Induction heating boiler do it yourself: homemade type

People are spoiled by civilization and do not think of existence without its benefits. Undoubtedly, these include the heating of buildings. Heating systems are constantly being improved and are becoming more efficient and convenient to use.

But this is not enough. You must admit that it is not bad at all that the heating equipment is also economical. And this desire is quite feasible - you can make an induction heating boiler with your own hands. He is able not only to provide the necessary level of space heating, but also to save energy resources very economically.

Moreover, such equipment, if desired, will be assembled even by a novice master. And how to do it correctly and what materials will be needed for manufacturing - we will discuss these issues in detail in our article. Pre-consider the device and the principle of operation of the equipment, as well as the advantages of its use.

The structure and operation of the equipment

Before you start self-assembly of an induction boiler, you have to deal with its structure and principle of operation. And only having understood these moments, you can start making homemade products.

How does an induction boiler work?

To understand how induction equipment works, you need to get acquainted with the principle of its operation. So remember the school course of physics.

When an electric current passes through a conductive material, it produces heat. In this case, the amount of heat produced will be directly proportional to the voltage and current strength. This pattern was discovered by Joel and Lenz, in whose honor the physical law was named.

But electric current can appear in the conductor not only when directly connected to the power source. There is another way open in the nineteenth century M. Faraday. This is a contactless method that does not involve the interaction of the power source with the conductor.

Its essence lies in the fact that when the parameters of the magnetic field that crosses the conductor change, an emf or electromotive force appears in it.

This phenomenon has been called electromagnetic induction. That it is used in the induction boiler. It turns out that if an emf is present, then there will be an electric current, respectively, there will be a conductor heating.

In this case, it will be produced in a contactless way, using induced currents or as they are called Foucault currents.

Electromagnetic induction can be obtained in two ways. In the first case, to obtain induction, the conductor is rotated or moved inside a constant magnetic field. This method is used in power generators.

Another way to obtain induction - the conductor remains stationary, while the parameters of the magnetic the field in which it is located, namely the direction of the force lines and the intensity, is constantly are changing.

It would be quite difficult to do this if it were not for the discovery of Oersted. He found out that if a wire was wound on a coil, then when a power source is connected, it turns into an electromagnet. When changing the direction and intensity of the current, the magnetic field generated by this device will also change.

If a conductor is placed inside the field, an electric current will arise in it, which is accompanied by heating.

It is on this principle that the induction pot is made. Its design is very simple. It includes a body, necessarily insulated and shielded. Inside it is placed a pipe. Best of all, if it is and alloy, but you can use steel.

However, in the latter case, the performance of the device will suffer a little. The pipe is installed in the sleeve of a dielectric material.

A copper bus is wound over the liner on the coil principle. It is connected to a power source. For tapping into the heating system, two nozzles are used, along which the coolant will move.

When power is applied, the current passes through the coil and activates an alternating magnetic field, which, in turn, induces eddy currents inside the pipe. They heat the walls of the part, and partly the heat carrier, which is located in it.

There are variations of an induction boiler with several small-diameter tubes installed in parallel. They are used instead of one big pipe. This gives a gain in the rate of heating of the device.

In this form, the equipment can already work, but the heating will be weak. To strengthen it, you need to pass a high-frequency electric current through the coil. Therefore, the equipment must be complemented by an inverter and a rectifier.

The alternating current from the network has a frequency of 50 Hz, which is not enough for the efficient operation of the induction boiler. Therefore, it is fed to a rectifier, where it is converted to a permanent one.

Then goes to the inverter, which is an electronic module with a control circuit and two key transistors. The device converts direct current into high frequency.

Admittedly, the use of a rectifier and inverter increases the cost of an induction boiler. Therefore, there are models that work without them. They connect to a regular network. But such equipment has impressive dimensions, which allows to increase its efficiency. Devices with an inverter are more compact.

The main elements of heating equipment

Any induction type boiler consists of several structural elements:

• Inductor. The main part of the device. It is a kind of transformer with two windings. Primary is wound on the core. With the passage of current it is here that an electromagnetic field arises, forming eddy currents. The boiler body acts as a secondary winding. It takes on eddy currents, warms up and transfers thermal energy to the coolant.
• A heating element. This is the core of the coil. For the boiler, it is made in the form of a pipe of a sufficiently large diameter or several parallel-connected pipes of smaller section.
• Nozzles. Designed for tapping the device into the heat network. One through the inside of the device comes coolant, the second liquid comes out of the boiler and is fed into the heating circuit.
• Inverter. This device - inverter - converts a constant electric current into high frequency, which is then fed to the inductor.

Before you start self-assembly, you should carefully consider what and how the main elements of the device will be made. Some of them will have to make yourself, and some you can buy.

For example, you can use the inverter from the welding machine. Well, if it is with the ability to adjust power.

We have listed the basic elements of an induction boiler.

Pros of self-assembly heater

Electric boilers are traditionally considered uneconomical. Given that the cost of electricity is constantly growing, they are costing "a pretty penny" to their owners. We recommend to look at detailed information on heating from the electric boiler in this article.

However, induction boilers, although they are powered by electricity, are quite economical.

But this is not the whole list of their merits.

Having decided to install such a device you can get:

• Rapid heating of the coolant. It takes an average of 3-5 minutes.
• Efficiency close to 100%, since almost all electricity is converted into heat.
• High temperature of heating the fluid in the heating circuit, minimum - 35 ° C.
• The absence of scale on the internal surfaces of the device, which is explained by the vibrations that appear during operation of the device. They prevent deposits.
• Long service life, since there are no moving and rubbing mechanisms and parts. Accordingly, there is no wear of equipment and damage to its components.
• No need to divert the products of combustion and often carry out maintenance activities.

The disadvantages of induction boilers are not so much. First of all, it is quite a high cost of equipment. In addition, in the process, the devices emit a small vibration noise.

Another disadvantage is a large enough mass that must be taken into account when mounting the device on a wall.

Instructions for the assembly of the induction boiler

Induction heaters can be purchased in the store, but their cost is large enough. Therefore, many homemade craftsmen try to do it yourself. For the manufacture of homemade induction boiler need to prepare materials and tools.

First you need to purchase a welding inverter. It can be inexpensive, but it is desirable that the device be equipped with an amperage regulator.

In addition, you should pay attention to the current with which the device operates. The standard value for welding inverters is 15A. This will not be enough. Need to look for a more powerful unit.

In addition, you need to prepare a rod or stainless steel wire with a diameter of 7 mm or so. It should be cut into slices 40-50 mm long. They will be placed in an electromagnetic field, where they will warm up.

For the manufacture of the boiler body is taken plastic thick-walled pipe. The diameter of the part may vary, but, as practice shows, the best option is 50 mm in internal diameter.

Adapters are used to connect equipment to the heating system. Through one of them a cold coolant will flow into the boiler, and through the other hot liquid will flow into the system.

Wire fragments must be laid in the housing. So that they do not fall out, the bottom of the part is covered with a fine-meshed metal or nylon mesh, which is securely fastened to the housing. After that, you can lay the wire inside the case.

Now the upper part of the part is covered with the same mesh as the bottom, and is fixed to the part walls. Adapters are worn on the butt. It turns out the workpiece from which the induction coil will be made.

To do this, it is necessary to wind enamelled copper wire. On average, you need to impose 90 turns. They should be located closer to the center of the part. They must be performed very carefully and smoothly, so that a high-quality induction coil is obtained.

The resulting device can be installed in the heating system. This is done as follows. First, the coolant is drained from the system.

After that, the place is selected where the boiler will be installed. The pipe is marked on this section, after which a fragment equal in length to the heater is cut out of it.

Then on the prepared place the self-made induction copper is established. The coil is connected to the inverter, on this installation can be considered complete. After that, the system again filled with coolant.

Only then can you test the new device. It must be liquid.

If you turn on the induction boiler "dry", the plastic case will melt from the high temperature. This will lead to partial destruction of the heating system, which is unacceptable.

Another important point is the proper arrangement of the grounding of the heater, without which its safe operation is impossible.

Features of the vortex induction boiler

We are already familiar with the principle of operation of an induction heating device. There is a variety of it: a vortex induction boiler or VIN, acting a little differently.

Distinctive features of VIN

Like the induction analogue, it works from high-frequency voltage, therefore it is necessarily equipped with an inverter. The feature of the device VIN is that it has no secondary winding.

All metal parts of the device perform its role. They are necessarily made from materials that exhibit ferromagnetic properties. Thus, when current flows to the primary winding of the device, the intensity of the electromagnetic field rises sharply.

It in turn generates a current, the power of which is rapidly increasing. Eddy currents provoke magnetization reversal, as a result of which all ferromagnetic surfaces are heated very quickly, almost instantly.

Vortex devices are quite compact, but due to the use of metal, their weight is large. This gives an additional advantage, since all massive elements of the body are involved in heat exchange. Thus, the efficiency of the unit is approaching 100%.

This feature of the device must be taken into account if it is decided to independently manufacture the VIN boiler. It can only be made of metal, plastic should not be used.

How to assemble a vortex induction device?

As we already know, such a boiler differs from its induction counterpart, however, it is just as easy to make it yourself. True, now you need the skills of welding, because the device should be assembled only from metal parts.

For work you will need:

• Two identical along the length of a piece of metal thick-walled pipe. Their diameters must be different, so that one part can be placed in another.
• Winding (enameled) copper wire.
• The three-phase inverter, it is possible from the welding machine, but the most powerful.
• Casing for heat insulation of the boiler.

Now you can get to work. We start with the manufacture of the body of the future boiler. We take a pipe of a larger diameter and insert the second part inside. They need to be welded into one another so that there is some distance between the walls of the elements.

The resulting detail in the section will resemble the steering wheel. A steel sheet with a thickness of at least 5 mm is used as the base and cover of the case.

The result is a hollow cylindrical tank. Now you need to cut into its wall pipes under the cold supply pipe and discharge of hot liquid. The configuration of the nozzle and its diameter depends on the pipes of the heating system, it may be necessary to use adapters.

After that, you can start winding the wire. It is carefully, under sufficient tension, wound on the boiler body.

Actually, the heating element will serve as a wound wire, so it is desirable to close the body of the device with an insulating casing. So it will be possible to keep the maximum heat and, accordingly, increase the efficiency of the device and make it safe.

Now you need to embed the boiler into the heating system. To do this, the coolant is drained, the section of the pipe that is required along its length is cut off and the device is welded in its place.

It remains only to power the heater and do not forget to connect an inverter to it. The device is ready for operation. But before conducting the tests, you need to fill the line with coolant.

You do not know which coolant to choose to fill the circuit? We recommend to get acquainted with characteristics of different heat carriers and recommendations for choosing the optimal type of fluid for the heating circuit.

Only after the injection of coolant into the system to conduct a test run.

First you need to start the device at minimum power and carefully monitor the quality of welds. If everything is in order, the power is increased to the maximum.

On our site there is another instruction for the manufacture of an induction device that can be used to heat the coolant in the heating system. To familiarize yourself with the process of assembling an induction heater, go to this link.

Unusual model of induction device

This modification of the induction boiler may seem very unusual, however, it has the right to exist.

Moreover, practice shows that such a device is much more economical than a standard heating boiler. On heating the standard “treshki” will take about 1.8-2.5 kW per hour, while the electric boiler will spend at least 6 kW.

Actually, the boiler is a heat exchanger embedded in the heating system, which heats up from the induction hotplate.

An important part of the design is a heat exchanger, it should be compact, reliable and as cheap as possible. Calculations show that for heating an apartment of about 50 square meters. m will be enough devices operating with 40 liters of coolant.

That is, you need a flat metal tank, the dimensions of which vary within 50x600x500 mm. Such capacity can be made independently, having welded from the profile pipes 50х50.

Works are performed in the following sequence:

• Pipe 50x50 cut into lengths of 600 mm. Total should be 9-10 pieces.
• The obtained segments are welded to one another according to the principle “wall to wall” so that a continuous row of pipes is obtained.
• Two more lengths are cut from the pipe so that their length is equal to the width of the resulting billet.
• From both the obtained pipe fragments, one wall is cut off.
• The part is installed with the cut-off part onto the pipes welded together so that a billet resembling a collector is obtained. The fragment is welded to the heat exchanger.
• The second pipe section is installed similarly on the opposite side.
• In opposite diagonal areas of the heat exchanger are welded pipes for connection to the heating system.
• The design is carefully scalded, because it must be completely sealed.

The heat exchanger is ready, it can be installed in place and supply a source of heat to it. Practice shows that it is best to install such a system in the bathroom by performing a vertical installation.

The heat exchanger is welded into the heating system, and the tile is located between it and the wall.

Home masters say that if an inverter is connected to such a device, its power consumption will be significantly reduced.

After reading the instructions for you, making homemade boilers seems difficult and dangerous? Do you doubt that the home-made will be more economical to use electricity to heat the coolant in the heating system? In this case, the purchase of a finished heating unit will be the best solution.

On our site there are useful materials for choosing the best electric boiler and rating of the most popular models among buyers. And also we recommend that you familiarize yourself with the peculiarities of calculating the energy consumption of the boiler and other options for electric heating in the house:

• Electric boiler for heating a private house: an overview of dozens of the best models of electric boilers
• How much electricity does an electric boiler consume? Calculation rules
• Electric heating in a private house: an overview of the types of systems for a country house

Conclusions and useful video on the topic

How to assemble an induction type boiler yourself:

How a homemade induction heater works:

What is induction heating:

Induction boiler - the most economical and efficient of all heating appliances, working on electricity. There are many modifications of homemade induction devices, you can choose any, the most suitable to the conditions of operation.

To buy such a device in the store will have to spend a significant amount, so home craftsmen have learned how to make them yourself.

Do you use a homemade induction boiler as a heating device? Share a photo of your homemade and recommendations for assembly in the block comments.

Or maybe you are just going to start making the boiler and you still have unresolved issues after reading our article? Feel free to ask them - we will try to help you.