Recommendation? Diy etcher not working on DC

Jeremy, post a photo of the circuit you are using and some photos of the wiring in the unit you built.
 
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What I see that concerns me is places with two wires attached.

2 and 3 should be the center contacts going to the banana sockets.
1 and 4 should be the DC + and -. from the bridge rectifier.
3 and 6 should be the AC from the transformer, via the bridge rectifier.
Are those the only six wires that are connected to the switch?... Or, are you are using the switch as the tie point for the AC wires, which would be fine. Just making sure.
 
Ok. I added tape to each end of each wire 1 at a time. There is 1 wire not going anywhere. There are 2 posts on the rectifier that have 2 wires each then just 1 wire on the other 2.
 
It would probably be obvious if I had the box in front of me, but why are there two wires attached between each AC pin on the rectifier and the switch?
Also, have you determined that the rectifier is indeed putting out a DC current? It may be bad or damaged.
 
I think we did that because of the orange and brown lines on the diagram. It looks like they run into another set of wires coming from the transformer. I did not get a chance to borrow a multimeter. I’ll try to get that today
 
Jrmysell said:
I think we did that because of the orange and brown lines on the diagram. It looks like they run into another set of wires coming from the transformer. I did not get a chance to borrow a multimeter. I’ll try to get that today
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Again , it s not work on DC because you have no DC , it is that simple .Carefully check the scheme/diagram and how you connected all those wires. Why almost all the wires you use are red ?
 
Natlek said:
Again , it s not work on DC because you have no DC , it is that simple .Carefully check the scheme/diagram and how you connected all those wires. Why almost all the wires you use are red ?
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I have red and black. All the wires coming out of the transformer were red. So we just continued that
 
You really need to take the unit and the schematic to a friend who knows electric circuits and has a good multimeter. It will take him 60 seconds to diagnose the problem. The first thing to check is the input and output on the rectifier leads. It should have 12VAC in and 12VDC out. Next, have him check the wires to the Ac/DC switch. I bet the issue is one of those two places. I'm betting it is your extra wires.
 
Just checked. The clips are reading 14.4V on A/C and -13.1 on DC. Seems that means A/C is wired right and DC is backwards? 13.2 on DC if I swap the pos/neg probes from the multimeter
 
I rewired a bit. I had the ground as 1 wire into the DC rectifier post. So got those fixed. And that extra wire was one of the DC wires. I found this and it shows all the wires used, vs the previous one showing the extra wire.
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However I still don't get a great etch, but it's at least doing something now.
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This is after rubbing with just my finger. Not great depth but at least it's something. Oh and the DC reading jumped to 26V now

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In a fixed circuit, voltage should no change appreciably. Something is wrong.
I don't know what to tell you. I would take it to someone who does electronics and have then=m see what is going on. It may be your meter, or how you have it set .. I just don't know.
 
Got something different for a power supply, going to start a new post!
 
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Just an update on Jeremy's problems.

He sent it to me and I took a look. There are several wiring errors and I think maybe the rectifier is fried. I will repair it after the holidays, as I work seven 10+ hour days a week from Thanksgiving to Christmas.

I will also try and do a build WIP and make a basic etcher with good plans and photos early next year.
 
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