etc . I needed a 0.05 \$\Omega\$ @ 50 amp .
So not finding anything that was suitable . I went into.. How hard can it be to make it :palm:
Copper wire ... No
Steel wire .. Hum has a high resistance but very unstable with temperature another No.
Putting my soldering Iron on the cleaning wire .. Brain wave . low frequency .
Those stainless steel pads we use to clean our soldering iron tips . are 410 Stainless steel 11.5% nickel chrome :-+
Yes . looking Good . measured it 18mm is showing 1.1030 \$\Omega\$ .
Also taking a piece about 15cm long powering it from my lab power with 5v @ 1amp it become a very handy foam cutter .
These steel cleaning pads Have many uses . Maybe not the best .
So just rapping this wire round a couple of copper posts , A few times I was able to get my 0.05 \$\Omega\$ for testing an quick repair of my
electronic load . :-+
These wire cleaning pads have a melting point of about 1500 C Resistance aprox 0.5 \$\Omega\$ per cm
I guess they aint Quality controlled so there will be different specs .
I'm sure there are many other DIY thing that can be made from reusing this stuff
Have Fun and don't burn your fingers .
More Ideas welcome
jonpaul:
Use only Nichrome wire, for heaters and high temp. Crimp do not solder.
Shunts need a low TC, various resistance wire are available.
Steel wool will burn.
Jon
Kleinstein:
The stainless steel pad is a bid thin for a high current shunt. Otherwise the usual stainless steel is reasonable low TC for a material not specially made for that.
The problem is only the soldering, which is hard and needs special flux.
Zero999:
Does it copper plate easily? If so, perhaps that'll make soldering easier.
50A through 50mΩ is 125W. How did you stop it vaporizing?
Labrat101:
--- Quote from: jonpaul on January 14, 2022, 11:58:10 am ---Use only Nichrome wire, for heaters and high temp. Crimp do not solder.
Shunts need a low TC, various resistance wire are available.
Steel wool will burn.
Jon
--- End quote ---
I know steel wool burn .
This is Not the steel wool stuff . its 1mm x 0.05 mm spring wire it seem to handle about 6 amps without a problem .
the one I have is very tight spring wound . and cheep . as far a I can tell from running a few tests it has a high content of chrome .
It was more of a Fun thing .
I did also find some 3kw Nichrome wire afterwards and Yes its better .
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