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10:09 am
March 26, 2010
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Finally got my hands on an induction heater. YEE F***ING HA
My workshop is microscopic and I do a LOT of grinding/ finishing etc and I haven't got space for a grinding room. I'm kinda worried about those metal particles finding their way into the heater (and other electronic stuff like my TIG and plasma cutter). A lot of this kit has a fan that draws cooling air in. Wondered how others deal with the dust whilst still allowing the kit to "breathe" and stay cool. I had a one year old Lincoln invertec TIG go down on me. It was repaired under warranty but it was still dissapointing. I'm beginning to suspect it was the dust of death.
Thinking along the lines of a car or motorcycle air filter over the fan inlet. Opinions/suggestions ?
11:40 am
March 22, 2010
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The shops I worked in, had various problems with grinding dust, plain dust, welding fumes, cat litter type stuff to clean up hydraulic oil, it dusted when swept dry. A semi satisfactory solution was to use furnace or air conditioning filters, sometimes doubled, mounted in the inlet outside of the machine tool inlet air vents with simple aluminum brackets, pop riveted in the electrical or electronic control usits or computer consoles. . The filters were mostly fiberglass with some kind of sticky stuff on them. Furnace filters, It worked well and we had a preventive maintenance schedual to change them out. Hydraulic oil mist from oilers in some machine tools, crudded up the inside of electrical/electronic consoles. Used to use freon spray to de oil it, then freon was banned, then used other de greasing agents, it was a real story problem, glad I retired in 1996.
I never saw a hydraulic system that didn't leak, submarines included.
You can duct tape filters to fan inlets, yeah I know, it looks crummy, but it works, even better than aluminum filter holders that have air gaps. Then when the machine needs service, they don't last forever, just clean duct tape residue from machine case, so there are no pop rivet holes voiding the warrenty for modified machinery.
Confessions from a machine tool maintenance guy.
2:09 pm
March 26, 2010
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thanks for thast Gene.
My biggest worry is metallic particles that conduct electricity shorting out some of the sensitive electronic bits.
10:34 pm
March 26, 2010
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OK so whilst making a temporary shelter with the cardboard box it came in, I thought this might work as a practical solution.
I'll make a similar box out of steel so it's only open to ingress at the front. About 4 inches of clearance at the back where the fan is and 1-2 inches around the sides/top/bottom. I'll then pack the gap between the heater and the box at the front where the air is drawn in with a suitable high flow filter material. I'll pull the power supply lead and water cooling pipes round the front as in the photo. I can then slide the unit in and out for easy maintenance/ regular blowing out etc, all I have to do is remove the packing at the front
My way of thinking is the heavy lifting of the cooling is done by the external water cooler unit (and the water pipes go ALL round the electronic gubbins inside the box). The air for the fan is drawn round past the top/ sides to get to the fan at the back so it might be more of a cooling action than just directly in through the fan.
I'll also run a bead of silcone around the edges/joins of the panels of the machine itself
I don't need to go overboard with some sub micron filter,, it's the particles of metal I'm most worried about. Any that do get past what ever filter material I use at the front will have to travel about 2 foot AND get drawn UP to get at the fan. Chances are they'll just drop down before they do. All this, combined with regular blowing out might keep the dreaded dust of death at bay.
I've only had the machine 2 days and already I can see it being utterly indespensable
11:00 am
September 7, 2010
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This is my $0.02 worth, we buy up old speaker magnets at scrap yards they don't cost much and you'd be surprised how much they collect when you leave them on work tables.
I have an old dishwasher that we use to clean all kinds of things(read oily tools etc.) and we just pop the magnets in there every so often and Bob's yer aunty!
Ian
6:25 pm
March 18, 2010
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Sounds like a cool idea. Fill up the air entrance with magnets. Hmm, won't do much for the SS and copper and aluminum though.
I think you're right David, the water does most of the cooling and all you should really need to do is stir up the air inside so there are no hot spots.
Cardboard? Didn't it come in a plywood crate?
“There are painters who transform the sun into a yellow spot,
but then there are others who, with the help of their art and their intelligence,
transform a yellow spot into the sun.” ~ Pablo Picasso ~
7:39 pm
June 3, 2010
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Hey Ian! Glad to see ya here.
I've found it's easier to put magnets in plastic bags and clean em by turning the bags inside out or inside in, the magnetized grindings stay in the bag, same principle as picking up dog poop in a public place.
For non-magnetic grindings a dust comp of some type is good if you keep in mind NOT mixing flamable dusts like wood and steel sparks or iron oxide and al dust or other thermite making mixes.
An old shop vac and a 55 gl drum makes a dandy dust comp, especially if you induce a vortex before vacced air gets to the dust filter. Some things are NEVER safe to dry grind or sand like Cadmium plated items. Cad can be mortally toxic short or long term as well as being carcinogenic. Chrome isn't something to breath either.:skull:
Frosty the Lucky.
11:46 am
March 26, 2010
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Grant;2791 wrote: Sounds like a cool idea. Fill up the air entrance with magnets. Hmm, won't do much for the SS and copper and aluminum though.
I think you're right David, the water does most of the cooling and all you should really need to do is stir up the air inside so there are no hot spots.
Cardboard? Didn't it come in a plywood crate?
I did think about magnets (90% of my work is steel) but wasn't sure how it would effect the electronics in the box, there's lots of coils/transformers and other black magic in there. I kinda think magnets wouldn't cause problems but don't want to take the chance...
Re "stirring up the air", yeah I guess thats it. All my other electrical gubbins have a fan AND plenty of air vents to get the air in AND out. The heater doesn't. The only openings are the fan it'self and a tiny 1/4" hole on the floor (to prevent pressure build up ???).
Kinda suggestes a high flow of air THROUGH the box isn't needed, more a case of "around" inside the box. This is good because it means the only way in for the dust of death is through the fan itself. Since flow isn't an issue I'm quite happy with the "outer box" idea as in the picture, or maybe even putting a car filter directly over the fan.
I think the fan is around 4 or 5 " diameter, anyone any suggestions on a suitable vehicle filter?
Yeah Grant it came with a wooden crate and plenty of packing, quite impressive really.
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