Anodizing - part 6

Equipment improvements

I have been fairly satisfied with the metal structure holding the heating element, even though I did get an occasional splash of chemicals near its wirings, due to the sometime boiling nature and variable levels of the acids in the buckets. 

While this didn't affect the process, it did require me to do a lot more cleanup work as I moved the heater from bucket to bucket, trying not to cross contaminate them.

Wiring exposed to possible splashes.

Having some spare steel handy, I thought I’d turn this already ugly device, into a real monstrosity, but a watertight one.

I started by plugging all the holes, using steel plates for the big holes, and just welding rod for the small ones.

Plate getting welded over a hole

Bottom of the same plate also welded

Plugging the small hole 

Then, I welded on two side pieces.

Side piece held by C clamp, in the process of being welded.

And voila!

"As tight as the Titanic!"

The heating element has this really weird thread NPS (National Pipe Straight) 1” by 11.5 tpi.  I will try to procure such a tap, and completely leak proof the contraption, then life should be easier.

A second upgrade I really needed was to the watertight PID box. First, I had no fuse in it, and second, the box would heat up in protracted use.

I ordered a 120v fan, two plastic grills, and a resettable 240v 20a circuit breaker from jameco.com.

Safety at last!

The fan was the biggest one I found that would fit in the box, and clear the PID, with the lowest decibel rating (29 dBA). 

I cut an entry hole for the cold air, and an exit hole for the hot air.

Custom fitting is the norm of course. Here I am about to cut the fan hole.

Some tapping proved necessary

Outlet with foam filter removed to show the size of the actual hole

Were I to do it again, I would swap positions between the cool PID and the hot solid state relay, so that the air flow could envelop the relay. With the current setup the PID obstructs the flow from the fan.

As the cover closes, the PID swings right in front of the fan (not ideal).

I’ll monitor the temperature of the enclosure during future use to make sure it’s ok, but I expect it should be fine given the two huge holes I cut on the side, even though perhaps not as efficiently as it could have.

Lastly, I wired the circuit breaker, and called it a day.

Sooner or later I'll have throw both switches to test this circuit breaker!