I have a 1000 watt ZVS induction heating unit (the Chinese one) and am a complete novice with electronics and may very kill myself, but I wanted to set up a small aluminum smelting rig for small quantities of aluminum. Will I be able to achieve melting temperatures for aluminum if I pair a 500 watt 24 volt power supply with the 1000 watt rated induction unit?
ZVS Induction Heater Setup
Started by ●August 16, 2017
Reply by ●August 16, 20172017-08-16
500W isn't much, maybe a few ounces. A handheld propane torch is comparable in heat output. You'll get more if you have some fiberfrax / kaowool handy, and wait patiently. Don't expect more than a pound. Pedantry: smelting is winning the metal from ore; melting is just, well, melting or recycling the pre-smelt material. :-) Tim -- Seven Transistor Labs, LLC Electrical Engineering Consultation and Contract Design Website: http://seventransistorlabs.com "Matt Allen" <matthewcharlesallen@gmail.com> wrote in message news:7bf5143b-34a9-4402-b1e9-f14e6786000e@googlegroups.com...>I have a 1000 watt ZVS induction heating unit (the Chinese one) and am a >complete novice with electronics and may very kill myself, but I wanted to >set up a small aluminum smelting rig for small quantities of aluminum. > > Will I be able to achieve melting temperatures for aluminum if I pair a > 500 watt 24 volt power supply with the 1000 watt rated induction unit?
Reply by ●August 17, 20172017-08-17
On Wed, 16 Aug 2017 11:52:39 -0700 (PDT), Matt Allen <matthewcharlesallen@gmail.com> wrote:>I have a 1000 watt ZVS induction heating unit (the Chinese one) and am a >complete novice with electronics and may very kill myself, >but I wanted to set up a small aluminum smelting rig for small quantities of aluminum. > >Will I be able to achieve melting temperatures for aluminum if I pair a 500 watt 24 volt >power supply with the 1000 watt rated induction unit?probably not. My company makes induction heaters. I bought one of those ChiCom units. I wasn't terribly surprised that it is a clone of the first circuit I published when I was learning about Royer heaters. That heater is basically junk. It absolutely positively will not tolerate much over about 50 volts. You'll get 1000 watts out of it only when there is a solar and a lunar eclipse on the same day. IOW, never. If you want to experiment at low cost with induction heating, build our Open Source Hardware unit at http://www.neon-john.com/Induction/Roy/Roy.htm That article is out of date in some areas. If you decide to go with it, contact me offline and I'll update some circuit changes and part numbers that will let it easily go to 3500 watts. A fundamental concept is that there is no theoretical limit to the temperature that can be achieved. The max temperature reached in a given setup is when the energy lost to radiation, conduction and convection equals the energy being input by the induction heater. 500 watts can melt a few pounds of aluminum but your refractory must be almost perfect. Here http://www.johndearmond.com/2014/11/01/using-the-induction-heater-aluminum-casting/ and here http://www.johndearmond.com/2014/11/09/using-the-induction-heater-aluminum-melting-part-2/ is an account of making an aluminum melter using a propane tank as the crucible and a Kentucky Fried Chicken bucket as the mold. It turns out that Larkin Refractory's definition of "insulating refractory" differs a bit from ours. The Kast-O-Lite is not an insulating refractory. We built another unit (not documented) that used fiberfrax batting as the refractory. It lit up the refractory to a bright red heat in just a few minutes. In this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o--6HH8Nxgg&t=9s You can see the Kentucky Fried Melter doing its thing with just 1500 watts. When I pick up the melter with gloves on, the outside surface temperature was over 500 deg F. With the fiberfrax, the outside only got warm. My partner in Fluxeon and I split up a couple of years ago (still best friends.) He should have some boards for sale. Contact him at gc@fluxeon.com (Garett Churchill). John John DeArmond http://www.neon-john.com http://www.tnduction.com Tellico Plains, Occupied TN See website for email address
Reply by ●November 17, 20172017-11-17
On Wed, 16 Aug 2017 11:52:39 -0700, Matt Allen wrote:> I have a 1000 watt ZVS induction heating unit (the Chinese one) and am a > complete novice with electronics and may very kill myself, but I wanted > to set up a small aluminum smelting rig for small quantities of > aluminum. > > Will I be able to achieve melting temperatures for aluminum if I pair a > 500 watt 24 volt power supply with the 1000 watt rated induction unit?You voltage OK. Amperage not so much. 1000 - 1200 watt power supply.
