Hello,
These bars are very easy to diy if you cant find them.
I dont think thickness is that important usually the resistance is created in the area where the bar, bolt and terminal meet.
Especially these big M12 are hard to crimp. Better go to a shop/company where they crimp them on a daily basis. You can even ask them to make a replacement for the bar using a thick cable and two crimped M12. If the M12 connector is rather thin the contact area between connector and the cap will be bigger because the nut will '' flatten '' the connector. Of course using a dented washer and a kind of electrolube will improve things a little more.
It could be possible to crimp the cable going to the ucpure board and the cable going to the Fifopi board in one M12 connector. If not use two separate M12 connectors and bolt them with one nut to the cap terminal.
In the past i worked in a company where they used a lot of very high current welding machines when things went wrong because of things getting hot most of the time it was BAD connections. Usually they used infra red thermometer to locate the bad '' joint '' in the '' distribution board '' . Once there is more heat than allowed resistance can go up because contacts get contaminated and things will get worse.
OF course for Fifopi board there are no huge currents but it will be good to try to maintain the specs of the caps all the way up to the circuit where it will meet the tiny track so to say.
Greetings, Eduard
P.s Stock up on the '' newly discovered brands '' because soon stock will be gone i guess.
These bars are very easy to diy if you cant find them.
I dont think thickness is that important usually the resistance is created in the area where the bar, bolt and terminal meet.
Especially these big M12 are hard to crimp. Better go to a shop/company where they crimp them on a daily basis. You can even ask them to make a replacement for the bar using a thick cable and two crimped M12. If the M12 connector is rather thin the contact area between connector and the cap will be bigger because the nut will '' flatten '' the connector. Of course using a dented washer and a kind of electrolube will improve things a little more.
It could be possible to crimp the cable going to the ucpure board and the cable going to the Fifopi board in one M12 connector. If not use two separate M12 connectors and bolt them with one nut to the cap terminal.
In the past i worked in a company where they used a lot of very high current welding machines when things went wrong because of things getting hot most of the time it was BAD connections. Usually they used infra red thermometer to locate the bad '' joint '' in the '' distribution board '' . Once there is more heat than allowed resistance can go up because contacts get contaminated and things will get worse.
OF course for Fifopi board there are no huge currents but it will be good to try to maintain the specs of the caps all the way up to the circuit where it will meet the tiny track so to say.
Greetings, Eduard
P.s Stock up on the '' newly discovered brands '' because soon stock will be gone i guess.
Hello,
Using something to is more like a foil than a bar wont leave any space for a kind of voids because the foil will be pressed all over the surface when used with a proper seized washer and nut.
In the perfect situation the foil will complete cover the terminal surface given by the cap.
If i would use thick bars i would make M12 threaded holes in them! This will add more " contact area " and it be kind a airtight. Of course still can add a nut and washer!
With threaded holes there could arise the problem that when " mounting" two different metals this way you want be able to take them apart again because they will kind of interact chemically. Stainless steel is notorious for this.
BUT these caps are made to last so probably no issue.
Greetings,Eduard
Using something to is more like a foil than a bar wont leave any space for a kind of voids because the foil will be pressed all over the surface when used with a proper seized washer and nut.
In the perfect situation the foil will complete cover the terminal surface given by the cap.
If i would use thick bars i would make M12 threaded holes in them! This will add more " contact area " and it be kind a airtight. Of course still can add a nut and washer!
With threaded holes there could arise the problem that when " mounting" two different metals this way you want be able to take them apart again because they will kind of interact chemically. Stainless steel is notorious for this.
BUT these caps are made to last so probably no issue.
Greetings,Eduard
I'm just weighing my options right now as I can still cancel my kit. If I keep the kit, I may not have a need for these because they will not be M12. It was mainly for @SimonJ, but I believe he mentioned he is building his own. In my case, you need to pick your spots and sometimes it's not justifiable to build your own and the better option is to buy from a place that specializes in these niche products. For Aluminum, it's not a bad deal since there is free shipping. So $30 for the product - $10 shipping = about $20 for a dozen. Not bad. The cooper may be borderline between buying and building your own.
Yes, that's a good idea. If you really need a tight fit and for pure optimization, buying the M8 and drilling a larger hole to fit M12 can be a better route for some.
I am now waiting for the circuit board from Ian.
The copper rail is homemade from a rail that is used in control cabinet construction.
That's really optimal. Something I would be happy with as it's thick and cooper. When you notice the M12 nuts do not fully screw in to the capacitor's M12 thread, you know you have a solid bar. It makes me want to buy the cooper and double stack. The time it takes to find cooper raw material and make your own doesn't work for me versus just buying pre-made straight out.
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I'm leaning towards just staying the course with the kit. My current plan is:
- Drill a larger hole in the protection board to fit M12.
- Pursue the Eaton 3V.
- If it works, then pursue cooper bars.
The kit, if available, will not arrive until mid-December so plenty of time to adjust. It looks like it should be straightforward to drill the center hole to fit M12, but won't know until I examine physically.
Copper Bar, Sheet, Tube, Pipe, in C110, C122 and C172 Alloys
they also have all the alloy and peek/ptfe/hdpe you could dream of for dielectric if required.
and yes i've used this supplier for years, great range and service and pricing is decent, especially with free shipping (for US).
they also have all the alloy and peek/ptfe/hdpe you could dream of for dielectric if required.
and yes i've used this supplier for years, great range and service and pricing is decent, especially with free shipping (for US).
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Nice, it's C110 and 0.125" so mostly the same as the pre-made. I'll consider it as I sent in a cancellation request for my kit so I will start all over again.
I don't have any tools for precision cutting and I can't justify the time and cost of going to a machine shop versus just buying pre-made.
The 0.250" looks nice too. Just no way to cut efficiently versus buying efficiently unless the supplier can cut to dimensions.
C110 Tin Coated Copper Round Edge Flat (Buss) Bar, 0.250" x 4" x 12"
I can't resist cooper bars and the Eaton 3V, so if I can get out of my kit I'll likely pursue this combo.
Oh, btw, I think if you use Flange nuts you can bypass the need for washers?
I don't have any tools for precision cutting and I can't justify the time and cost of going to a machine shop versus just buying pre-made.
The 0.250" looks nice too. Just no way to cut efficiently versus buying efficiently unless the supplier can cut to dimensions.
C110 Tin Coated Copper Round Edge Flat (Buss) Bar, 0.250" x 4" x 12"
I can't resist cooper bars and the Eaton 3V, so if I can get out of my kit I'll likely pursue this combo.
Oh, btw, I think if you use Flange nuts you can bypass the need for washers?
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Thanks @InspectorGadget and @Cerole for your input. It helped with deciding the branch I will pursue. The cooper bars I will need one day and didn't know how it would fit with my kit.
I'm going to try to follow through with my original plan with the kit below:
I figure I can just use the bars above for now and later down the road buy a cooper sheet. I can then bring the bars above as a template to a machine shop.
My new plan is for the .0250" cooper sheet. In order to accommodate thicker bars, I will try out longer length screws. The below is 10mm, but I figure if I go 15-20mm it will offset the increase in bar thickness.
I can't resist cooper bars and free shipping.
I'll consider the Titanium too, but I am a good year away as I will just use the kit bars for now. With Titanium, I can stick with the original recommended 10mm.
6AL-4V Grade 5 Titanium Sheet, 0.125" x 12" x 12"
I'm going to try to follow through with my original plan with the kit below:
I figure I can just use the bars above for now and later down the road buy a cooper sheet. I can then bring the bars above as a template to a machine shop.
My new plan is for the .0250" cooper sheet. In order to accommodate thicker bars, I will try out longer length screws. The below is 10mm, but I figure if I go 15-20mm it will offset the increase in bar thickness.
I can't resist cooper bars and free shipping.
I'll consider the Titanium too, but I am a good year away as I will just use the kit bars for now. With Titanium, I can stick with the original recommended 10mm.
6AL-4V Grade 5 Titanium Sheet, 0.125" x 12" x 12"
Hello,
Using this kind of thickness you must be absolutely sure that the surface is 100% flat and it wouldnt be bad to polish it because wherever there are ''scratches'' the contact area is reduced.
Unless you use a very thin material most of the added '' resistance '' will be in the connection itself not in the material.
Of course the cable going to the Fifopi should depart from the '' spot '' closest to the terminal area of the cap itself.
You want the upper part of the bolt to have the biggest diameter possible! A so called button head screw with flange is what it is called i think. I remember buying big caps being delivered with this kind in the past. It will assure you the maximum pressure being executed by the bolt/screw over the largest area possible.
Greetings, eduard
Using this kind of thickness you must be absolutely sure that the surface is 100% flat and it wouldnt be bad to polish it because wherever there are ''scratches'' the contact area is reduced.
Unless you use a very thin material most of the added '' resistance '' will be in the connection itself not in the material.
Of course the cable going to the Fifopi should depart from the '' spot '' closest to the terminal area of the cap itself.
You want the upper part of the bolt to have the biggest diameter possible! A so called button head screw with flange is what it is called i think. I remember buying big caps being delivered with this kind in the past. It will assure you the maximum pressure being executed by the bolt/screw over the largest area possible.
Greetings, eduard
I'll be sure it's flat and polished. The machine shop should be able to handle the finishing touches.
Because of the cooper bars, I wanted to go back to threaded. But then I eventually run back into the problem of protection boards.
I found a place to pickup the car audio Ultra Caps for less than retail, no tax and free shipping. On Digikey, it's retail, tax and $50 shipping. So I'm able to balance out paying a premium for the kit, but I get value on the Ultra Caps. Makes sense just to stay the practical route and scale to premium bars at a later point.
I'll likely end up with Titanium, but if that buying option wasn't there I would of likely gone the threaded route as I can't imagine going Ultra Caps without cooper or titanium bars.
Because of the cooper bars, I wanted to go back to threaded. But then I eventually run back into the problem of protection boards.
I found a place to pickup the car audio Ultra Caps for less than retail, no tax and free shipping. On Digikey, it's retail, tax and $50 shipping. So I'm able to balance out paying a premium for the kit, but I get value on the Ultra Caps. Makes sense just to stay the practical route and scale to premium bars at a later point.
I'll likely end up with Titanium, but if that buying option wasn't there I would of likely gone the threaded route as I can't imagine going Ultra Caps without cooper or titanium bars.
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It's the calm before the storm, so I'll ask this before it gets busy post-GB.
If anyone can confirm that 11.289600 MHz is the best frequency for the MagicXtal (Pulsar) clocks, pls confirm. Redbook only use.
If Andrea's clock works well, I'll add this to the bucket list. I want a future transportable 3.3V clock DIL option.
22.5792 MHz is backup.
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My kit cancel request got approved so I'm delaying the UcPure project until Spring 2022. I have other audio projects I need to catch up on first. So back to the drawing board on threaded or proprietary "screw" solutions. Hopefully there are some UcPure reports by that time.
There's a little bit of balancing board talk on a car audio forum here:
Ultra caps... a whole new train ! | Page 2 | DiyMobileAudio.com Car Stereo Forum
There's a little bit of balancing board talk on a car audio forum here:
Ultra caps... a whole new train ! | Page 2 | DiyMobileAudio.com Car Stereo Forum
I gotta say mate, you spend an awful amount of time filling carts, making orders and then finding the next shiny and cancelling them, or changing your direction ... surely you have better uses for your time?
My words to you, draw a line in the sand, detail the specification and start working towards it. once you have started, forget that subject, dont read the audio press and ...don't read the forum!! just implement your idea without trying to improve on the idea before you've even started building it. There will always be a new 'best', but something is better than nothing.
My words to you, draw a line in the sand, detail the specification and start working towards it. once you have started, forget that subject, dont read the audio press and ...don't read the forum!! just implement your idea without trying to improve on the idea before you've even started building it. There will always be a new 'best', but something is better than nothing.
It's based on scenario.
The tricky part is we have no clear direction on the protection boards and there's not a quality protection board source, only knockoffs.
I don't use knockoffs unless I absolutely to. It's not a simple 'Add To Cart / Basket' because the products are not there.
The kit takes 5 weeks to deliver and it's an decade-old kit. So in my case it's better to wait a few months if anyone has a better solution. That's a better decision than locking into a kit at the early stages. If I can use a Advanced Linear protection board or even an Ian protection board, then all is well.
It's all about a practical safe route. To me knockoffs are too much risk. If something catches fire, you want that responsibility or just let someone take their time to make a better decision? It's not an iPhone, it's a product that needs great care that the right parts are chosen. The kit should be there in a few months and I'm willing to take that risk.
Discussing this the last few weeks has helped me make the proper decision. And for now the right decision is to wait and see since I have other audio projects that need attention outside DIY. There's no rush or deadline to implement the UcPure, it's not a race or competition.
What's your safe protection board solution? If you could offer a bullet-proof protection board solution, then I'll 'Add to Cart' right now.
This is just a hobby, I need to consider property / lives risk with when choosing the right parts in this scenario. It's not a iPhone 12 versus iPhone 13 decision. So what harm does it do to wait a few months when I have better info?
The tricky part is we have no clear direction on the protection boards and there's not a quality protection board source, only knockoffs.
I don't use knockoffs unless I absolutely to. It's not a simple 'Add To Cart / Basket' because the products are not there.
The kit takes 5 weeks to deliver and it's an decade-old kit. So in my case it's better to wait a few months if anyone has a better solution. That's a better decision than locking into a kit at the early stages. If I can use a Advanced Linear protection board or even an Ian protection board, then all is well.
It's all about a practical safe route. To me knockoffs are too much risk. If something catches fire, you want that responsibility or just let someone take their time to make a better decision? It's not an iPhone, it's a product that needs great care that the right parts are chosen. The kit should be there in a few months and I'm willing to take that risk.
Discussing this the last few weeks has helped me make the proper decision. And for now the right decision is to wait and see since I have other audio projects that need attention outside DIY. There's no rush or deadline to implement the UcPure, it's not a race or competition.
What's your safe protection board solution? If you could offer a bullet-proof protection board solution, then I'll 'Add to Cart' right now.
This is just a hobby, I need to consider property / lives risk with when choosing the right parts in this scenario. It's not a iPhone 12 versus iPhone 13 decision. So what harm does it do to wait a few months when I have better info?
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I tried to un-cancel my kit, but it was too late. I would of been happy to go that safe route. But since it's officially canceled, it gives me an opportunity to take a step back and re-evaluate instead of jumping back in for an auto reorder.
After the cancellation, I noticed Advanced Linear Devices offers a HQ 3V balance board. That got me to wondering if Ian did not include a balance board in his latest photo because the knockoff did not support 3V? Even if it did, it would not take full advantage of 3V because it's capped @ 2.7V? I don't trust knockoffs anyways because they are so hit or miss. I can't afford a miss for risk purposes, so I want something brand name of high quality. I will be running the UcPure 24/7 in continuous mode so I can't babysit this solution. The kit would solve this problem (2.7V max?).
I want to explore the ALD 3V option a little bit before playing if safe and re-ordering the kit. The examples to me look like Alien Code, but I'm guessing if the V+V- on the ends of the ALD PCB go to UcPure? Then the +- on CAP1 (Eaton 3V1) and CAP2 (Eaton3V2) connects to the ALD PCB? CAP1+ goes to VA. CAP1- goes to VB. CAP2+ goes to VB? CAP2- goes to VC. Again, no clue, it's Alien Code. But these boards do not cost much more than a knockoff, so risk is low to experiment.
Looks straightforward, but I'm trying to get a real-life example direct from ALD. Even if I experiment with an ALD board, I don't know how to debug if all is working even if wired correctly.
After the cancellation, I noticed Advanced Linear Devices offers a HQ 3V balance board. That got me to wondering if Ian did not include a balance board in his latest photo because the knockoff did not support 3V? Even if it did, it would not take full advantage of 3V because it's capped @ 2.7V? I don't trust knockoffs anyways because they are so hit or miss. I can't afford a miss for risk purposes, so I want something brand name of high quality. I will be running the UcPure 24/7 in continuous mode so I can't babysit this solution. The kit would solve this problem (2.7V max?).
I want to explore the ALD 3V option a little bit before playing if safe and re-ordering the kit. The examples to me look like Alien Code, but I'm guessing if the V+V- on the ends of the ALD PCB go to UcPure? Then the +- on CAP1 (Eaton 3V1) and CAP2 (Eaton3V2) connects to the ALD PCB? CAP1+ goes to VA. CAP1- goes to VB. CAP2+ goes to VB? CAP2- goes to VC. Again, no clue, it's Alien Code. But these boards do not cost much more than a knockoff, so risk is low to experiment.
Looks straightforward, but I'm trying to get a real-life example direct from ALD. Even if I experiment with an ALD board, I don't know how to debug if all is working even if wired correctly.
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The boards I bought which look the same as what Ian used work at 3v as well
Nothing wrong with a knock off in this case I feel as hardly any components and simple circuit with not much to go wrong I feel.
@Ian - with your latest 3v caps testing you show no balance board, why is that please?
We are all learning….
Nothing wrong with a knock off in this case I feel as hardly any components and simple circuit with not much to go wrong I feel.
@Ian - with your latest 3v caps testing you show no balance board, why is that please?
We are all learning….
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