DIY Induction Heater Builds and References

[kokolokokolokon]

Does anyone tried this for bigger devices?

https://a.aliexpress.com/_EIfTeJZ

Not at max power of course

 

[TommyDee]

I think this requires a center-tapped coil @kokolokokolokon since it only has one choke.

 

[132ikl]

@132ikl - Your low power draw may be your cap. The weakest cap I ever had came in at around 2.5 amps on a M'20. Also check the voltage at the input of the module to see you have at least 10V. The way you make the power level a bit higher is to remove a loop from the coil. Of course, winding the coil tighter might also improve the coupling.

Don't worry too much about the slow bake. You are reaping the benefits of a better bake as well. But you do want to bake at around 60 watts.

Thanks for the pointers. Seeing 12V on the dot across the ZVS module (two decimal places!) so getting around 30W. (Edit: I just realized I forgot to put under load when testing actually looking at 11.67V, which definitely still good.) I've got an M'21. I can live with a weak cap, I just wanted to make sure I wasn't doing something wrong

Also came across this old Reddit comment of yours about cap gain ratios after doing some searching, very helpful. Have you done any more measurements since then? Might upgrade to a new cap if in the future I decide I'm not satisfied

 

[TommyDee]

My last measurements were of some 419 caps I got a few years ago with the 3rd batch of cap materials. They came in at a GR of 5:1. The '3rd batch' was of the original source. Learned since then that making 304 stainless steel magnetic requires work hardening the material. That means is it all about the tooling.