has anyone used an induction heater tool

[alfaboy]

Hello
Just about to take apart the rear end of a rather rusty Porsche 928. Having experienced the joy of trying to free up bolts siezed into aluminium before I was wondering if anyone has tried one of the newer induction heating tools that are coming out of China like the one below? price of similar tools was £500 a few years ago but at £200 its worth it for the saved aggro if it works

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/220V-Magnetic-Induction...f:0

[Julian Thompson]

I must admit I use a Beta tools one all the time - seriously it’s one of the best tools in the workshop and replaces the oxy torch for 90% of the time.

I managed to get 11 out of 12 studs out of a 986 head recently without a scrap of bother and only snapped the last one because I was impatient. Would have had no way of achieving that without it. Also for stuff where there are combustibles close by its invaluable.

Seriously regardless of the price you’ll not regret it.

[eltax91]

I’ve seen a few of them in use in various YouTube videos doing car repairs. Always in the pro workshops. I didn’t realise they could be had for £200

If they dip below £150 I reckon I would go for one!

[rxe]

I have one - they are the tool of choice for removing stuff like exhaust shields held on by M5 bolts, and they’ve saved my bacon with manifold fittings. As above, if you want to make something yellow hot 10 cm from a fuel tank, induction is the only answer.

You my struggle with big bolts in ally - you really want to heat the ally, and the induction heater won’t touch it. I use a 5kW oxy torch for anything bigger than M8 in ally....

Beware cheap ones - I had series of cheapies off eBay (they all went back no problems), finally got an SP one that has been flawless.

[Julian Thompson]

Ive not had the same problems in alloy, and have successfully removed very large bolts - if the bolt is very gnarly and latge I tend to heat, apply candle wax and let it cool. Then I repeat. I have also found that using a high quality impact wrench (I think mine is a Dewalt one) combined with the induction heater makes an amazing combination.

[alfaboy]

Thanks all for the replies! I agree with both of you (Julian and RXE). I’d rather heat the surrounding ally but I don’t have a powerful enough torch (last time I resorted to sticking the whole part in the oven while SWMBO was out). I thought I might try a few cycles with an induction heater to expand/contract the bolts to break the corrosion and then use my impact wrench ( I have an electric one) I’ll place an order and report back once I’ve used it.

[alfaboy]

Just to round this off it finally arrived (brand name woyo) and worked brilliantly-twice. Third time it went bang when I plugged it in and stopped working altogether.
Seller offered to replace it straight away and still debating whether to accept or just ask for my money back.