Resurrection of a CFEI 100 KVA Induction Furnace

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awemawson:
With the latest plumbing order not expected until Tuesday / Wednesday it's time to turn my attention to the electrical requirements of the cabinet. Faily simple really:

16 amp / 3 phase input socket
3 phase on / off switch
Motor starter / over current unit for pump (salvage from original chiller)
12 volt DC supply for temperature indicators (already have one)
A few DIN rail bits and terminals (got)
A box to put it all in

Now the box - could I use the one from the original chiller? It's really too big, and rather rusty. Too big doesn't matter, and the rust is no major problem so long as the paint on it will 'feather edge' as I don't want to have to strip all the paint off.

So I started stripping out all the electrical gubbins from the original cabinet, and when I had a bare box did an experimental de-rusting with a sanding disk, wire wheel and stripping disk. I decided that it actually was feasible, so giving it a good clean up I've given it a coat of hammer finish blue.

Some of you might think that the paint scheme is remarkably similar to that I used on the 110 KVA generator - there's a good reason for that :clap:

I've not sprayed the door as I need to make holes in it for the temperature indicators and also a door interlock switch that I have ordered that will double up as an on / off switch

awemawson:
This morning I cut the front panel with an aperture that will take the electrical box, and two brackets to support it in the same way it was supported in the original chiller.

I'd intended to just spot weld the brackets to the front panel - both are 2 mm zintec sheet, and as soon as they flexed the welds were giving way, so I replaced the welds with an over abundance of screws !

Jury rigging a temporary support I was able to do a test fit of the box in the hole - now I can mark the brackets for the final mounting screws that go in the sides of the box.

awemawson:
So my friend came round after work and we dug the footings and filled them with concrete. The idea is to come up in brickwork a couple of courses, lay lintels across the pipe runs, come up a few more courses in brickwork then lay the lower slab. Then onto this build up in brickwork to a suitable height to easily house the pump and leave working space before putting a second slab on as a roof.

awemawson:
So I started the day reorganising the well pump fittings to raise the controller sufficiently that the priming plug is more accessible, and getting the suction and flow fittings in the correct orientation. This is so that the slab can be marked out for core drilling.

Then knowing that the manhole frame can soon be concreted back I made a pair of lifting handles to more easily re-fit the cover.

This done my friend returned and set the first few courses of brickwork. Two below ground to take the lintels, and the two above onto which the first slab will be set - hopefully tomorrow.

awemawson:
I've been working out pipe runs inside the new chiller unit today, having decided to run everything in 28 mm copper rather than the 32 mm MDPE as it is a bit more stable.

Amusingly my rolls of 32 mm DIAMETER MDPE pipe say 32 mm RADIUS printed on the side! - I can assure you that it isn't :clap: Someone in China is perhaps confused :scratch:

My friend made good progress this afternoon with the brickwork. First cutting a suitable hole in the the lower slab for the pipes to pierce, and also a 'drip line' on the underside. Then building up the brickwork to 3 courses from finish height. Three more courses, a roof and a door and it's finished

I had to do a test fit of the pump naturally !

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