TEMPERATURE CONTROLLED FORGE!!!
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- čas přidán 11. 09. 2020
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My name is Alec Steele and I am a 22 year old blacksmith from England, now living in Montana in the USA! With a great team of hardworking folks, we upload videos showcasing the projects we get up to here at the workshop. Lots of sparks, lots of making, lots of fantastic-ness. Great to have you here following along!
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Thanks for watching guys, thanks also go to Salem Straub who helped Will learn what parts to buy to get this set-up running! Thanks as ever to our sponsor supporting what we do:
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Thank you for making such awesome videos
Did I miss something? Why are Alex and Will not in the same videos anymore? Did Will win one too many Steele vs Stettlers?
Could we get a link to the parts but adding a modulating valve
Use a ignition transformer for igniting gas at low temps
I'm curious about the shop shirt/ pull over...you are wearing in this video. I noticed it has your seal on it...Looks really cool. Are you going to start selling these?
You want a modulating valve and not a solenoid valve. You don't want to shut off the gas just reduce it.
preferably one you can set to never fully close so you don't run into the issue with the gas not igniting
@@gideonwackers7693 something of a pwm type
Yes as you can see the tampratur is droping very fast and never rly get's to the 2100. But its difficult becaus you need to lower the airflow along with the gas i think. It will not cost 100$ it will cost 1000$ to make it properly.
So close yet so very very far
The control engineer inside me was sad.
"We've got ourselves an issue"
This doesn't sound like the Alec Steele channel at all
Allow me to translate to us normal Americans.. "We're completely @%#$%@%&&$%^%$^@$%#%"
Alex. This is a great idea and concept, kudos for your enthusiasm with the project. I do not wish to be negative in any way. I have been an engineer for 40 years and designed, built and operated the the type of system you are attempting to build and use. In the voice of safety which is most important here, you should consider an alarm setting in the PID to not allow opening of the gas sol. valve to be within ignition temp. It would be best to use a Gas Regulating valve for gas flow control, this would give you far better temp. control. Pilot ignition is also a very good to have, weather this is flame, electronic, or thermal element. Your heater in the shop is far more complicated than you think, and your forge should be at a min. just as complicated. I wish you the best and please be safe.
Randy Richard In The Shop THANKYOU for bringing this up. The current set up is a massive step in the right direction and I am beyond pleased to see them undertake it. However as it currently stands it scares the living **** out of me. No failsafes. No ignition system. All on a 120v control system. Very very dangerous. Alec if you’re reading this feel free to email me. I am more than willing to design and provide the schematics in addition to the components required at no cost to make this system safe and legal.
You should install a gas detector nearby as a last line of defense failsafe in case the solenoid valve switches on the gas and there is no ignition.
I was thinking about this issues too. I looked up the auto-ignition point of natural gas, and google gave an answer of 1400f - so having the controller disable if the temperature falls below say 1500f could save your life.
How about also adding a heat mass igniter as well? Possibly something like a block of tungsten that won't cool as quickly and will help with re-ignition? An electric hot surface igniter would be great for you to have the forge auto-start, but they do burn out. Not really my field but a thought I had while watching.
I was going to say something similar. Using a control valve or something similar, instead of an on/off valve. But use the on/off valve with a flame sensor of some sort. Incase something malfunctions like the forge cools to quickly and cannot burn the gas vapors. Blown forges cool very quickly to the point at which it can’t ignite the gas without a spark or more heat. Not quiet as you put it, but similar.
@@kstricl The tungsten is brilliant
I love how his blow torch says torch so that people don’t think it’s a hammer
Lets face it. Every tool's a hammer ;)
When visiting the UK, my cousin asked if I wanted to play with torches.
... imagine my disappointment when he came out with a couple flashlights. I thought we were going to play with fire. In England! It also explained why he looked so confused at my excitement of playing with a "torch." 🔦
Ideas for (maybe) improving (possibly unnecessarily) the PID controller:
1) Install a (small) bypass valve around the solenoid valve: always allow past a little gas so the flame never actually goes out. (The controller chooses between high and low rather than on and off.)
2) Hook up a relay to control the fan as well to avoid blowing (cold) oxidizing air thought the forge when the controller calls for less heat (maybe that can be done as high/low as well, some fan motors can be speed controlled with light dimmer switches) .
Will gas still light up as the ratio of fuel to air will be so low.I doubt so.
@@tanmaynaphe2748 if you control the fan too it should be fine.
The fan might be less help keeping stuff alight than we would hope as it will take a while to spool down. The trick I was thinking of is that you set the low setting to still have enough gas to stay lit. As long as the high setting is high enough to get up to temp and the low one is low enough to not over heat, the PID should sort out the rest. You might need to fiddle with the valves when you go for a different temperature, but once the levels straddle the target and both work, it should work on its own.
Don't use a dimmer switch to control a motor. Use a rheostat.
@@nooneyouknowhere6148 why? I could see there being issues finding a dimmer rated for the need power, but that would be as much an issue with a rheostat as well. Am I missing something? The real issue I know of tends to be that some types of motors over heat when you run them slow.
If you can't use a dimmer, then see if you can get the right size variac; at least with that you don't need to dump as much heat.
Someone needs a Skillshare course on electrical wiring.
he literally said he was just making sure it works..
Most electricians barely know how to twist Multi copper lead wires. And you expect someone on Skillshare being able to teach it? xD
@@Helveteshit because twisting wires is bullshit...there are so many great connectors out there
Being a former electrician and an electrical contractor I can vouch that most electricians are garbage. However properly twisted wires provide a very strong and safe connection. The trick is to strip the wire long (2”) and twist them with pliers an inch or so down the insulation, cut off the excess wire then wirenut it.
is the display blinking in his eyes or not? just as a side question. I know the answer
This is pretty cool Alec, however you should revisit this. Get 2 modulating valves, 1 for the gas, and 1 for the air (if you don't control the air flow the air will blow the remaining heat out of the forge and cool it down), and hook an Arduino to the valves so that it can give more precise controls to the valves. Also you should put a pilot, whether is is a continuous flame or just a spark, so that you don't blow yourselves up.
Speed control on the blower will also work just as well without the need for another valve.
Then it gets alot more complicated as the blower has to be up to speed before opening the gas and igniting it.
Leave air flow wide open but use the arduino to turn the fan and gas off together but turn the fan back on about 1 second before the gas so it has time to spool back up.
There should also be some settings in the temp controller to lower the temp drop window before refiring so instead of say a 200 degree drop you could set it to a 100 degree drop and it wouldn't cool off as much which would reduce the need for turning off the air flow
It will be a bit more complicated, but if the blower starts at 100%, like it probably does currently, then only when introducing the gas it actually starts regulating the speed between a designated minimum and maximum speed. Most variable speed drives that is a little bit higher end can take 4-20ma directly and can be set up like this.
I personally would never trust an arduino for something like this, but rather use the Siemens variant like the IOT 2020 or 2040.
@@Lysdexis the blower can keep running, just needs a bypass port
Was thinking the same thing.
There's got to be an arduino/PLC nerd out there who could help set this up. The problem is similar to an internal combustion engine; i.e. it's an air:fuel mixture/volume type problem.
Could use an Oxygen sensor to tune the air fuel mixture (VSD on the blower/modulating valve on the gas line) to ensure good combustion. Then increase/decrease the volume of the air/fuel mix to precisely control the temperature.
In theory the Oxygen sensor could also be used to determine a no fire state which could then be used to shut off the gas valve. Would probably want to include a door switch to stop the forge from trying to run flat out when it's open.
I showed this to my electrical instructor and he just kinda sat there and did his grandpa giggle and downloaded the video. He's probably gonna make this a class project now XD
I sat there and cried in VDE.
@@holydpower131 What is VDE ?
Well, he does make reasonable progress, even if he does several big no no’s in the process
Verband der Elektrotechnik, Elektronik und Informationstechnik
German council for electrical code effectively.
@@holydpower131 Ah okey thanks mate
While everyone is giving their 2 cents on the mini forge, the issue with the big forge is supplying atmospheric pressure air. The piping is likely way too large (3-4 inch I.D intake pipe is suitable for quite high pressure air uses), and the fan type doesn't appear to provide compression of the air. Don't throw out the baby with the bath water here, you need to collaborate with a fluid engineer for just a few minutes of a phone conversation to have this sorted out.
Great work Alec! Im a control systems engineer and suggest you install a pilot light AND a gas detector nearby as a last line of defense in the case of the solenoid valve opening and there is no ignition.
Even if you make sure to never set the setpoint below self ignition temp, an temporary output failure to the solenoid from the PID, short power outage or temporary loss of gas supply will cause the forge to drop below self ignition temperature and the PID will try to send Gas to it. The gas will start pouring into the room with no ignition.
Honestly this is why I enjoy electrical work so much. It looks super complicated on paper and the wires make it look like so much but when you get to the end there’s so much satisfaction watching the thing work.
That is the thing that has always drawn me to watch Alec and the rest of the team. Sure, he could go out and hire and electrician and they'll get the job done right and all. But it's that, "I'll do it, so I know how to next time." Or simply, "I want to do it myself." Has been a very good breath of fresh air and wish more people were like that than relying on others.
Yeah ... sounds good as a general principle of life, but he kind of got to the edge to injuring himself seriously there. Sometimes a bit more "think twice, act once" might be a good idea as well. Or just do more tinkering with low-voltage projects to build up your instincts before touching high-voltage.
Also, I don't know what the exact regulations over there in Cowboy-Country are, but in Germany improvising self-made electrical installations at a place of work can get you into all kinds of legal trouble (and I think Alec is employing at least some of the people in his workshop, it's not just a hobby project for himself). Everything at a professional shop needs to be not only thought to be safe, but proven to be safe.
@@ShieTar_ I lived in Germany and more than once switched out a light bulb my self. Now I have a bad conscience.
Well I 100% agree with the he's prototyping it in the video to see if it works before paying an electrician to make it safe/legal. ESPECIALLY in this case where it's 110V going into that box, those solenoids are 110V ones not DC powered,, so ever little brass screw on the back is 110... yeah that thing had danger written all over it the way it was originally done. But yeah the follow up with electrical conduit, was good, although I do hope that the whole forge stand is grounded because again that PID is all sorts of evil written on it and the box they shoved it in was metal, and the stand is metal, so if something happens and a live wire hits the inside of that box... yeowch.
@@alias_not_needed Why? Replacement of a device (in your own home?) does not relate at all to installing electrical wiring in a commercial space. Nobody proposed to call an electrician to plug in a cable or operate a power switch, I was talking about installation of exposed live wires.
There plenty of times to higher a professional, when acquiring your own time, tools and experience are prohibitive, but working outside your comfort zone is the only way to develop your own skills.
Alec, You can add a thermocoupling that allows the gas valve to close in the event that the gas is not burning. This would be a most important safety. You could also add an auto igniter that comes on when your valve opens. That is how the furnace that you were pointing out in your shop works
Like get a delay timer and a spark plug. And some ignition stuff. And maybe something like a micro automation device like a simens logo for more controll and safety mecanisms.
Additionally, you should only be using valves that are rated for natural gas use. They should have a logo on them that is AGA or maybe USGA. Gate valves that are not rated for gas can easily leak through the packing nut where the stem for the handle comes out even when they’re closed. Well it is unlikely that it would fill your shop full of gas and ignite. It is possible. Certainly a fire while someone is standing near it and a spark ignites the gas is certainly possible.
@@WiscoWoodShop Can't upvote this enough
@Indosarnia an unattended gas leak can explode, but it would not be too much of stretch to have a small leak ignite and produce a flame while working. Either is bad news. Proper valves are the way to go.
" That thunder joke never gets old!"...Thor
Your excitement about controlling fire and accuracy is pretty contagious. Gonna be shouting it while making head shots.
*"FIRE, CONTROL, ACCURACY!!"*
I love it!
I’m an electrician, and it’s always a hoot watching you figure out electrical and electronics.
Keep up the good fight lol.
I am one too but i cringed at bare flexible wire in screw contacts and wire nuts especially when prototypeing. Get some wago quick conectors
Holydpower At least he had it all cleaned up after it worked, and didn’t leave it like that tho 😅
You could have two gas feeds, one that only feeds a little bit but always stays lit, and the solenoid which turns your main feed on and off. Think of it as like an afterburner on a jet engine. Sort of like a pilot light but not really. You could have a low volume feed bring the forge up to say a thousand degrees or something. Then the PID controls the afterburner to bring it up to where you actually want it to get, and shuts off when you get to your set point.
that would be a bit more safe than the current setup is
I got unbelievably excited when the PID kicked the forge back on. I simply cannot wait to see the projects you guys take on now that you have temperature control!!!
I know electrical wiring isn't exactly your strongest ability, but I have to say you are one of the first and only youtubers that I wasnt in constant for your safety while wiring something up. You honestly want to know what your doing but already have a solid understanding of your personal limits and are smart enough to back off when things are beyond your knowledge and safety levels.
Not only europeans Alec, the whole WORLD uses Celsius.
All of the civilized world that is.
I'm sorry the rest of the world compared themselves to water when dealing with temperature. A compound that has one of the highest specific heats which is why the differential between farenheight and celsius is so large. Because farenheight is calculating how hot a human feels while celsius is calculating how hot water feels
@@mitchellrubio368 but that's the whole point of SI units. A Litre has 1000 cubic centimetres of water in it. A cubic cm of water weighs 1 gram. 1000 grams of water weighs a Kilogram which is 1 litre of water. Joules (energy) is linked to electrical resistance and heat and force and all in simple decimal figures. Its sheer magic.
Also if Freedomheight is linked to a persons temperature why isnt Body temp 0 or even room temp? Nope its all arbitrary and linked to nothing else.
imperial is an insane measurement. Americans decimalised currency (quite sensibly) but stick to the most insane and archaic system of measurements on the planet.
@@crowlord don't get me wrong I hate every other measurement we have besides farenheight. Meters, grams, etc. Are all better, but celsius is best used for experiments due to waters many properties
@@mitchellrubio368 Fahrenheit isn't related to humans. It's based on brine.
Alec, to save on a pilot, you can buy an instrument called a “flame eye” many boilers have them, very simply if you make it a master over the Fuel Gas Solenoid, it you flame out, it will de-power the solenoid.
Our school's forge has one of those and its quite effective. I grabbed a few from electronic goldmine but haven't set them up. As for a pilot, I imagine you could do something with a typical automotive spark plug.
@@TheIdeanator thats what our glory holes use, something similar made for high heat.
Glass furnaces have flame eyes as well. I believe they are infrared sensors.
@@joshschneider9766 yup thats what i do for a living. Glass tech
It’s great to see where technology scales, I used them in a steam generation boiler furnace, but I know smaller ones are available
At first I thought the pid was trash with that flickering screen then I remembered refresh rates and fps and all that good stuff
Yea its multiplexing.
And here I am with a wood fire, lawnmower blade, a stump, and the back of a camp axe. A little too wet or too dry or just not enough wind and I can't forge. Keep up the great work!
Watching you use that torch and hammer and anvil for the flat bar reminded me of early channel days when you posted a video a day just forging everything. Love it
when you shouted "it's working" you sounded just like Jeremy Clarkson. and under the same conditions, you're a mad scientist Alex.
and on that bombshell....
More like Victor Frankenstein ("IT'S ALIVE! IT'S ALIVE!")
Thought he sounded more like Anakin Skywalker getting his podracer going.
Hey Alec I really really hope you see this
You can save the problem of the forge getting to a too low of a temperature so when the forge reaches a too low of a temperature and the pid will sense that it will trigger a high frequency arc that will reignite the gas kind of like a lighter
3:07 I'm so glad you guys labeled the torch. I had no idea what it was before!!!
It's a beautiful thing, watching you grow 3 times at once... As an artisan, always pushing yourself to make more complex projects requiring both blacksmith and jewelry techniques; as a company, going from just selling of finished products to teaching us how to blacksmith and selling raw materials and tools; and as an individual, always staying just outside of your comfort zone -- be it welding a bike or wiring electronics
Dude I love your work. Your cinematographer is awesome. Plus your editing is really great
That striped jacket looks straight out of the 80's.
David Pulliam - Due to COVID restrictions Alec isn’t making enough from his business so he’s taking a couple of extra shifts as railroad conductor after work.
Have to say this might be favorite episode. I love when you challenge yourself and this is incredible. Can’t wait to see the beautiful pieces you make with this fine tool you’ve created. It’s so much fun to watch you grow and learn.
Nice start. Do note that when the gas is off--but the air remains on--the forge will develop an oxidizing atmosphere. The "perfect" setup would be to have flow meters and modulating valves on both the fuel and air; a temperature controller on the gas; and a ratio controller on the air. You'd set the ratio controller for the air/fuel ratio needed to achieve the desired atmosphere (reducing or oxidizing) in the forge. As the gas rate changes with temperature, the air rate will automatically adjust proportionally so that the atmosphere in the forge doesn't change--only the temperature will. Adding a minimum gas flow (so a flame never goes out) as others suggest would make it ideal.
very saucy jacket on that raid add. alec out here serving looks
"if it works, we will make a better solution"
No, you will not... That's the biggest lie you can tell yourself
yes he will, he will swap out the duct tape for aluminum tape.
German saying: "Nichts hält länger als ein Provisorium." (Nothing lasts longer than a stopgap solution.) 😆
It's temporary .... unless it works. "Red Green"
I thought the same thing
There's nothing more permanent than a temporary fix that doesn't break.
Glad you have a manual valve at the end of the system and aren't just trusting the electronics. Definitely a good idea when you have a live gas line into your forge. Love your videos
First time you made the thunder joke legitimately made me laugh. Such great old humor.
You have no idea how much I needed this 🤣I was so gosh darn bored
pointlessproductions make something. You won't be bored.
I love watching these videos because they are a seperation from the nerd stuff I'm into like game programming, showing what someone can do with their hands. I have to say though it was refreshing to see Alec do something like installing that Pid, and watching him have absolutely no idea what he's doing. Love the videos Alec, never stop being awesome.
Your excitement level in everything you do is infectious, and normally I let it slide over me. THIS, however, was so gorram cool, I think my own excitement matched yours! Amazing project, Alec!
"This is Sam. He tolerates my dad jokes."
This is Sam, I pay him and he tolerates my dad jokes.
I miss the good old UK Sam
There is litterally only 1 thing I like about RAID: Shadow Legends. Just one! their willingness to throw money at just about anyone.
True, but you also have to consider how they get that money in the first place. Games like these pray on addictive personalities and all their revenue comes from micro-transactions.
At one point Alec does something and says I feel imminent death approaching then immediately does it again. Brilliant!!!!
10:20 Alec, whilst admitting his lack of expertise in electrics “I’m gonna be shocked”
This is as close to first as I'll ever get. 😂
Also. Why not get a regulating solenoid rather than an open/close only? While you do have a measure of control you never really keep it at the desired temperature, it will always reach it and drop by about 100 degrees. Not sure how much difference that makes but I imagine it would still be better.
No other reason than working based off of what other people in the industry have used and trying to keep things simple! Having a regulating valve would provide a ton more capability indeed! Once we adjusted the settings of the PID off camera we got it to cycle much baster between open and closed and it held a way better temperature range anyway.
@@AlecSteele Note that your PID controller should have proportional output in addition to on/off output that you could wire to a regulating solenoid. It would then adjust the amount of gas to control the temperature, instead of turning it on and off.
@@AlecSteele PIDs are really versatile if you do get a regulating valve and tune the PID properly you will get closer to the Paragon ovens. Also have you though of putting in a thermopile safety device. It doesn't allow gas through unless it's hot enough. They are pretty standard on gas cooking equipment that doesn't require electrics, the thermopile produces electric current from heat to operate the valves so if it's not hot enough no current = valve shut, no gas.
Bryan Humphreys THANKYOU for bringing this up. As the set up currently stands it terrifies me.
@@AlecSteele Wouldn't a proportional setup also require air control to avoid a highly oxidizing flame? ...Actually, shouldn't oxidation already be a problem with this design blowing plain air into the forge?
Omg I love especially when u did the bike
All the cool stuff you've got going on, your dust room is still my favorite.
This video hit at the perfect time for me to add this to my new forge build! Thanks, Alex! CHEERS!!!
12:20 *Jeremy Clarkson enters the chat* 😂😂 you sound identical to him
"Those are NOT good noises." LOL!
oh alec, you've gone into the deep end again. I love the grit you've developed over the years just trying stuff out regardless of your expertise.
The temperature control addition will cause a great uptick in quality. In particular, homogenization of your work will be greatly improved. Great work!
Alec: I have no idea what I'm doing
Me: No one does brother
When working with electricity, and admitting you don't know what you're doing, I think it unwise to use the pun, "I'm going to be shocked."
Awesome cant wait to see all the projects you can do now with the control you have on that forge!!!!
Holy crap, that was fun seeing that much unbridled excitement out of Alec! Tech is cool and fun, no doubt!
How are there 3 views, this was posted 20 seconds ago
CZcams is a mess and this dose not surprise me.
With all the troubles with the forge, and all the hours put into it, it does make me wonder if it would have cost less to just buy a premade unit in the beginning.
Were is the fun and the content for us
Alec I work with alot of electricians and I can tell you, your electrical work is alot cleaner and nicer than what some electrical guys get away with hahaha. Keep it up, love your work brother.
Awesome. About time you get the upgrade. New forge looks great. Cant wait for the new projects.
Alec, I didn't see any venting on the box that the controller was housed in. Is it open somewhere to prevent the controller from overheating and failing? The possibility is remote, but if the solenoid malfunctioned also, you might vent or possible leak gas. This will become more likely as the sealing surfaces of the solenoid age. Take Care. Stay safe. I want to keep seeing videos from your channel. :-)
I'm surprised he never mentioned that he's wearing a Steele branded jacket
I've been watching you for about two years now. I'm a huge fan. Thanks for all the great advice and informative videos brother.
man it's just the natural progress of business. Get into a trade industry, get gud at it, then sell materials and equipment to others in your space. Genius!
Hi there
hi there
hi there
"Breaking news: A natural gas explosion has leveled a small manufacturing complex in Bozeman, Montana. The cause of the explosion is suspected to be a malfunctioning metalworking forge which failed to reignite when the homebuilt temperature controller turned the flow of gas back on to bring the forge back to operating temperature".
Fake News !!
You just reminded me of what happened in Tacoma over a dozen years ago. Look up "2007 Atlas Foundry explosion".
i have said it before, and i will say it again. its fun to watch you guys do all you do. forge this make that.. need a part make it yourself.. but dear god the real reason to watch this is to see Alec's enthusiasm because by god its contagious.. he cheers you see yourself cheering.. just epic bro keep up the excellent eps i will keep watching ya .. have a thumbs up on me my friend.
Another amazing video! Thank you for taking us all on your journey!
What kind of refractory cement did you use? My forge has melted everything I've tried so far, and i really need one that can handle 3500f+
Have you tried using pre made fire bricks?
@Tim Bair if it is a coal/charcoal forge get pre made fire bricks if it is a propane forge get kale wool
They are using ceramic fiber wool and castable refractory. But i have only seen ceramic fiber wool that can handle 3000f and with refractory its the same, so you are probably going to have a hard time trying to find stuff that can handle 3500f+.
@@ryanschaff123 yup, twice. they turn to sand
@@bing-bop installed behind firebrick, and refractory. its now glass.
You could connect something like a spark plug to the same connector of the solenoid, then everytime the valve opens a spark will ignite the gas.
Pid controllers are really cool and glad to see you working out of your comfort zone. I litterally work around 1000s of them everyday operating a gas plant. There are alot of things you can do with them and given the right devices you could make it control support precise. But for what yall are doing with it, it will work and good job.
Your excitement is contagious and palatable!
There is nothing so permit as a "temporary" solution. Really, the great wall of China wast a temporary solution for the Hun problem.
I miss real Sam! Where is he now? His channel is gone!
I can't wait to see the new projects you will be able to master now... Love it.
So awesome you guys! I love how you have an idea and learn how to make it a reality. Always pushing yourselves to make improvements. Been following you for years now and you know how to keep it interesting! Keep up the great work Alec and Will 🤩
"For European viewers", do you mean for almost the ENTIRE world except the U.S.?
"For our European viewers..."
I think you mean "For our viewers from practically anywhere other than USA..."
Really enjoying the content. I've binge watched your entire channel over the past couple months and I just can't get enough!
I really enjoy watching these equipment upgrade videos, and the discussions about he costs and benefits.
I tell computers what to do for my job 8+ hours a day, 5 days a week and I am so pumped for you and your team that you did this. Keep up the good work.
Your enthusiasm knows no limits, always been a huge inspiration to me. Thanks for keeping us up to date on your upgrades!
Jamie, the retro rock background music is killer! As always, you pick the best music to fit the video! Well-done!!! 👍🎵🎼
Well done Alec and crew. Inspiring future projects! I'm now looking at starting in to smithing after much debate and anguish. Keep the inspiration coming.
Well done, Alec! That is fantastic!
Well done sir. It's really fun when everything works as planned. Minor distinction, not electrical but controls.
Amazing work! Something so simple that makes the job way easier
Was very glad to see Alec working with electronics and properly wearing his brown pants... 😄
Excellent job guys . Watching you instead of decorating the lounge. 😁
Fantastic video. Cannot wait to see what comes out of the behemoth forge.
Oh my lord. For the longest time, since you built that monster of a forge, I was thinking about a PID for it - because I've been working on a PID item list for my old classic Gaggia Baby espresso machine. Glad to finally see this come to life, and now I should really get off my keester to PID my coffee machine as well!
I appreciate how you guys work through your problems keep up the good work
Dear Alec, good morning!
I would first like to congratulate you on the beautiful channel that you have built over all these years. I learned a lot from your technique. I really admire people who, like you, are willing to share knowledge without even knowing the people who are learning. This is amazing.
At the same time, I would like to ask you to remember that your audience is not only in the United States and Europe. It's all over the world.
Once again, congratulations on the channel!
I love watching the evolution from small little kids hobby to a functioning adaptive business that grows with the challenges... In the strictest sense Alec and Will have forged their future.
Awesome work Alec! Great to see people not just resting on "Good enough" and working to make stuff better. All I'd say is to maybe consider a few tweaks for safety? A second, normally closed, Solenoid that only opens above the critical ignition temperature or if a button is held down maybe? Once you get to operating temperature that would allow gas into the system but would cut it off if the temperature got too low. Someone would have to hold the button during start-up but it would prevent unfortunate accidents. Also, one small and one large gas feed, where the large is controlled by a variable valve, would help avoid accidents while giving you more precise control than just on and off.
Guys,
I love the idea of DIY electronics to help better your working environment. I'm buy no means an electrician, I'm actually a mechanic, but a few things I've learned that helped me so much:
A good crimps and an assortment of terminals. Weather they're spade connecters, eye (or ring) connectors, and even ferrals, they are a must have to make sure everything is tight and secure! Nothing worse than having a connection loose and some arcing.
Some lengths of wire with crocodile clips at each end. When mocking up connections, I use to use the butt type or twist connectors. And if something went wrong, I had to quickly pull them off. But with crocodile clips, so easy and handy to connect/disconnect until I have to make a more permanent connection.
Lastly, self soldering heat wrap! These have worked out for me so many time when I've accidentally put a cable too short and I have to lengthen it. Beats twisting cables and putting electrical tape on by a mile!
Hope you read this and find it useful, keep up the good work?
Alec! Finally something I could maybe help with! Not sure how precise you're looking to get the temperature on that forge-- but if you have accuracy issues here's two things that might help:
1. It's important that you use the correct thermocouple wire for your thermocouple to provide accurate measurements. Looks like you're using a Type K thermocouple by the yellow cable you used.
2. The depth of your "thermowell" (the tube your thermocouple is protected by) is fairly shallow. When measuring fluid temperatures in pipe, the ideal depth of the tip is the middle third. Obviously, that's not ideal for something you're sticking metal into. All this means is that I think your thermocouple will probably be under-reporting the actual temperature of the forge.
Neither of those two things are going to affect your consistency, which may be all that you care about. Just figured I'd chime in to prevent you from some annoying troubleshooting if you're worried about how precise the temp will be.
Hey Alec. I happen to know a fair amount about Thermocouples I figured I would lend some information. Mostly to make sure you're TC gives you the best read out it can. So first and foremost, the TC wire you have running from the TC to the controller is called TC extension wire. Extension wire is color coded opposite of normal wire. Meaning red is negative and white is positive. If wired backwards the TC will work almost correctly but will give a temperature reading about 10% off. This leads to the issues of TC extension wire and connecting it to TC wire. The reason why a TC works is basically if two dissimilar metals come in contact the produce a voltage in millivolts. If the connection is heated the voltage changes. Those voltages are known and the controller knows if the voltage is x then the temp is y. The problem is the TC extension wire and the TC wire are different alloys. TC extension wire is cheaper and is often called a compensating wire. This means the wire should have no electrical effect on the voltage coming from the TC. Should being the key word. If the connection between the extension wire and the TC wire is heated that connection will cause a thermoelectric effect. This voltage will create error in the temperature reading on your controller. I suggest you find out what TC type you have and buy TC wire and not TC extension wire to connect to your controller. Also loose the brass block that you are connecting too. Direct connect them by forming eyelets and use small machine screws through the eyelets. Make sure the wires are touching not just the screw. If you have any more questions feel free to ask. Im an engineer for a company that makes hermetic TC feed throughs for satellites, space and other ultralight vacuum applications.
Great video again Alec! Thank you! 👍😁
I am in the water heater manufacturing business. You essentially have two choices in burners to achieve what you want. 1. A rich/lean burner with a positive pressure gas valve and staged solenoids and a fully modulating or step modulating fan to induce air.
2. A fully modulating burner with a negative pressure premix gas valve and modulating fan. Both take solid state electronics to run the burners efficiently and achieve the desired heat set point. Either way you go you will need a combustion analyzer in order to achieve the correct fuel air mixture for heat optimization. Have fun and be safe.