Safe Measurement

[Captain Blammo]

I have a couple of flash units ripped out of disposable cameras. They both
need to have two contacts physically pressed together to trigger, and these
contacts are relatively large, so I assume they could be conducting large
amounts of power. The caps only have "9(2)" and "4 a" written on them, so I
have no idea what they hold.

Does anyone know from experience if these are likely to fry a multimeter if
I complete the circuit with the probes? Mine has a 1000V and 10A ranges, but
I don't know if such a brief burst would register. If it did survive, would
it even detect anything?

If this isn't recommended, what would be a good way to measure if large
amounts of power are passing between the contacts? I'm just trying to
determine if I need tough relays to remote trigger the units.

If I do need tough relays, then for a 300V, 300uF capacitor, would I be
right in saying that I'd need something rated at 300V, 45mA? My math and
physics are a bit shaky, so I'd appreciate a check

P=0.5 x C x (V^2)
P=0.5 x (3x10^-4) x (300^2)=13.5W

I=13.5/300=0.045A=45mA

Thanks hugely for any help!

Ewan

 

[JeffM]

...flash units ripped out of disposable cameras.
...two contacts physically pressed together to trigger,
and these contacts are relatively large,
so I assume they could be conducting large amounts of power.
Ewan (Captain Blammo)

They may be large to make them more physically rugged.

Do you see an SCR?

likely to fry a multimeter?

Not likely.

I don't know if such a brief burst would register.
If it did survive, would it even detect anything?

Now you're getting close to the real problem.

If they are conducting large currents, it's going to happen fast.
To see that would require measuring across a resistor with a scope.

My gut feeling is that
the button puts a tiny DC current into the gate of an SCR.

 

[John Fields]

On 22 Jun 2004 12:35:28 -0700, jeffm_@email.com (JeffM) wrote:

...flash units ripped out of disposable cameras.
...two contacts physically pressed together to trigger,
and these contacts are relatively large,
so I assume they could be conducting large amounts of power.
Ewan (Captain Blammo)

They may be large to make them more physically rugged.
Do you see an SCR?

likely to fry a multimeter?

Not likely.

I don't know if such a brief burst would register.
If it did survive, would it even detect anything?

Now you're getting close to the real problem.
If they are conducting large currents, it's going to happen fast.
To see that would require measuring across a resistor with a scope.

My gut feeling is that
the button puts a tiny DC current into the gate of an SCR.

---
More than likely, if it's like the one I'm looking at right now, all
those contacts do is discharge a small cap (0.022ľF) through the
primary of a high voltage pulse transformer and use the output of the
secondary to trigger the flashtube into conduction, which will dump
the charge in the large cap into the flashtube, making the flash.

The only actice device in the whole thing is a little TO-92
something-or-other used in the switcher to pump up the large cap.

--
John Fields

 

[Captain Blammo]

More than likely, if it's like the one I'm looking at right now, all
those contacts do is discharge a small cap (0.022ľF) through the
primary of a high voltage pulse transformer and use the output of the
secondary to trigger the flashtube into conduction, which will dump
the charge in the large cap into the flashtube, making the flash.

The only actice device in the whole thing is a little TO-92
something-or-other used in the switcher to pump up the large cap.

The ones I'm looking at only have the one large cap, as well as two
transformers (one large, one small), *something* in a TO-92 package, and a
flat translucently packaged thing labelled "233K" that I don't recognise.

Also, when I discharged through my multimeter, it registered 412V for a
moment, even though the only caps I have seen labelled on these are <300V.
Is it possible that the meter misread due to the speed?

Would I be correct in getting relays rated for 45mA, as per my earlier
calculations? I'm thinking that perhaps the power is getting further stepped
up on discharge, so perhaps I should get something rated for a higher
voltage, to be on the safe side.

Thanks for any further hints!

Ewan