When looking for an induction heater, below are some recommendations to help with your buying decision:

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1. Size: Choose bearing heater based on maximum workpiece weight, or minimum inner (ID) and maximum outer (OD) diameter.
2. Temperature control, single or dual: One temperature probe minimum, but two is ideal. To monitor the temperature of the bearing or workpiece a temperature sensor is required. For precision bearings, use an induction heater like the SURETHERM which features two temperature probes to accurately monitor the difference in temperature between the ID and the OD in order not to exceed the bearing’s maximum temperature differential requirements, thereby ensuring 100% tension-free heating.
3. Automatic Demagnetizing: The process of induction heating magnetizes the bearing or workpiece, therefore an automatic demagnetizing cycle is essential in order to leave no residual magnetism that would cause debris to adhere and accumulate on the bearing.
4. Multiple crossbars: Different workpieces have different ID sizes, so having the proper size yoke or crossbar is necessary for efficient heating of the workpiece. Always choose the largest crossbar that will fit through the bore of your workpiece.
5. Automatic temperature hold-mode: Holding the desired temperature when reached is essential since you are not always ready to install the bearing when the heating cycle has concluded. Let the bearing wait on the person, and not the person on the bearing.
6. Timed heating mode: If heating identical bearings one after the other in a production environment, timed mode will be faster and more efficient than temperature mode.
7. Delayed start time (safety): Allows the user enough time to step back from the heater before it starts heating, in case the user has a pacemaker.
8. Fail-Safe error warning: If the probe was not placed on the bearing, or falls off during the heating cycle, the heater will automatically stop in order not to overheat the bearing (if the heater is operated in either of the temperature modes).
9. Reporting, graphing of time/temperature cycle and printing capabilities: For ISO compliance, a documentation capability to report how bearing was heated and how long it took and to which temperature the bearing it was heated would be ideal.
10. Display temperature in degrees C or F on demand.

What Is Induction Heating?

Induction heating is a precise, repeatable, non-contact method for heating electrically-conductive materials like brass, aluminum, copper or steel or semiconducting materials like silicon carbide.

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Solving Your Process Heating Problems

How does induction heating work?

An induction heating system includes a special power supply which converts line power to a high frequency alternating current. This current is delivered over a specially-designed cable assembly to a workhead - or tank circuit - which creates an electromagnetic field within the attached coil. A work piece is placed in the coil, inducing an alternating current, causing friction and heat in the workpiece. 

Induction heating is used very effectively in many processes like brazing, soldering and shrink fitting, from something as small as a hypodermic needle to a large wheel on a military tank. Many companies in the automotive industry, medical device industry and aeronautics make efficient use of induction heating in their processes. 

More about how it works:

Does Induction Heat Magnetic Materials?

If your work piece material is magnetic, such as carbon steel, it will be heated easily by induction’s two heating methods, eddy current and hysteretic heating. Hysteretic heating is very efficient up to the Curie temperature (for steel 600°C (°F)) when the magnetic permeability reduces to 1 and the eddy current is left to do the heating.

How Important Is Coupling Efficiency?

The relationship of the current flow in the work piece and the distance between the work piece and the induction coil is key; the closer the coil, the more current in the work piece.

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But the distance between the coil and the work piece must first be optimized for the heating required and for practical work piece handling. Many factors in the induction heating system can be adjusted to match to the coil and optimize the coupling efficiency.

Heat losses and uneven, inconsistent application of heat result in increased scrap and diminished product quality, driving up per-unit costs and consuming profits. Best manufacturing economies are seen when the application of energy is controlled.

To bring a batch oven up to temperature and to hold the entire chamber at the required temperature for the process time demands much more energy than is required to process the parts. Flame-driven processes are inherently inefficient, losing heat to the surroundings. Electrical resistance heating can also result in the wasteful heating of surrounding materials. Applying only the energy needed to process your parts is ideal.

Induction selectively focuses energy only on the area of the part that you want to heat. Each part in a process enjoys the same efficient application of energy. Since the energy is transferred directly from the coil to a part, there is no intervening media like flame or air to skew the process.

The precision and repeatability of induction heating help to reduce process scrap rate and to improve throughput. The selective application of heat to the targeted area of a part enables very tight control of the heating process, also cutting the heating time and limiting energy requirements.

Read: Induction Heating is a Green Technology

Delivering the highest quality parts for the least expense in the least time is accomplished with an efficient process, in which the input elements of materials and energy are tightly and precisely controlled. Induction heating’s targeted application of heat to the part or an area of the part, as well as repeatability, provides the most uniform results for the least cost. Repeatability and throughput are two things that can be greatly improved with induction compared to resistance or flame heating.

Induction heating delivers savings primarily from significant reductions in process scrap rates, improved throughput and from the thrifty use of energy. There is no need for process ramp-up; heat is applied and stopped instantly. In comparison, batch heating in an oven requires an investment of time and energy that serves only the process, not the product. Throughput and efficiency are increased by induction heating with the careful application of energy (heat) in amounts no more than required by the product.

Any heating process carries a risk of operator contact with the heated materials. A technology like induction heating that limits the extent of operator-contacted surfaces does reduce the overall risk. If heating can be limited to only the part and further limited to a zone of the part, safety is improved even more.

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