With some recently acquired components from an old television my Physics teacher wasn't using anymore (he pulled out the old cathode ray tubes, my friends got speakers, I got circuit boards), I decided to utilize the capacitors to make a bank in order to form a single stage coilgun, before moving onto a multi-stage coilgun with the same components.

 

Here is a basic schematic, which I put together earlier, though I feel as though I am missing something here. Afraid of making what we call "the magic smoke" instead of a functioning circuit of components, I decided to play this one safe.

 

 

I am probably going overkill with four capacitors with such high capacitance, and I will probably limit it to 1 or 2 (though I have 5 that I am aware of, will probably go to a future multi-stage coilgun).

 

Self-explanatory list of components:

L1: Charging indicator light

S1: Charging activator, specs unknown

S2: Firing Activator Switch, specs unknown

C1-4: Capacitor bank, 9v,2200uF

COIL: 5cm coil, ~100 wrappings.

 

Thoughts, comments, concerns?

you need a 300-in-one electronics kit from radio shack. there are smaller and cheaper ones out there.

it helps you get a good understanding of basic and digital electronics. the best thing about the 300-in-one is that it has a breadboard for prototyping your new circuit ideas. back in my day, i had a 200-in-one with a mess of springs (still a ton of fun).

 

i built a railgun once myself.

it was a verrry simple design that relied on the brute force of a car battery and no electronics at all.

I was grounded for putting a hole in the wall and not allowed to "fix" anything for quite some time.

i seriousely doubt you would be in harm's way with a 9-volt.

I do have a breadboard, though I am not sure of the specs on it. Well, time to start plugging and playing!