All Annie owners

[normmatzen]

All you folks out there with Annie's.

I've had mine now for about a year. And, I have had some problems which Fluxeon has corrected promptly. And, AMP has come out on the market, successfully I think, with a fancier machine than my Annie. But I will stick to my Annie as it does essentially the same function at 1/2 the price.

I have been doing some experimenting with mine annealing different cases and with different work coils. I intend to hand over my data when done to Fluxeon for an application database.

What information have you all found since using your Annie? Bottom line, I have seen my bullet seating force (yes, I measure each insertion) stabilize since using Annie and I believe that is the bottom line. Let's generate a thread full with handy information on using the Annie. By the way, I have a flux concentrator with three different gaps and a water cooled coil. I can replace my Litz wire coil with a #4 solid wire coil in my flux concentrator.

 

[Deleted old_dood]

are you using Fluxeon's own water circulator? That's what I use. if you're not it might be helpful to let others know what works. There were some posts recently about how much temperature rise in the coolant was noted. In my case, after doing 100 .223 or 6br cases, temperature rise was detectable but not significant, essentially room temperature to very slightly warm.

 

[Gina1]

All you folks out there with Annie's.

I've had mine now for about a year. And, I have had some problems which Fluxeon has corrected promptly. And, AMP has come out on the market, successfully I think, with a fancier machine than my Annie. But I will stick to my Annie as it does essentially the same function at 1/2 the price.

I have been doing some experimenting with mine annealing different cases and with different work coils. I intend to hand over my data when done to Fluxeon for an application database.

What information have you all found since using your Annie? Bottom line, I have seen my bullet seating force (yes, I measure each insertion) stabilize since using Annie and I believe that is the bottom line. Let's generate a thread full with handy information on using the Annie. By the way, I have a flux concentrator with three different gaps and a water cooled coil. I can replace my Litz wire coil with a #4 solid wire coil in my flux concentrator.

Here is a nice mod for the Annie You build it


http://forum.accurateshooter.com/threads/induction-annealer-built-around-annie.3914150/unread

 

[normmatzen]

No, I bought a small pump on ebay, direct from China. It accepts the plastic tubing supplied with the Annie water cooled coil. I use a 1 qt cup with the pump laying on the bottom and the water is slowly circulated from the cup to the coil and back.
I haven't annealed enough cases in sequence to see how warm the water gets, but with the little use it got barely lukewarm.

By the way, I have characterized a number of cases with Tempilac such as Lapua 6BRX (6BR), 7X57 Privi Partizan and W-W cases, 284 WIN both W-W and Lapua (6.5-284 resized to 284 WIN) and some Black Mountain 30-06, So far, the required times do not make a lot of sense!

I need way more experimenting!

 

[powderbrake]

For your info: the following are the annealing times which I used, as set into the Annie. My unit has the water cooled coil and pump assembly from Fluxeon.

6mmBR 2.5 sec

223 1.8 sec
22-250 2.7

30-06 1.8
7 Mag 1.9

I have three different height settings for the base of the case, in order to set the joint between the neck and the shoulder approximately in the center of the coil. Since the 223 and 22-250 are different lengths, and they use the same base setting they are not both in the center of the coil, which I believe leads to the difference in timing. The same is true for the 30-06 and 7mm Mag, which use the same height setting.

I used 750 Tempilac on the necks and 450 on the case bodies to determine the settings. I have no explanation for the times except that they worked for me. I assume it has a lot to do with where in the coil the neck and shoulder are located. With my unit, the location is repeatable.

I assume everyone will get slightly different settings, depending on the coil location, coil diameter, case manufacturer, and their general set-up. My 6BR cases are Lapua, my 22-250 and 223 cases are Winchester, my 30-06 and 7mm Mag cases are mixed.

 

[normmatzen]

I did some experimenting with my Annie and found similar times to powderbrake. I also found that cases that have been fire formed or the necks formed out a bit had different times. Example, powderbrake's 6BR took 2.5 seconds where my 6BRX takes 1.7 sec. But my 30-06 took 1.8 sec just like powderbrake's 30-06 also took 1.8 sec. My
284 WIN in W-W cases took 1.7 sec but the Lapua 6.5-284 stretched to 284 WIN take 2.9 sec! I did use the water cooled coil for these .

Based on little testing, I believe the water cooled coil works the best as long as the case is set so the neck-shoulder junction is right in the middle of the coil.

Also, I annealed about 200 cases in quick succession and the approx 1 qt of cooling water got just warm to the touch. I also bought a very small pump off ebay that barely creates a dribble from the return line and it worked just fine!

 

[Fotheringill]

For anyone who owns the Annie-

I am about to place my order. Does anyone know where the unit and the accessories are made and/or assembled? It is something that is very important to me.

 

[Deleted old_dood]

For anyone who owns the Annie-

I am about to place my order. Does anyone know where the unit and the accessories are made and/or assembled? It is something that is very important to me.

I just checked. there's a sticker on the back that says "made in USA"

 

[Fotheringill]

Good. Thanks.

 

[normmatzen]

I think Fluxeon is still in San Diego and making Annie's there.

 

[normmatzen]

To help determine the correct times to start for your individual
cases and coil set-up, here are some example cases annealed in both the Flux Concentrator as well as the water cooled coil. I have also determined that the age of your 750 deg F Tempilaq is not a first order problem as it IS pretty stable. I have seen three different times quoted in Tempilaq information from 6 months, to 1 year and 2 years. I have some Tempilaq I just obtained as well as a bottle I have had for a number of years that had dried up, which I reconstructed with some green bottle thinner from Tempil that both gave the same indication for the same anneal time. I'm waiting for a legitimate technical answer from Tempil. Don't forget, Tempilaq is made in Germany and re-distributed here in the USA so the real information resides in Germany!

CASE WATER COOLED COIL FLUX CONCENTRATOR

6BRX 1.7SEC 2.2SEC

7x57 1.9SEC 2.5SEC

284WIN 1.7SEC 2.5SEC
W-W

284WIN 2.9SEC 4.5SEC
LAPUA

30-06 1.8SEC 2.5SEC

This is not a complete list, but may help you estimate your case.
Just remember, my fire formed 6BRX has a shorter neck than a 6BR so it takes less time than 6BR and my 284WIN with stretched necks (Lapua) take more time than W-W cases as it has a thick shoulder and donuts.

 

[normmatzen]

I have been thinking of a way to improve on the repeatability of my Annie annealing.
Here is what I came up with. I figured the Annie is so fast, automatic handling is not worth the effort as it takes about as much time to load the hopper as it does to anneal with Annie.
I bought a piece of white plastic on ebay 6"X12" and 1/2" thick. I drilled holes (or notches) to match the rubber feet on Annie which locates the fixture accurately. Then I bought some glass rods on ebay that are 8" long and 0.2" dia. I also drilled a hole 3/8" deep with a #7 drill (0.201") to insert the glass rod. I made one rod for each case I anneal. Yes, when I insert the rod into the hole all the way, it is straight!
The rods are exactly the right length, scribed with a tiny file and snapped then fire polished on the end, so when inserted and a case placed over the rod into the coil, the juncture of neck and shoulder is exactly in the center of the coil

And, it works just fine! And, the inductive field aligns the case in the core.

 

[powderbrake]

Well done! That is a perfect solution to the "feeding" of an Annie. I'll bet you can lift the case out with your bare fingers (if you do it quickly). It is probably faster than a timer controlled system, because you set the timer for the longest time plus the time for the solenoid to drop the case. I wish I had thought of this solution.

 

[normmatzen]

I was thinking about the AMP annealer my Aussie friend bought and thought the way they handle the coil alignment issue is with custom case holders for each case to hold it the appropriate depth into the coil.
So, I just did that from the bottom.

 

[normmatzen]

Bump

 

[normmatzen]

I'm still waiting for input from other Annie owners concerning anneal
times and other tricks you have found to improve your process.

 

[Deleted old_dood]

Lapua brass:

.223 1.3 seconds
6BR 1.7 seconds

 

[powderbrake]

Here are my times, but I believe you will have to test your own set-up, as it depends on whwere the case is inside the annealing coil.

223 1.8 sec
22-250 2.7
30-06 1.8
7mm Mag 1.9
6mmBR 2.5

with the water cooled coil

 

[Deleted old_dood]

Lapua brass:

.223 1.3 seconds
6BR 1.7 seconds

should have mentioned that this is with the water cooled coil.

 

[normmatzen]

Old Dood just showed that 6BR and 6BRX and probably 6 Dasher all have the same anneal time.

Also, I have to hold the 6BRX cases in the fixture otherwise the flux field will try to force them up a bit. Yes, I do take the cases out bare fingered, just quickly! I just press down on the primer end a bit while the annealer in on. I haven't tried my heavier cases yet.