Induction brass annealer redux

[jeffo1960]

I have never connected the board up without a coil, I am going to test it all again and will re solder, the joints on the board were I think is needed, and will go from there, like to thank all of you again for your patience and help

 

[renn]

Anyone know if this type of copper would suit our needs?
Bosch Tubing kit
The challenging part for me is coupling the 1/8" tubing to a larger tube. I tried soldering and it leaked. I used a reducing coupling and the connection to the 1/8 tube leaked as well. I'll try soldering on the 1/4" tube again.

 

[Gina1]

Anyone know if this type of copper would suit our needs?
Bosch Tubing kit
The challenging part for me is coupling the 1/8" tubing to a larger tube. I tried soldering and it leaked. I used a reducing coupling and the connection to the 1/8 tube leaked as well. I'll try soldering on the 1/4" tube again.

Take a look at page "1" of this thread.

 

[itchyTF]

I haven’t had any problem soldering 1/8” tubing in 1/4” thick walled tubing.


If there’s a big gap between the 1/8” and larger tubing you need to wrap some wire around the 1/8” stuff to take up the gap.

 

[renn]

Thanks I'll give it another try - I used thicker gauge wire for the gap - 22 gauge vs the 30 gauge. That's just what I had on hand this weekend. Thank you again for the information and all that you have done for this project.

 

[itchyTF]

Make sure you heat the tubing to the point (maybe a little beyond) that the solder flows easily when touching the tubing. Are you using a soldering iron?

 

[renn]

I was using a soldering iron - heated to 875 degrees F and I have a propane torch as well.

 

[itchyTF]

Propane is ok but you don't want to apply solder while the flame is on the tubing.

 

[opto_isolator]

So my annealer is up and running in manual mode - meaning I am waiting for a spring for the trap door to function correctly. My current meter shows 47 volts, and gets up to about 12.5A after 5.4 seconds. This is what the cases look like with the 750 degree Tempilaq applied to them. Is this far enough down the case? It appears that the tempilaq is working - any feedback would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Gina1]

So my annealer is up and running in manual mode - meaning I am waiting for a spring for the trap door to function correctly. My current meter shows 47 volts, and gets up to about 12.5A after 5.4 seconds. This is what the cases look like with the 750 degree Tempilaq applied to them. Is this far enough down the case? It appears that the tempilaq is working - any feedback would be greatly appreciated!

View attachment 1302746

Every thing looks to be in the ball park.. Current at the end of anneal time is about right. Tempilaq
is about 1/4 ' from the shoulder. Assuming it's a basic GinaEric annealer.

 

[opto_isolator]

Every thing looks to be in the ball park.. Current at the end of anneal time is about right. Tempilaq
is about 1/4 ' from the shoulder. Assuming it's a basic GinaEric annealer.

Yep - I pretty much followed your instructions and parts list. I ordered the same timer from Amazon - and it took a month to ship directly from China! When I first fired it up my coils were touching and it was causing massive power draws. I fixed that quickly - and the darn thing works GREAT!!! My only issue is that my trap door solenoid didn't have a spring, so I ordered a spring kit from Amazon, which will hopefully have something that should work.

Here's a short video that I made to show others - the current starts around 11 something amps and ends around 12.5 amps.

 

[Gina1]

Very nice... Good design, lay out, WAY cool

 

[opto_isolator]

The only question I have - the Tempilaq indicates that the cases got to at least 750 degrees. Should I check with a higher temperature Temilaq to ensure that they aren't getting hotter? Would it even matter?

 

[VenatusDominus]

The only question I have - the Tempilaq indicates that the cases got to at least 750 degrees. Should I check with a higher temperature Temilaq to ensure that they aren't getting hotter? Would it even matter?

Annealing is a function of temperature and time. Brass does anneal at 750 F but it takes an hour at that temperature. It takes brass about 2 seconds to anneal at 1000 F, so you're looking to get things in that temperature range. Brass begins to glow between 950 F and 1050 F. I would forget about the 750 Tempilaq and anneal until you just start to see the neck and shoulder glow. Whoever started the "750 anneal temperature" on the web did a disservice to our whole community by not understanding the need to hold it there for 60 minutes.

 

[opto_isolator]

One last question - where the heck did you guys get your springs for the trap door solenoid? I am running into issues because the solenoid doesn't come with a spring, and it is a fairly light pull. I ordered a spring pack from Amazon but they are way too stiff.

 

[Gina1]

You are not the first to bring bring the solenoid up.. About after a year after the build was published the company discontinued it. This is where you need to get creative.. There are several examples of where builders , in the thread sheets, used leverage, operated by a short through solenoid to operate the trap door.
It's a challenge or you can try to make your own light weight spring.
again
good luck

 

[Frog]

Annealing is a function of temperature and time. Brass does anneal at 750 F but it takes an hour at that temperature. It takes brass about 2 seconds to anneal at 1000 F, so you're looking to get things in that temperature range. Brass begins to glow between 950 F and 1050 F. I would forget about the 750 Tempilaq and anneal until you just start to see the neck and shoulder glow. Whoever started the "750 anneal temperature" on the web did a disservice to our whole community by not understanding the need to hold it there for 60 minutes.

Do you have a link to a page that explains this
If so that would be really heplful to a lot of us

 

[itchyTF]

One last question - where the heck did you guys get your springs for the trap door solenoid? I am running into issues because the solenoid doesn't come with a spring, and it is a fairly light pull. I ordered a spring pack from Amazon but they are way too stiff.

You might be able to find something here -

solenoids, electromagnets, driver electronics & controls, magnets, wire, and other engineering supplies

Online Shopping for Solenoids, Electromegnets, Driver Electronics and Controls, Wire- Choose from a complete line of standard electro-mechanical components and other related Engineering Materials.

www.electromechanicsonline.com

 

[hdmunger]

You could try a rubber band...

 

[VenatusDominus]

Do you have a link to a page that explains this
If so that would be really heplful to a lot of us

I posted the link in post #2410 of this thread, but here is is again along with the link giving the formula to calculate the temperature/time needed for annealing.

Deformation and Annealing of Cartridge Brass

Copper and its alloys are among the most malleable metals and alloys in existence. Cartridge brass, Cu – 30% Zn, has been used for many years to produce cartridge cases for ammunition due to its superior cold forming characteristics. This article shows the microstructure and hardness of...

vacaero.com

Enjoy!