DIY Induction Heater Builds and References

[maremaresing]

Thank you both very much for the fast replies. I've read this thread many times and some things are still confusing when working with the induction fields.

I have a spare coil but I think I'll get more wire and play around with configuration. If the coils don't heat each other, I'd like to wind them all within a 10mm length to concentrate the power. Noted that I need to start with 33" long of 12 AWG Copper Magnet Wire.

Wouldn't the field be heating that button next to it, too?! Is all this sapping heat from the fusion head and causing issues? I wish I could just make a tiny faraday cage for the induction coil.

I'm going to solder a new coil down now that I've learned some things. I'll get it coming off the other side of the board so I don't pass by the chokes. An ABS enclosure is on the way, even though I'm very sad to part with the cool alum enclosure.

 

[TommyDee]

The strongest part of the field will be the center of the coil 10mm is a bit short but worth a try. I wound the outer part of the coil around the inner simply to use up the extra length of wire.

 

[maremaresing]

https://imgur.com/1vWRSSP

It's done and works well!!! My first well packaged and built induction heater, and it heats my Fusion 2.0!!! It's so minimal and stress free and clean on my desk, I love it.

-Used a spare coil and did a proper fresh 10 coil design, wrapped tight around a tube and bent into proper solder positions.
-Made new shorter glass, instead of burying the tip as deep as possible like before. I think this lets some radiant heat out the top.
-Made the coil wide enough to fit orings between the glass and coil, so the airgap can protect the coil from melting. I believe the fusion tip was contributing to the heat damage I saw before, since the glass is so thin.
-Attached the new coil in a place where it wouldn't affect or pass by any electronics.

The result is "heating lower band with torch til click" heating when it clicks in the induction heater, at about 40 seconds. I like heating past the click but even adding 10 sec after the click isn't quite giving me the monster hits a torch gives going past 3 seconds. I'll probably shave the heat spacer so the tip sits deeper for a longer heat, but I'm gonna test a bunch first.

Lots of empty space in there, so I may go battery powered in the future. I just like the form factor. It could be half as high easy, though. So maybe I'll find an enclosure like that and build another one lolol.

 

[maremaresing]

Still enjoying the induction heater, but of course I yearn for more power. It just doesn't provide the fast heavy one heat extraction that a torch does. While this seems to be the behavior of induction heaters in general, and it certainly fully extracts nicely, I've been thinking of improvements.

To get more induction power my options are:
-More powerful board. The poor 120w zvs is certainly doing it's best with heating the Fusion, and I'm probably asking for the maximum it can do.
-More coils (can't because I ran out of coil length getting 10 winds)
-Tighter coils (I'm running mine about 20mm ID, to accommodate the glass and heat shielding. I could reduce this to 18mm, but don't know how much that would help)

I'm also looking at 20A boards, but even a cheap power brick that outputs 20A is around $50. (an unenclosed unit is around $20) So it gets expensive quickly and at what point should I just be using a torch or wait for more powerful reasonably priced IH units to hit the market. Going battery could probably get me the power needed, without a pricey power brick.

Side question- how do induction coils like this even work if they are unshielded? Some of the more powerful ones use this style:

https://imgur.com/fo2VyX1

 

[TommyDee]

Still enjoying the induction heater, but of course I yearn for more power. It just doesn't provide the fast heavy one heat extraction that a torch does. While this seems to be the behavior of induction heaters in general, and it certainly fully extracts nicely, I've been thinking of improvements.

To get more induction power my options are:
-More powerful board. The poor 120w zvs is certainly doing it's best with heating the Fusion, and I'm probably asking for the maximum it can do.
-More coils (can't because I ran out of coil length getting 10 winds)
-Tighter coils (I'm running mine about 20mm ID, to accommodate the glass and heat shielding. I could reduce this to 18mm, but don't know how much that would help)

I'm also looking at 20A boards, but even a cheap power brick that outputs 20A is around $50. (an unenclosed unit is around $20) So it gets expensive quickly and at what point should I just be using a torch or wait for more powerful reasonably priced IH units to hit the market. Going battery could probably get me the power needed, without a pricey power brick.

Side question- how do induction coils like this even work if they are unshielded? Some of the more powerful ones use this style:

https://imgur.com/fo2VyX1

More power just turns into more condensation in the condenser. I was running around 90 watts and made the remark that my vape seemed to be disappearing. Sure enough, a runny blonde syrup developed quickly in the condenser that is normally a deep dark crimson red over a much longer period.

 

[CreatureGlass]

Never a dull moment in my shop.

This also extends from the other site. We're at a zero'ing in phase. I'm working on 'small' and mellow portable.

If you want new tech, check out variable input voltage to dial in your 'oven'. Enjoying near on-demand IH draws. No butane so no reason not to draw while cooking. If you can tame the IH, you can probably keep up with the IH. or at least get you in a modulation range.

What's the other sites name?

 

[TommyDee]

What's the other sites name?

The origins of this thread: https://fuckcombustion.com/threads/vapcap-diy-induction-heating-bits-n-pieces.49663/

 

[beigh]

Hey everyone! I built an induction heater (IH) using a 12V/5A power supply, but it struggles to heat the device properly—it takes 40 seconds to reach the second click and requires three full heating cycles to produce a good amount of vapor. I’m considering using an adjustable power supply (3-12V/10A), like the ones in the link, to test different voltages and find the optimal range without buying multiple units. Since I’m new to electronics, any tips would be greatly appreciated!

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256805005333456.html?spm=oneshop.home.dspopularproducts.2.69df7f6bNqo2U8&skuId=12000032063761031&pdp_ext_f=%7B%22sku_id%22%3A%2212000032063761031%22%7D&aecmd=true&gatewayAdapt=glo2usa4itemAdapt

 

[TommyDee]

You're on the right track @beigh . Personally I would recommend a lab-style supply as they are a lot more versatile. Something among these for under $50 - https://www.amazon.com/Lab-Power-Supplies/b?ie=UTF8&node=318022011

You are looking for watts. Having the power meter (watts) on the lab supplies tells you exactly what you are drawing. Technically, your 60W power brick should work, but I suspect you are drawing way too much power for the thing to keep up. There is some esoteric tuning required to match a marginal supply to the cap.

60 watts is a very good bake and normally requires less that 15 seconds. Your supply is not providing 60 watts because the particular combination of coil, cap, and voltage.

 

[2tiki]

Hey everyone! I built an induction heater (IH) using a 12V/5A power supply, but it struggles to heat the device properly—it takes 40 seconds to reach the second click and requires three full heating cycles to produce a good amount of vapor. I’m considering using an adjustable power supply (3-12V/10A), like the ones in the link, to test different voltages and find the optimal range without buying multiple units. Since I’m new to electronics, any tips would be greatly appreciated!

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256805005333456.html?spm=oneshop.home.dspopularproducts.2.69df7f6bNqo2U8&skuId=12000032063761031&pdp_ext_f=%7B%22sku_id%22%3A%2212000032063761031%22%7D&aecmd=true&gatewayAdapt=glo2usa4itemAdapt

I attempted the same think a couple months ago. I had the same issue, so for now am taking a break from trying to make a better version, and am not bothering using the one I made.

I also recommend going with a proper "lab style" supply as well. If you use the type with a dial, they tend to not be very stable with what they put out. Also, the electronics for induction don't tend to like the electricity to come in out of a specific range. Many people online destroyed the induction device (blue smoke came out of it, and then it died permanently) because the low settings hitting it before it got up to where they fully turned the dial. So if you do go that route, make sure to at least have a separate on/off switch in between the power supply and the induction heater.

 

[maremaresing]

Hey everyone! I built an induction heater (IH) using a 12V/5A power supply, but it struggles to heat the device properly—it takes 40 seconds to reach the second click and requires three full heating cycles to produce a good amount of vapor. I’m considering using an adjustable power supply (3-12V/10A), like the ones in the link, to test different voltages and find the optimal range without buying multiple units. Since I’m new to electronics, any tips would be greatly appreciated!

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256805005333456.html?spm=oneshop.home.dspopularproducts.2.69df7f6bNqo2U8&skuId=12000032063761031&pdp_ext_f=%7B%22sku_id%22%3A%2212000032063761031%22%7D&aecmd=true&gatewayAdapt=glo2usa4itemAdapt

I'm going to assume you are heating a dynavap, because you mentioned 2 clicks. If this is wrong let me know. 12V/5A should be sufficient as is, but I had a lot of luck going with 12V/6A for a strictly dynavap heater. Just that extra bit was all that was needed to get good results that the 5A didn't provide.

While I think that a bench top power supply is a useful thing to have around, it seems like total overkill when you are just trying to power a simple induction heater setup.

A 12V/10A supply can heat something like the fusion nicely, but it really all comes down to your coils and coil width. Tighter coils, more coils, more power. But be aware that you need the power source to keep up once you put load on the system. Can you post a picture of your configuration?

 

[TommyDee]

@maremaresing - one bonus on the lab supplies is the CC-mode. But of course you're right, they are overkill unless you have an interest in the readback from the meters. Knowing how many watts a cap draws is good information to have. Doesn't mean you need to use it all the time, but if you find that a 9V bake is just right for you, you need a way to duplicate that. For me, a stock ZVS supply with the stock coil is perfect at 10.5V for me. I learned with the lab supply that that is 60 watts. Now I can use a weak cap and dial it up to 60 watts. I might be well over 12v at this point.

With people making their own heaters, a lab supply provides great input to show what you are experiencing with your creation. This wild west attitude toward the coil's relationship to the whole circuit requires this feedback in order to intelligently answer a lot of the questions posed by poorly performing DIY builds. Not to mention the wild variation between caps as to their inductive performance. This is where CC-mode really shines as weak caps and strong caps both perform similarly using CC-mode.

And lab supplies also make excellent battery chargers ;] For the price of a DV-B, you got a unit.

Edit:

A 12V/10A supply can heat something like the fusion nicely, but it really all comes down to your coils and coil width. Tighter coils, more coils, more power. But be aware that you need the power source to keep up once you put load on the system. Can you post a picture of your configuration?

The highlight of performance is the cap itself. You are generating an inductive field and the cap is the workpiece. More voltage will up the inductive coupling and stronger magnetic properties of the cap can increase the inductive coupling. Oddly enough, the vapcaps vary greatly in inductive coupling, or rather, their magnetic properties.

In order to put more energy into the caps, you need to up the voltage input of the IH. This means the IH will need to be equipped with higher voltage ratings for the FETs so the ZVS need to be rated for say 20v or more. Me, I just avoid shitty caps and use 3S batteries for my desired performance range.

One last thing; I have salvaged name-brand laptop power bricks. They are in the 20V range at lower currents but meeting 90+W performance. These can be regulated with the commonly available 8A buck inverters. Another way to make the power bricks a little smaller and, since these inverters are variable, more tuning options. I like name-brand laptop bricks because they are usually a fairly decent product and will meet their rated specification with appropriate safety circuits built-in.