Heat-Weakening Magnets

[AndrewKimmey]

Recently I magnetized my Gans Air, and it turns out the magnets are a liiiitle too strong. I mean it's still good, but I would definitely weaken them if I could, so here is what I've been thinking.

My magnets are 3/16 x 1/16 N42, and N42 grade NdFeB disk magnets have a maximum operating tempertaure of 80 C or 176 F. Now the ABS plastic that the Air is made out of reaches its glass transition point at 220 F and becomes malleable, which is bad because the plastic could deform.

So theoretically, I would be safe to submerge the pieces of plastic holding the magnets into 180-190 F water for like 5 seconds just to bring the magnets up to temp to begin slightly demagnetizing them, right? After all, the water would still be 20-40 degrees too cool to affect the plastic's integrity.

Thoughts?

 

[cuber314159]

While I cannot really say whether it would work or not as I dont know, I feel the need to say be careful, I once cleaned out my valk3 then used a hairdryer to the pieces and core, a centre cap fell off and I have not been able to get it back on since

 

[AndrewKimmey]

Yeah, I'm not set on doing this yet, I want to see what others think before I go off any try some random experiment like this.

 

[allanboss131]

Hmmm this is really cool! If it works please do a post about it!

 

[YouCubing]

water also tends to be not good for cubes, so i'd look out for that as well

 

[AndrewKimmey]

water also tends to be not good for cubes, so i'd look out for that as well

If I were to do it I would disassemble the cubies so that only the plastic that has the magnets glued on and nothing else would go in the water. I actually am planning on trying this in a 180 degree bath for 5-10 seconds and see how it goes, but I have like zero free time right now.

 

[Max Cruz]

I would be careful here. Although the plastic might not deform, you should utilize proper safety procedures when dealing with so much heat. Human skin can tolerate temperatures up to about 50 degrees Celcius, so you better not touch that bath.

 

[AndrewKimmey]

But of course My setup would be a pot of water with a properly calibrated thermometer in it, and very closely monitor the temperature so that as soon as the water reaches 180, i can grab pieces with tongs, and submerge them for a few seconds just to heat the magnets up to temp.

 

[AndrewKimmey]

It's official everyone.

It works!

My crazy idea turned out. Here's was my setup:

I was working with a Gan air, so I disassembled all of the cubies, and only worked with the bottom half of them where the magnets are glued. So all of the stalks and sticker pieces go away for now.

I got a small sauce pot (about 6 inches wide and 4-5 inches tall) and folded a paper towel in half and laid it on the bottom of the pot, then filled it mostly full with water. The paper towel is there so that the plastic can't come into direct contact with the bottom of the pot.

I put a properly calibrated thermometer into the pot, and let the water come up to 190 degrees Fahrenheit (87.77 C), and maintained it at that temperature. It's important to have your thermometer properly calibrated because the temperatures we are working with here are getting VERY close to the point where cube plastic becomes malleable, so you MUST take caution not to overheat the plastic.

Next, I got metal tongs that were attracted to the magnets, and put the tips of the tongs into the corner pieces and attached them to 2 magnets there. Then I fully submerged the plastic in 190 degree water for thirty seconds, then immediately dunked them into an ice cold water bath sitting right next to the pot. You need to remember that if any pressure gets exerted on the plastic during this stage, it IS possible your cubie piece could deform. It never happened to me, but that's not to say it can't happen. So when the pieces are in the hot water, make sure not to touch the sides or bottom of the pot, or anything for that matter until they have been dunked in the cold water. After the 30 second soak in the hot water, your magnets will be noticeably weaker. I have 3/16 x 1/16 N42 disk magnets in mine, and before they were strong enough to slightly deform the cube shape, and it was VERY clicky and was a slight strain on the fingers after awhile. Now I'd say it feels 25% - 50% weaker than they did before, and the cube is no longer deformed or clicks.

So to everyone whose magnetic cubes are too strong, if you don't like it, you can change it! Just be careful.

 

[greentgoatgal]

That is awesome!!

 

[AndrewKimmey]

Update: I noticed a few of my magnets came loose from the treatment, but they were easy enough to glue back in place.

 

[Aysha]

That is so cool! Thank you for sharing.

 

[AndrewKimmey]

You're welcome if anyone else ever does this, let me know how it works out for you.