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Induction heater project

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eskoilola:
Now, the ratsnest has always an intimidating appearance. But I am not afraid - I have done hundreds of these.

eskoilola:
So what's inside that flow meter.



Nothing much really. An impeller with a magnet. One hole to let the fluid in and another to let it out. O-ring to keep the fluid from getting into places where it is not supposed to get into. This is absolutely not a pressure vessel so it must be placed between the pump and the coolant reservoir. Being plastic I very much doubt that only water can be used as coolant - which is actually OK. The orientation of this device is the name-plate down. If oriented in any other way the sensitivity will suffer as a result of poor bearing alignment. Orienting name plate up might work but not as well as name plate down. I need to create fasteners for the sensor and also fittings for coolant in/out.



The inlet hole is rather small being under 3mm. Will open this up to be the same diameter as the output hole which is almost 6mm. This will of course make the sensor less sensitive but it is not my intention to actually measure anything. The intention is to see whether the coolant is circulating or not.

So far this sensor seems allright to me. It could use a better temperature tolerance but I assume it will not get destroyed with coolant temperatures below 100 degrees celcius.

eskoilola:
Almost there !



This is the top side of the PCB. What is missing are the traces and planes on the bottom side. At this point the worst is over. I could distribute the components more evenly on the PCB but I am not sure whether this is actually a good idea. The bottom layer is void on components and at the moment it is unused so it should not be too painful to create the planes and supply rails there.

I changed the three separate air cooled heatsinks to an aluminium block which will then be water cooled.

I have a few questions for You guys and ladies:

- assuming that there are water holes inside the (10 mm thick) aluminium block, how would You create the holes?

- does anyone have experience on having the PCB done ... probably in china? This one should use through plated holes and those are beyond my capabilities.

vtsteam:

--- Quote from: eskoilola on June 08, 2018, 04:53:03 PM ---- assuming that there are water holes inside the (10 mm thick) aluminium block, how would You create the holes?


--- End quote ---

Not sure how you want channels arranged, or how many but you can drill and plug as a single block, or make the block 3 piece -- a body and end caps. The body has the lengthwise drilled channels and the caps have the drilled manifold holes that tie them together. And an inlet and an outlet.

Or if you just plan on a single internal chamber, make it two piece, split lengthwise, and mill out the cavity.

eskoilola:
The PCB and the electronic design is now as ready as it becomes doing it virtually. I will order this PCB from some company that is specialized in small prototype series. They are usually not very expensive and the quality is far better than I could ever reach at home.

The schematics, Eagle project, PCB design, and all files needed to produce the PCB are at Your disposal in case someone is interested and if this device materializes itself as expected. It is my hope that these are useful for someone - if not used directly but serving as an example of what or what not to do depending on how this turns out.

The files are here

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