Resurrection of a CFEI 100 KVA Induction Furnace

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awemawson:
My days began with the best of intentions to carry on dismantling the old chiller and recover anything worth saving, but first one of those '5 minutes jobs' got in the way:

. . . Identify what model of Briggs & Stratton engine my ancient 2 kW generator has, and order a replacement ignition coil. Well the model number is stamped into the cowl Google tells me, and I'm sure it once was, but at least 30 years of rust and Hammerite have rendered it illegible even after much cleaning. Looking at pictures on the web I'm pretty sure that it's a 3 HP 80232 with a 'points and capacitor' set up - coil is O/C. Almost identical ones available on eBay and from gardening on line shops BUT their mounting holes are 64 - mine is 59 mm centres :bang: 64 mm one ordered and it looks like some machining is in order to modify the replacement, but those holes are through the lamination so that's going to be fun!

So at last back to the chiller - I've decided it is not worth re-working the case - I will make a skeleton one out of heavy box tube giving a much smaller footprint so no point in more case dismantling - the scrap recipient can do that!

So I removed the entire control box with it's various useful breakers and relays, and also the huge extractor fan that sat on the lid, and then turned my attention to the water tank.

An angle grinder took care of the internal copper plumbing allowing me to remove the copper evaporator as a complete unit (lucky scrap recipient - it's heavy and solid copper!) and then cleaned the tank using my petrol pressure washer - it's not come out too badly.

This tank is 110 litres / or 24 UK gallons so reasonably sizeable - I think a frame about 30 x 24 inches should accommodate the tank and pump on the ground floor, with the heat exchanger and other controls a bit higher up. I ordered some cheap imported LED temperature indicators on ebay so that all ports of the heat exchanger can be monitored - so a front panel mounting them, the start / stop for the pump and anything else I've forgotten can be up at eye level.

While all this was happening the pipe and plumbing fittings were delivered - so a quick goods inwards check to see that it's all there - yes it is but I'm sure I've forgotten something - always seems to happen with these projects!

nrml:
It would be nice to turn all that copper into bronze as your first melt.

awemawson:

--- Quote from: nrml on April 27, 2020, 04:08:31 PM ---It would be nice to turn all that copper into bronze as your first melt.

--- End quote ---

I have a chap who is very generous with his time helping me with things that anno domini is making more difficult as the years go by. He is scraping a living in agriculture not very successfully so I let him have my scrap as he always refuses to take payment. This way I can disguise it as actually helping me get rid of junk :thumbup:

AdeV:

--- Quote from: nrml on April 27, 2020, 04:08:31 PM ---It would be nice to turn all that copper into bronze as your first melt.

--- End quote ---

You beat me to it.... I've got a pile of solid 6mm copper wire here for the old overhead gantry crane - which, to avoid coils of wire hanging around the place, literally ran in similar fashion to a railway train, with 3x bare conductors and sliding pickups), if I ever get Rob Wilson's old furnace going, I'll definitely be making some copper ingots...

awemawson:
Funny stuff to cast, copper. Very fluid.

Pouring down here and I’ve just been out to the ‘soon to be’ foundry to find numerous leaks in the roof :bang:

It’s a fibre reinforced cement ‘big 6’ roof in good condition only 10 years old but laid to a fairly shallow pitch. Leaks are at sheet overlaps so I’m hoping that maybe there is a build up of leaves from a large tree close by. Too much rain to look at the moment. Don’t fancy drips into the high power electronics :bugeye:

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