Induction

[makitaman60]

Hi Everyone, new to the forum just call me Makitaman60. Got a question here that I hope someone can answer or point me in the right direction. I'm interested in induction heating. I'm sure some of you have seen the experiments about. Well all the info I have seen on it always has a very dense piece of steel like a bolt or rod, when placed in the center of the coil heats it up glowing red in a matter of seconds. I can never find out what kind of amps they are pulling, anyway I'm more concerned about heating up a softer metal like solder, Brass, copper etc. I would think you would not need near the power for these type metals. Well thats my theory on that, but please anyone with any thought on this subject would be great. I just want to be able to get it going with least amount of power needed to experiment, I can always increase power as my project advances. I guess what I'm asking is what is the smallest amount of power I will need to melt a piece of solder, I figure that would be around 600 to 700 degrees. Let me know guys if you have any ideas, I'll try to check back later this week, this is the first chance I have had to sit and BS with someone. Thank's Again

Makitaman60

 

[lasielle]

You haven't said how much metal you want to heat. 700 degrees isn't a problem if you only want 1 gram of molten. The amount of power is the specific heat of the metal multiplied by temp and mass plus allow for temp loss from furnace. Look up specific heat in metal or element tables. Work out total energy, then divide by time to get power needed then allow for efficiency of energy coupling with heating coil. Suggest you look up induction heating company and go visit, smaller ones will sometimes show you through. You will be shocked at how much power is needed. I've seen medium sized induction furnaces of 20kW power draw from mains electricity. Gold or technical alloy companies will use small induction furnaces to melt and mix alloys very cleanly usually under inert gas shield. That will be the sort of scale of equipment that might be in the area you are looking at. Search for precious metal smelting equipment. It's always useful to find out what commercial companies do out in the world. the internet is your friend. Good luck, Colin

 

[makitaman60]

Thank's Colin
I knew it had to be a lot of power. I just thought it was unreal how this works. I was thinking of using a softer metal just to see if I could do it, maybe Brass or maybe Solder. Thank's for the reply on this, all the info I have found on the net is very limited.
Thank's Again.
Makitaman60