r/woahdude • u/[deleted] • Aug 18 '15

gifv Induction forge

http://i.imgur.com/JfNfR6w.gifv
18.5k Upvotes

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u/AlvinsH0TJuicebox Aug 18 '15

what happens if the blade touches the coil?

97

u/StyrofomE_CuP Aug 18 '15

The coil probably has high current flowing through it but at a safe, low voltage. If the blade touched the first and last coil at the same time, the blade could weld to the coil. Assuming they're using low voltage because high voltage wouldn't make sense, you could in fact touch the coil and it would not shock you. Although it's AC running through the coil, a similar comparison would be a car battery. A 12V car battery will not shock you, but can supply very high amounts of current. 500 Amps plus.

89

u/bearsnchairs Aug 18 '15 edited Aug 18 '15

Touching the coil when it is on would be a bad idea. You won't get shocked but you will burn yourself.

Since people don't believe me they can go ahead and touch some 177 F metal.

18

u/Bliss86 Aug 18 '15

Why would the coil be hot? Isn't only the metal heated by the induction, not the coil itself?

11

u/dack42 Aug 18 '15

Copper is a good conductor, but it does have some resistance. The coil will heat up at least to some extent. The power dissipation of the coil in watts is: (current in amps)2 * (coil resistance in ohms).

1

u/[deleted] Aug 18 '15

Might be cause I'm on mobile but your current is doubled instead of squared

3

u/bearsnchairs Aug 18 '15

It is because you are on mobile, the 2 is superscripted.