Fluxer Heaters, induction heaters for Dynavap

[mr_cfromcali]

Mid-week update: Good news, folks. I have heard from all of my testers, and the consensus is that this is solid little heater. It wasn't perfect, of course, and the testers found some legitimate issues, as I discussed above.

I feel like it has been fairly well tested, all things considered. Testing was productive and allowed me to fix some issues early that would have been nasty if they had made it to the production version. The heater is a much better device after being tested, and I am grateful to the folks willing to try it early and share feedback before it was truly complete. Thank you!

The major and moderate issues discovered during testing have all been addressed, as I discussed in my previous post. No new issues of that caliber have been reported in the last week.

The minor issues have been solved where possible. Some are, admittedly, still in search of better solutions - I'm looking at you, plastic LED bushing . But most of these minor issues are better now, too.

Which leads nicely into my next point: With no significant issues left to solve...let's get this thing going: The testing phase is over for the Deluxe. I am moving it on to production. I think it is high time I start making these heaters for other people!

Thank you, testers and early adopters: The folks who have had the chance to try it out should feel free to share their experiences.

(As an aside, the two testers who are still using their initial versions will get revised versions very soon after I move to production.)

My next steps will be to work through the waiting list to contact people as I begin to build their heaters. I have about 50 people on the Deluxe list at the moment, and I expect to build these in batches of 10-20, with each batch taking approx. two weeks to complete. I have been building out subassemblies (battery sleds and cases) in anticipation of being able to release heaters, so I begin this first production batch with a head start. I expect to have some heaters ready to ship as soon as next week, and a few could be ready to go even sooner.

So that's where things stand at the moment: right on the precipice of something new! Hopefully it's a smooth launch, and not a swift plummet

Thanks again, everyone, for all of your support!!!

More to come, I'm sure...

Cheers,


PS: UK users (or anyone) will soon have the option for a UK power adapter. I have ordered a dozen, but they may not get here for another 5-10 days.

 

[Moses Baca]

Woohoo! It's going to take awhile to get to me, way down at the bottom of the list, but woohoo!

 

[oneizm]

Hell yea! I think I spy a blue induction heater somewhere in the Monday update with my name on it.

 

[Gray Area]

Great news... I'm hoping one of the black ones in the pic is mine too.

Appreciate the uk power adapter option

 

[Summer]

I'm very late to finding this thread so I have some reading to do -- slowly. Kudos to you @mr_cfromcali -- as its small size & its lack of being cumbersome (uncombersome?) make it much more stealth than than coffee cup design. And you probably would have to carry the coffee cup around in hand because the cup design lends itself to greater damage from denting or getting a good knock & it's innards screwed up if transported in some type of carry bag. Yours is easy to just throw in a bag. It's a design many of us would want. And I think (2) 18650's will have enough juice for most users. I like it a lot!

 

[mr_cfromcali]

And I think (2) 18650's will have enough juice for most users. I like it it a lot!

Thanks for the kind words! Just want to point out, the 2x 18650 design was abandoned some time ago. That's a full power 3x 18650 heater in the palm of my hand.

Enjoy reading the thread and getting up to speed on the projects.

 

[Summer]

@mr_cfromcali, you read my post before I could get a chance to make it more comprehendible. Now go back & re-read it. Sorry, my eyes & brain aren't in sync right now or maybe as I've only read pages 1 & 12 so far, maybe I confusing the beginning with the end. Yes, I acknowledge 3 batteries.

Sorry again for maybe being redundant, but what are the measurements? Didn't see it on your website ... or maybe again?

 

[mr_cfromcali]

No worries, @Summer ! I’m trying not to thread-sit, but sometimes I end up doing it.

Dimensions are 112 x 60.5 x 31mm. (Sorry, I’ve forgetten the US measurements.) With batteries it weighs 661g, or about 13 oz.

I’ll go back to soldering battery packs.

 

[caseball2051]

Loving the form factor here. I got on the list last week.

Anxiously waiting for final reveal and sales!

Good luck!

 

[mr_cfromcali]

Hi everyone,

A quick Friday afternoon update: It's been a busy week! I spent some time this week wiring up Deluxe battery sleds. It's a very "handsy" process that requires repositioning the work frequently on the soldering mat, and as a result it probably takes the most total time of any of the sub-components to assemble (e.g., case, battery sled, and PCB). I got my sled-building process straightened out, though, and was able to build out all of the sleds I currently have on hand:

Moving on to enclosures, I have 15 enclosures on hand, drilled and ready to go, and another dozen on order and due to arrive on Monday. I expect to have enough components on hand to build out at least 20 heaters this weekend, and perhaps more.

Or in other words...

Next week should be a good week for heaters.

Have a great weekend, everyone.

Cheers,

 

[LongDraw]

That's some good news, and they sure do look purdy!!

 

[mr_cfromcali]

Some updates from the weekend:

Hi all,

I started building out the first batch of PCBs over the weekend:

I had enough components on hand to start ten boards, as seen above, but my supply person (aka: me) screwed up, and I ran out of 10k ohm resistors and 12V Zener diodes after building these ten, and I can't start any more boards until I get more. They're on the way, though, and should be here by Wednesday.

For the curious, I assemble the circuit boards in three steps:

1. First, I solder the SMD components, as those components use solder paste and hot air to assemble, and it's easiest to do that when the board is blank. The PCBs in the above picture have completed step 1.
2. Second, I solder the larger components, the ones that use standard rosin core electronics solder: the capacitors, the connector for the battery pack, the DC jack, the switch, the PWM relay, and the components in the debounce circuit.
3. Finally, I solder the leads for the LED, the two wire-wrapped inductors (coils), and last but not least, the work coil itself.

I had anticipated being able to complete 10-20 PCBs over the weekend, but we had some family plans for Saturday, and in the end I didn't have as much time to devote to these as I had thought I would. This being the first batch, I am also still figuring out how to build these efficiently, which adds to the slow pace. I'm sure in a few weeks I will have a much faster process, but for now, I'm going slowly and being careful. My quality is good, but my throughput sucks.

I have one heater ready to go out today, and expect a few more to be ready for tomorrow, Wednesday, etc. Not exactly a firehose for product, but my speed will increase as I refine my process. Thank you for your patience while I figure out how to do that.

I'll post more updates as the week goes on.

 

[mr_cfromcali]

Another update post: Last night's activity was making glass inserts, and I figured I should shed some light on this previously unsung part of the heater.

These heaters commonly use borosilicate glass (aka, Pyrex) inserts to protect the coils and position the piece being worked for even heat and magnetic field distribution.

16mm diameter tubing is the standard. Most people building IHs use these inserts:

Iwodevape Replacement Glass Tank for Cloupor Cloutank M3 Vaporizer

They measure 16mm x 35mm.

Unfortunately, the max height inside the Deluxe is about 20mm, including the high temperature insulator at the base of the coil. A glass insert height of 17mm or 18mm is ideal.

I looked at several options for obtaining glass inserts for the Deluxe, including having some inserts cu$tom made. After crunching the numbers, it ultimately made more sense for me to cut the Cloupor tanks in half with a Dremel tool and flame polish the ends myself. So that's what I'm doing.

This isn't intended to be a tutorial, but rather a demo/overview, just so you have a better sense of the time it takes to make these devices. Most pieces in the Deluxe require some work to fit in the tight space this device dictates, but this is the only step where I get to use a blow torch to make it happen:

The full size tube placed on the cutting jig. The O-rings help with alignment and vibration damping, and cushioning.

Surgery.

Post-surgery

Rough ends, prior to grinding and flame polishing.

Grinding not shown, but I grind off the worst of the jagged edges before moving on to flame polishing:

One of several passes with the MAPP gas torch, which heats to a blazing 2925 °C (5300 °F); that's a very thick piece of stainless steel I'm using as a flame stop. The goal of flame polishing is to melt the edges so that they flow into a smooth surface. You need to take care not to get it too hot, though, or the edges collapse.

PSA: If you don't think it's fun to use a blow torch, you've never used a blow torch.

Some of the results:

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

In addition to completing 30 or so inserts, I also finished up one heater. Last night's yield:

(Forgive the smudges)

I have more parts coming today. I will be finishing up a larger batch of these soon, but so far it's been more of a trickle. Thanks for your patience, everyone! More to come

Cheers

 

[Moses Baca]

Beautiful!

So...if no one else wants it, I'll take it!

 

[YaMon]

That's a labor of love if I ever saw one! Thanks @mr_cfromcali !! You've got mad skills bro!

 

[mr_cfromcali]

Hi all,

Back again with another episode of "How It's Made", lol.

Actually, I'm still waiting for certain parts to arrive to build out the first batch of Deluxes - specifically, diodes and resistors. They should get here today. Since there's no shortage of other tasks that are also necessary to complete a Deluxe, I might as well shine a light on one of those.

Today's Flux Deluxe "behind the scenes" feature story: How heating coils are made

The heating or work coil is the business end of the induction heater. It's where the magnetic energy created by the oscillation of the two transistors is focused and released. Everything about it has some effect on the heater's performance - the size of the wire, the composition of the wire, the number of turns in the coil, etc.

Here's how I build the coils for Fluxer heaters:

1. I start with really good wire. I use Remington's 200°C-rated enameled magnet wire, in a 16ga size:

Link: https://www.remingtonindustries.com...ire-200c-16-awg-polyamideimide-7-spool-sizes/

I don't mean to go Full Hipster and extol the virtues of artisanal wire, but this is very good, US-made, 200°C capable magnet wire, with a high copper content and an excellent enamel coating - much better quality than the cheap stuff that comes with the "5-12VDC Mini ZVS IH" heaters everyone else uses.

I tried larger and smaller sizes, and 16 gage seemed to be the sweet spot (brief moment of pedantry: wire, sheet metal, etc. are sized in "gages." Although they likely shared an original meaning, this is a different word than the speedometer and temperature "gauges" you view on your car's dashboard.) The heater works best when the coil is a full 10 or 11 turns in height, and 16ga seems to be the size that works best for the Deluxe, all things considered.

2. I wind the coils by hand around a length of 5/8" OD copper pipe. I secure one end with a hose clamp, so I can get a tight wind.

3. The goal is tight, even coils:

Some of last night's coil production:

And that's how Fluxer coils are made!

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Fluxer Branding and Artwork:

My friend that prepared the Fluxer logo just finished up some sticker art for the Deluxe (an exterior logo sticker and an inside label). I am having two high quality vinyl stickers printed, which will be here in a few weeks. The exterior sticker will come unapplied, so you can apply it or not. (Heaters shipping now will get their stickers in the future, once I have them on hand.)

He was a professional graphic artist at one point - like me, he's worn a lot of professional hats - and the art looks great, IMHO.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Last night's yield: One Deluxe. It still needs to be tested before I ship it, so maybe last night's yield was in reality only half a Deluxe?

FWIW, while I am trying to complete "batch" size tasks to get a full cohort of new heaters done, I also have other Deluxes in various states of completion, and I'm trying to finish and ship those individual heaters where possible. There's a good sized waiting list, and although people are currently patient I'd like to get heaters to people ASAP. That's the goal.

As I am trying to show, these are very handmade devices, and they take time to build. I have a real job, a real family, and real world obligations, so these heaters get slotted into the time that's left over, which is usually late at night and on the weekend. A long way of saying that I am a craftsman, not a guy running a heater factory. Thanks for your patience while I build these out. You may grow tired of the process, but I think you'll like the results.

Cheers,


Another update tomorrow, hopefully featuring more completed heaters

 

[Moses Baca]

Thanks for the updates, I appreciate the attention to detail in your information. I love the 'behind the scenes' stuff!

 

[mr_cfromcali]

Hi All,

Your Thursday Fluxer Update: The electronic parts I was expecting did NOT arrive last night as I had been told they would, so no new Deluxes were made last night.

UPS dropped the parts off this morning, however, so I expect to build out some more PCBs tonight and over the long holiday weekend.

Instead of making new circuit boards, last night's workshop session became an extended QC check of the Deluxe I finished on Tuesday (link to yesterday's post). It should have been routine, so of course it wasn't.

A few weeks ago, as I was gearing up for production, I took the opportunity to make what I thought were two very slight revisions to Deluxe's circuit board: First, I moved the capacitors ~1mm towards the coil to clean up their mounting. Then, to shorten a wire, I changed the power source for the "in use" LED from one pin to another pin on the same circuit trace. Very. Minor. Changes.

Tuesday night's build was the first using the new PCB revision.

[Hubris and music both rise dramatically!]

To make this tedious story a bit shorter, that second change unexpectedly reduced the power to the heater enough to grab my attention, and it took me a while to figure out WTF I did. It was an interesting failure, and you shouldn't be playing this game if you don't want to follow up on interesting failures! Ultimately I determined that I had made a mistake: By moving its power source, I accidentally put the light emitting diode into a position where its function as a diode came into play. We think of LEDs as light sources, but in addition to emitting light they will still function as diodes and restrict voltage when wired to do so. This one was accidentally wired to do just that, and it took me a while to make sense of the situation; "diodes gonna diode," I suppose. I moved the wire back to its previous position and took the heater for a spin, and all was well with the world again.

[...raises head, sees people checking their phones...]

You folks will let me know when I'm over-communicating, right?

What's next: I have the parts and cases on hand to build out ~20 Deluxes over the holiday weekend, so that's my plan. I have begun reaching out to people on the list to let them know that their turn is coming up, verify case colors, etc. I've been preparing the separate components for this batch for some time, so it's time to build them out into heaters (albeit with care!) and ship them off to folks. I need to make some heaters for people.

Speaking of which - launching these the week before Christmas makes the timing awkward for some people, and I'm truly sorry if this has you in a bind. If your turn comes and you aren't able to buy a heater immediately, let me know - if you have a specific date in mind when you expect to buy one, I will try to accommodate you. And of course, please pass if you've changed your mind!

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Band on the Run: Finally, one of the requests that came out of testing was to include a band or strap for an additional level of lid retention. I tried a few, and I think these work very nicely:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B073PND7NL/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

They look like this:

They're nice: appropriately sized, just the right amount of stretch, and odor-free. I'm including one of these with each heater going forward. If I've already shipped your heater, I'll include one with the stickers I'll be sending in a few weeks.

BTW, if you move the band to the side of the case opposite the hole, you can lift the lid and access the switch without removing the band. This position also keep the heater stable for use on a flat surface:

Again, this isn't needed to keep the lid on, but it will keep the lid on more securely if you find you need that.

Thanks again for your support! Back with more heater news tomorrow - and hopefully some heaters, too!

Cheers,

 

[Jill NYC]

@mr_cfromcali As far as I’m concerned there is never too much communication (even if a lot of the technical stuff goes right over my head).
It is always interesting to hear the process, good and bad because it shows how much work you are putting into each heater.
I am very excited to be part of this next batch - it will be my first (only?) venture into the IH world and can’t wait to try it out.
I will be happy to get it soon, but it IS the holidays and if you take a little longer to spend time with the family, I wouldn’t care.
Cheers!

 

[mr_cfromcali]

Thanks, @Jill NYC ! I appreciate your sentiments! We have a lot of family in our area, on both sides, and we have family events scheduled on and off through New Years. We even like each other, lol, so no worries there, I'll have family time covered.

I like my shop time, too, though! I find it to be very meditative and absorbing, so I'm not lying when I say I'm also looking forward making some heaters this weekend. I have the supplies and some free time, so why not make a few? I'm Santa's chronic elf.

Thanks again, and happy holidays, all!

Cheers,

 

[-dab8-]

“Diodes gonna diode”

Lololol.

Love the update. Keep up the good work.

 

[AtomicPB]

@mr_cfromcali I really like the idea with the band.

I would like to make a suggestion that might refine it a small little bit, if considered neccessary at all by anyone.

With the band attached to the heater, it will probably not be laying plain on a surface anymore, so I thought that rubber feet in some form might help that. Just something that crossed my mind.

In any way I am really eager to try the FluxDeluxe with my Omni.

 

[mr_cfromcali]

Happy Saturday night, all!

These are coming along nicely:

Regarding stick-on feet:

Short answer: My gut says not everyone is going to want these, or need these. However, if you want stick-on silicone feet, tell me when I invoice you (only then, please, or I'll lose track!) and I will include some. This is not a big deal.

Longer answer: Personally, I think feet on the bottom of the Deluxe would be cumbersome to live with, especially when used with a band, as you would have to spread the band to clear the feet every time you took it on/off. But feet are relatively cheap, and I'm not going to argue this very hard.

If you need it to lay absolutely flat, however, I think it would be better to use two bands spread apart (same as above - request a 2nd at invoicing...but either feet or a 2nd band, not both, please). That would also be a pain in the ass to live with for obvious reasons, but it would be very stable.

As I said in the previous post, it's very stable with the band positioned off-center, opposite the hole. It doesn't move or wiggle when you insert the vapcap, and the band has enough friction to keep the Deluxe well anchored.

That's all for now.
Cheers,

 

[Hogni]

Perhaps better an anti-slip pad glued to the bottom if wished?

 

[Moses Baca]

It'll be easy to add a second strap or feet or pad or whatever if you feel it's needed after you try it. Personally, I like how simple it is.