Hello, I first discovered the coil gun about one week ago. After many failed attempts, I finally managed to fire a nail at a reasonable velocity. Now I have a few questions.
1) I am currently firing the gun by touching a lead of the capacitor bank to one lead of the coil itself. Would using an SCR (silicon controlled rectifier) switch result in more power, or just save the hassle of touching the wires together every time?
2) I used 30 gauge enameled wire to make the coil. The coil is probably 100 turns per layer, 4 layers, and 1 1/2 inches long. What is the optimum gauge wire to use, and the ideal coil length and thickness?
3) I bought a cheap voltage meter but am unsure where to connect it to measure the voltage stored in the capacitors. Do the capacitors store AC or DC current? Should I put the probes of the meter on the wires charging the capacitor bank, one of the capacitors itself, or the wires leading from the capacitor bank?
I am using six 330 volt/120 uF capacitors wired in parallel, for a combined 39.2 Joules. Thanks for all of the help in advance!
The attachment is a circuit layout that I drew.
Ignore the file text, failed attempt at adding a picture.
