How To Make A Power Supply For A Tattoo Gun – Things You Should Know About Tattoo Gun

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A tattoo gun can perform several magic, especially when drawing different tattoo images on your body. The tattoo gun is the gun that holds a rotary pen used for shading and drawing, and it is also the part that links to the power supply to power the drawing pen. It is possible to create a power supply for your tattoo gun if you can follow simple techniques, and this will save you in the long run, especially the cost of buying a power supply kit.

So, how do I Make a Power Supply for a Tattoo Gun

To create a power supply for your tattoo gun: Get a 12V cable charger from a new ethernet router or something similar with 250 ma. Cut the wire screw, then connect to the tattoo machine’s screws before insulating with an electrical tape. Connect it with a power strip so you can turn the power supply on and off with your foot.

Setting Up Your Tattoo Gun Power Supply

The following steps apply when you want to set up your tattoo gun power supply;

1. Gather All Necessary Tools and Materials

The first step you should take is to make sure all necessary tools and materials are ready. These items include a three-pronged wire like the one at the back of your old desktop computer and a fuse connector. Other items you will need are; 2Amp fuse, a switch like the one at the back of your desktop computer, a transformer) like the one from your doorbell), a bridge rectifier, 2200-3500 capacitor (one with negative sign drawn at the sides), two Phone jack switch connectors, 25-35 ohms rheostat ( to control speed on the tattoo gun).

2. Connect Your Power Cord

The wiring starts with the power cord. On one leg of the cord, run the back wire into one stick of the fuse connector. Run another wire from the second stick of the fuse connector to one end of the switch. From the other end of the switch, run a wire to the white wire of the transformer.

Run the ground wire of the transformer to the ground wire of the plug (where the connection started). Run the black wire of the transformer to the white wire of the power cord. On the other side of your transformer, there are positive and negative screws. Run a wire on the positive screw under the bridge rectifier, run another wire on the negative screw of the transformer into the bridge rectifier.

From the positive side of the bridge rectifier, run a wire to the positive side of the capacitor. From the negative side of the bridge rectifier, run a wire to the negative side of the capacitor.

From the negative side of the bridge rectifier, run a wire to one end of the phone jack that works as a clip cord. From the other end of the clip cord, run the wire to one end of the rheostat. From the other end of the rheostat, run a wire to an end of the second phone jack, which serves as your footswitch (This has three sticks or ends). From the other end or stick of the footswitch to the positive end of the rectifier.

This should guaranty a power supply to your tattoo gun. If there seems to be no power supply, you need to check your connections and insulate where necessary.

What Are The Main Types Of Tattoo Gun Power Supplies?

Though there is a way you can create tattoo gun power supplies, those tattoo guns with ready power supply may come with one of the different options available;

1. Analog Power Supply

The tattoo gun power supply initially had an analog power supply, and these are the earliest power supplies. These power supplies come with settings like switches and knobs to adjust the voltage output. You may find some brands like Dragonhawk still. As time went on, many brand manufacturers found analog power supplies deficient, especially in capacity maintenance. The deficiencies in analog power supply make it necessary to develop a digital power supply.

2. Digital Power Supply

The digital power supply in a tattoo gun is a modern power supply option that has several upgrades and adjustments upon analog supply. The digital power supply comes with reading adjustment, where you see your voltage levels. This feature is not available on an analog power supply. The feature also shows the machine duty circle you can find on the digital screens.

All the popular Tattoo gun brands now use a digital power supply, and many of them can be recharged and used even if there is no electricity.

3. The Wireless Power Supply

One of the most advanced Tattoo gun power supplies is the wireless power supply. Wireless power supply has bypassed the inconvenience of connecting wires to supply power to your tattoo gun. This means you don’t need any connections with this type of power supply. Fortunately, popular brands in tattoo guns in the world today do come with wireless power supplies.

The wireless power supply has internal components attached to your tattoo gun without connecting any wire to a socket. You need to ensure that your tattoo gun is compatible with the wireless power supply to make it work.

4. The Dual Power Supply

Dual power supplies were developed to handle diverse tattoo gun power needs. The dual power supply has been configured most especially for tattoo gun users who need to switch between one gun type. When power requirements vary from one tattoo gun to the other, the best you should do is get a dual power supply. You don’t need this power supply if you work with one tattoo gun.

How Does the Power Tattoo Gun Power Supply Work?

Tattoo Gun Power supply works similarly to many other types of devices. It is essential to know how your tattoo gun power supply works and the variety of settings you should opt for.

5. DC Power Supply, Types, and Voltage

The main job of a power supply is to transfer electricity to your tattoo gun. The DC power supply reduces the voltage of 110 or 220V AC to less than an 18V DC power supply that can be safe to use in your tattoo gun.

The tattoo DC power supply can come in two types, these are; Coil or Rotary. The rotary machine will use a DC electric motor, while Coil machines rely on wire coils wrapped around the steel core.

Make sure your tattoo gun power is compatible with the connectors available to maintain steady power.

How Power Supply Helps Tattooing

A proper power supply to your tattoo gun will help you control the amount of current in your tattoo gun. This will help you finetune your settings to meet different needs. You can use different power settings for shading or outlining.

A tattoo gun should be plugged into the power socket, then adjust the voltage for different purposes. The level of voltage you choose will either make your tattoo gun faster or slower, depending on the capacity of the device. Also, keep in mind that the quality of your tattoo art will depend on the performance of your power supply.

In case you plug more than one tattoo gun machine into a single power source. You will optimize your power supply better if you use a machine as a shader and the other as an outliner if they are plugged into the same power supply.

Components And Settings On Tattoo Gun Power Supply

The power switch is the main component of the tattoo gun power supply for turning on and off the power supply. It also comes with a phone jack that plugs in the machine, and this works with a foot pedal.

Digital screens are the places where you can look and monitor the power supply to your tattoo guns. There are knobs that control the voltage level of the supply, and there could be one or two knobs depending on the machine’s capacity. The recommended voltage for most tattoo guns is between 7.5 or 8.5v for coloring and between 8 and 9V for the lining.

For the coil tattoo guns, coloring will require between 7.5v and 8.5v, while shading may require up to 9v, depending on the machine brand and capacity. The running voltage recommended for the wireless tattoo guns is 10v.

Duty Cycle In Power Supply

It is important to understand the duty cycle in your tattoo machine. In the coil machine, for instance, the front spring constantly touches the contact screw, thus pushing the bar towards the closest end where electricity is supplied. There is no duty cycle in the rotary tattoo gun machine.

The duty cycle can therefore be described as the percentage of time your tattoo gun is powered on, which is also the total time the machine is used on your skin to draw tattoos at a seating.