anyone using the Annie annealer, what are your thoughts

[ctso030]

im looking for an annealer and thinking about the Annie. im open to any other suggestions or input

 

[onlyhedge]

I only know of one person that has it working. A lot of work had to be done to the Giraud to get it there.

 

[ctso030]

how did the Annie work

 

[spife7980]

Only one person has it working?
I've gotten pretty excited about it and just being able to do it by hand. Sure it will require my active participation but it seems like it would be quieter than torches while I'm watching tv and I could make a little block to set it in for consistent height. Set the time and press my foot every 3 seconds. No big hopper to leave running while I'm away but I'll be sitting in front of a tv anyways so...

 

[ctso030]

tag

 

[kansas]

I bought one of the early ones. I liked the idea of not having to adjust a torch, or two, and the small footprint but I had trouble with it getting too hot and kicking out my electrical breaker. I could only anneal 20-30 pieces of brass before the coil got too hot and I'd have to stop for awhile. Finally it quit working and I called them and sent it in. They upgraded the electronics and now i can anneal 100 plus pieces of brass without the coil getting hot. I like that it's fast, small footprint and repeatable. Takes 2.8 seconds to anneal a piece of Lapua.260 brass and don't bother with the foot pedal. They've really improved it from when I first got it. Great service too.

 

[ZenBiker990]

First off, I have /Giraud setup.the Annie has been through major upgrades in the last two years that have significantly improved performance, including internal water cooling, as mentioned bu Kansas above. Garret Churchill, the principal of Fluxeon, was making the Annies himself until demand forced him to expand and hire worker bees to assemble these units, and there were-growing pains, to say the least. These have pretty well been ironed out. Speaking with Garret today, he assures me that Giraud and Fluxeon are not parting company. The issue here is that very few people have the Giraud/Induction annealing system; its complex and expensive, so you aren't going to get a lot of responses about people using it. Having done it both ways I can say this: First, the Giraud annealer is an excellent piece if equipment, but to me has one issue: the torch head delivered with mine was too large, a combination point and rosette, and it caused the trolley and faceplate of the annealer to get excessively hot. If I hadn't gone to the Annie, I would have changed out the torch to a smaller tip for longer tank life, more precise heat application, and overall cooler operation. Going to the Annie is really the bomb - superfast annealing, so fast you can hold a 223 case in your fingers and not burn them, and the annealer doesn't get hot. I feel like I can set it with a tray of cases and go do something else. You need to change out some of the Annealer parts to work with the Annie, trigger the coil automaticlly, install non-conductive trolley shelves that don't heat up with the coil, but if you are going to take the leap to the Giraud, it's worth it. Seriously, when you start having to anneal enough brass that an electric drill and propane torch are taking too long, get an annealer, OR- have our friend with the sticky at the beginning og the thread do them for you at pennies a case, annealed, cleaned, deprimed, and ready to load in a few days - not a bad option either. The Giraud/Annie setup takes some attention to get running right and represents the pinnacle of home brass annealing, and as a lifelong reloader, I wouldn't recommend it to the average reloader for economic reasons.

 

[ZenBiker990]

I only know of one person that has it working. A lot of work had to be done to the Giraud to get it there.

You have to buy a retrofit kit from Giraud to use the Annie...basicallya parts swap.

 

[flynbye]

im looking for an annealer and thinking about the Annie. im open to any other suggestions or input

I have one it works very well. About a month ago my stoped working found out they had a bad supply of a parts sent it back and about a week later it was back kicking ass. I built my setup useing CPU cooling parts and some fittings from Lowes. I can hear 100 case and that coil is cool to the touch

 

[ZenBiker990]

Kansas' setup is a perfect example of both how induction annealing effective but not just a "plug'n'play' solution, at least for continuous use. The Annie is the smallest coil in Fluxeon's lineup and indended for intermittent, manual, footswitch activated use. Continual cycling as with a Giraud begins to challenge the Annie's duty cycle, just as with any other electrical induction device (ie, stick/MIG/TIG welder). To Fluxeon's credit, they have taken steps to improve the duty cycle of Annies instead of just saying "oh, you need to buy a bigger unit." BTW, in my experience, Fluxeon's customer service has been excellent. If you were going to go this route (Giraud/Annie), get the Giraud first, change the torch to a pencil flame, and get used to using the unit that way. It's really cool. In the off season, get your Annie from Fluxeon and tell them you're going to use it with a Giraud. You also need to cal Giraud and get the retrofit kit. Sit down with the Annie and learn how to use it manually to see how it functions. When you're comfortable there, retrofit the Giraud, add Annie, and now you're annealing. BTW, I just got a batch of 300 WM ammo that had not been annealed. I pulled down a box of cartridges and was able to anneal the necks and shoulders without removing the primers (do this at your own risk, nobody recommends this). The body of the brass never got more than slightly warm to touch; that's the beauty of inductive annealing: it doesn't overheat areas of the case that don't need heat.

 

[D46Infinity]

If you were looking for an induction annealer, I would consider the Annealing Made Perfect Induction annealer.

It uses Bushings for each difference case caliber. The company lab tests different manufactures of brass and gives you a setting to use on the machine. Also if you send them your brass they will test it and give you the correct setting to use.

I have a bench source and will probably get an AMP machine once funds allow. If you are interested in one let me know via pm.

 

[ZenBiker990]

Here is the issue I experienced with my Giraud andbthe supplied propane torch head. The picture shows the torch head suppliesnwith the Giraud on the left. On the right is a standard propane torch head sourced from Lowe's. Both are the same distance from the camera. The torch head I recieved was larger than needed and ended up heating up the annealer trolley very hot, esp. w/.223 cases. If I hadn't fone to the Annie, I would have swapped heads.

 

[onlyhedge]

Kansas' setup is a perfect example of both how induction annealing effective but not just a "plug'n'play' solution, at least for continuous use. The Annie is the smallest coil in Fluxeon's lineup and indended for intermittent, manual, footswitch activated use. Continual cycling as with a Giraud begins to challenge the Annie's duty cycle, just as with any other electrical induction device (ie, stick/MIG/TIG welder). To Fluxeon's credit, they have taken steps to improve the duty cycle of Annies instead of just saying "oh, you need to buy a bigger unit." BTW, in my experience, Fluxeon's customer service has been excellent. If you were going to go this route (Giraud/Annie), get the Giraud first, change the torch to a pencil flame, and get used to using the unit that way. It's really cool. In the off season, get your Annie from Fluxeon and tell them you're going to use it with a Giraud. You also need to cal Giraud and get the retrofit kit. Sit down with the Annie and learn how to use it manually to see how it functions. When you're comfortable there, retrofit the Giraud, add Annie, and now you're annealing. BTW, I just got a batch of 300 WM ammo that had not been annealed. I pulled down a box of cartridges and was able to anneal the necks and shoulders without removing the primers (do this at your own risk, nobody recommends this). The body of the brass never got more than slightly warm to touch; that's the beauty of inductive annealing: it doesn't overheat areas of the case that don't need heat.

I was just on Fluxeon's website. I don't see a larger unit or any other unit besides the Annie. Am I missing something here?

 

[onlyhedge]

You have to buy a retrofit kit from Giraud to use the Annie...basicallya parts swap.

Have you actually used the retrofit kit from Doug? If so, did it work as desired? Anyone have an Annie and Giraud working for longer than six months w/o issue?

 

[Okanogan]

I have had the Annie for a little more than a year now. I like it and have had no issues in using it for a little less than 1,000 cases (300WM, 338 Edge, 308). I have the footswitch and don't use it as it is just as easy and quick to use the push button on the unit. I do not have the water cooled coils and have had no issues. It is fast enough that I do not feel the need to automate it when doing a couple hundred cases. I do not use a jig for consistency in placing the cases. I usually just stack something under the unit to get it to the proper height and hold the cases in place using my fingers with the case on the reloading bench surface. ( I have to hold the case because the flux impulse from activating the unit tends to knock the case over if it is left completely unsupported.) The Annie met my expectations of having a compact unit without flame that I could use on the bench top with ease.
When I ordered the unit, I experienced some extended delays in getting it vs the original claimed delivery time but the company was good about responding to my inquires and of course I eventually got the unit.

 

[elfster1234]

IMO from what i've been reading.. if you want to go the induction route, and don't want to f#ck around with the purchase / plug and play set up, then the Annealing Made Perfect Induction annealer is really the only way to go... but then again i've never used one.. this is only from my own research reading online... i actually ended up making my own annealer for about $100 which works great, and only takes about a minute to set up the torch to get it running correctly with "test brass" i keep around for setting the torch / speed control... once the torch and speed control is set up, it takes approx 5 seconds per anneal x 100 pcs of brass = about 9 minutes for 100 pcs of brass... i reload in increments of 50 or 100 pcs so having a single feed is not an issue for me... and once you get a method to your madness down for setting up the torch and speed control with the "test brass" as in the videos below = super easy to use & cheap method to getting consistent annealing if your $$$ is tight.. hope this helps my friends! keep on kicking a$$ !!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0xE-6bSwME

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3d_8vDFLP9c

 

[kansas]

The Annie is very easy to set up and once you figure out how long to anneal then then that time remains consistent from one batch of brass to another.
The AMP sounds great but over double the cost. And I'm not sure just how it works for different brands of brass. I shoot Lapua brass however I once tried same caliber different brand of brass and it was glowing red with the same time setting as the Lapua so I wonder how the AMP sets the time.