Capacitor theory: what I think it does and why I think it does it...

A capacitor as a component on a tattoo machine is a fairly recent development in this devices strange evolution. The tattoo machine has been around for a little over a hundred years now, but the capacitor strapped on its side there, has been used for maybe a little more than half that time. Someone, somewhere threw one on there and it seemed to solve a couple problems so it stuck. That guy probably didn't know why it worked, but it did, and sometimes thats all that matters.

What it did was this: first it cut now on that spark show at the contact points. Well I don't know if you know what going on when it sparks there but it's pretty fucking interesting. What's happening(in my theory, which is why this is titled capacitor theory) with no capacitor and big sparks is: the electrons that are traveling through those points are jumping through the air from one point to the other. Air is not a good conductor so you can bes sure those little guys really want to move to jump across there. Basically it's mini lightning, because that's what lightning does too...jumps through the air. Well you know lightning also creates heat...it is actually setting the air on fire! Well your spark is just like that. And when it gets from one point to another it will scorch the metal contact point on the spring. When things burn they usually build up carbon. Hence the black tarnish that builds up on your contact screw which needs to be lightly sanded off now and then. That happens much quicker with a larger spark. Having that junk on there will make your machine connect lousy at that point. Instead of metal to metal, youll have carbon to carbon which is not a good conductor.

So you strap a capacitor on there and the spark vanishes. Why? Well imagine your machine in one "on" cycle. The machine is a complete circuit, the current is running through there, the coils magnetize and start to pull the bar down. Then as soon as that bar comes down a little towards the coils, the electrical connection breaks at the points and the machine is "off". Without a capacitor, the dissipating current is tempted for a moment to jump the air to the other point, but with a capacitor it is lured back. The small charge that the capacitor holds is more tempting to the electrons than the air between the points. So there you have it. No spark. And because you have no spark, the machine sounds smoother, wears less at the points, and even runs a little more efficiently, causing your duty cycle and speed to go up slightly. And the beauty of it is that it doesn't matter which way it's facing, it still works great!

Oh I shouldn't forget to mention that while the machine is "on" the cap is essentially empty. Because it runs between two pints on essentially one wire, it is "shorted" out. And when a cap is shorted it spits out it's charge. That's why you never want to mess around with any big capacitors that you may lying around. They can hold a very large charge for months even years, and if you "short" them out with your hands you may get zapped big time. This has injured and even killed many curious people. But no worries with you machine caps...they aren't big enough to hold a charge large enough to hurt you.

Back to the workshop for me!

Gentle

http://www.greatwaveirons.com

How to find the right voltage...

I'm writing this because in my opinion, it's important to run each machine at the proper voltage. When I say proper, I mean the voltage that is going to push the needles into the skin: no more, no less.

And that's really key. You don't want to run a machine faster and harder than it needs to run in order to do the work it's suppose to do, for a few reasons. One, if you do run it too hard, it will cause more trauma and your healing time will be slower. More trauma and slower healing time usually result in scabs. Scabs like to get picked and sometimes just pull out color with them. Sometimes they scar. The way to avoid this is to run the machine at the proper voltage. Now if you go the other way and don't give it enough, it won't put ink in on the first pass, then you'll have to go over the same areas more than once. If you do so you're gonna have the same problem as too many volts...trauma and slow heals.

So obviously the ideal here is to put ink in the skin on the first pass and not damage the skin more than necessary. Some bleeding is expected when you put a million little holes in the skin, but it shouldn't be excessive. If you are overworking the skin one way or another, it will bleed a lot. Blood pushes ink out on the way and that's why it's not good. Obviously every situation is different and you're always gonna have to adjust to the individuals skin type. I guess what I'm trying to get at is that there is never going to be one EXACT setting that will work on ALL your tattoos.

However, I can give you a few clues about how to set the voltage for any given machine. The voltage one machine will require will be different than another.

The first thing to consider is to always start with the voltage slightly lower than you think it will need to be. Just slightly undershoot, for this reason: if you hit it too soft you can quickly adjust up without traumatizing the skin too much. If you overkill right off the bat, it can set a bad tone for the rest of the tattoo, and hurt your confidence.

So start low, see what the skin needs and adjust UP from there.

So your starting your tattoo. The most important thing you can do is listen to your machine. Listen to it when it is both in and out of the skin. Ideally what your aiming for is a strong BUZZ when your out of the skin, and then a softer chirping or "bogged down" sound when your in. If the machine buzzes as loud when your in the skin as it does when your out then you need to turn the volts down a little. If it does this, that means you are running your machine harder than it needs to, and that extra hit will only hurt the skin, and in turn the tattoo. It will also hurt your client more than it needs to, although I won't ask you to care about that...he he

Another thing to consider about running your machine too hard, is that it puts unnecessary wear and tear on your machine, mainly the springs. Every time you run a machine harder than it needs to run, you're one step closer to needing a re spring. And I have a sneaky suspicion that a lot of the broken rear spring problems folks have, is because they run them too hard. Think on it.

So of course this isn't a miracle cure for crappy tattoos...I only wish it was that easy! But hopefully it will give you something to consider and maybe make your life a little easier. And let me tell you from experience, if your at ease with the tools your using, you will enjoy tattooing all that much more.

Regards,

Gentle

Erie, Pa

http://www.greatwaveirons.com