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Heating in 4-1/2 turn inductor

A

amdx

Jan 1, 1970
0
Several years ago while making inductors for tuning a class E amplifier we
end up with a 4-1/2 turn inductor. The inductor used a 3F3 potcore, gapped I
think,
but it has been awhile. The inductor was driven hard but below saturation.
The problem; the 1/2 turn got HOT. Four turns or five turns were ok.
My physicist friend had an EE verify the problem 2000 miles away.

So, can anyone tell me why 1/2 turn would make such a difference in the
heating?

Thanks, MikeK
 
A

amdx

Jan 1, 1970
0
amdx said:
Several years ago while making inductors for tuning a class E amplifier we
end up with a 4-1/2 turn inductor. The inductor used a 3F3 potcore, gapped
I think,
but it has been awhile. The inductor was driven hard but below saturation.
The problem; the 1/2 turn got HOT. Four turns or five turns were ok.
My physicist friend had an EE verify the problem 2000 miles away.

So, can anyone tell me why 1/2 turn would make such a difference in the
heating?

Thanks, MikeK
 
J

Jeff Johnson

Jan 1, 1970
0
amdx said:
Several years ago while making inductors for tuning a class E amplifier we
end up with a 4-1/2 turn inductor. The inductor used a 3F3 potcore, gapped
I think,
but it has been awhile. The inductor was driven hard but below saturation.
The problem; the 1/2 turn got HOT. Four turns or five turns were ok.
My physicist friend had an EE verify the problem 2000 miles away.

So, can anyone tell me why 1/2 turn would make such a difference in the
heating?

Thanks, MikeK


Resonance? (I assume by 1/2 you mean the 4.5 inductor?)
 
A

amdx

Jan 1, 1970
0
Jeff Johnson said:
Resonance? (I assume by 1/2 you mean the 4.5 inductor?)
Yes, a 4 and 1/2 turn inductor had the 1/2 turn overheat.
 
J

Jeff Johnson

Jan 1, 1970
0
amdx said:
Yes, a 4 and 1/2 turn inductor had the 1/2 turn overheat.

huh?

The half turn and the other turns were ok? This is impossible!?!?! One has
the same current through the whole coil and if the wire was uniform then it
should heat heally well. Not only that copper is a good heat conductor so if
the 1/2 turn was heating up then he heat should spread pretty quickly.

This assumes everything else is uniform along the coil. Something has to be
going on that your not telling us? Ideally the heat should be uniformly
distributed along the coil.

By "HOT" I assume you mean much much hotter than the other coils?

Heat is generated by the current, is it not? and the current should be
uniform throughout the wire? The resistance of the wire itself should also
be uniform. This suggests that the heat dissipated per unit length is
independent of position.

Were both ends hot? If not then something else is going on. Because you are
saying the .5 end of a 4.5 coil got HOT. Yet which end? the 4.5 coil has two
..5 ends and should in theory be symmetric and hence both get equally HOT. If
they wern't then something is aloof.
 
S

Spehro Pefhany

Jan 1, 1970
0
Several years ago while making inductors for tuning a class E amplifier we
end up with a 4-1/2 turn inductor. The inductor used a 3F3 potcore, gapped I
think,
but it has been awhile. The inductor was driven hard but below saturation.
The problem; the 1/2 turn got HOT. Four turns or five turns were ok.
My physicist friend had an EE verify the problem 2000 miles away.

So, can anyone tell me why 1/2 turn would make such a difference in the
heating?

Thanks, MikeK

I think it's forcing a substantial portion of the flux to pass through
half of the core and thus increasing the core losses.

There's a half turn technique used in transformer design that ends up
with two half turns in parallel IIRC. Maybe you could use that.
 
A

amdx

Jan 1, 1970
0
Jeff Johnson said:
huh?

The half turn and the other turns were ok? This is impossible!?!?!

Not impossible, there's more than one heating mechanism, not that I can
explain them,
but I know there can be heating in the fringe field of the gap.
One has the same current through the whole coil and if the wire was uniform
then it should heat heally well. Not only that copper is a good heat
conductor so if the 1/2 turn was heating up then he heat should spread
pretty quickly.

This assumes everything else is uniform along the coil. Something has to
be going on that your not telling us? Ideally the heat should be uniformly
distributed along the coil.

By "HOT" I assume you mean much much hotter than the other coils?

Hot enough to burn the insulators used.
Heat is generated by the current, is it not? and the current should be
uniform throughout the wire? The resistance of the wire itself should also
be uniform. This suggests that the heat dissipated per unit length is
independent of position.

Flux my not have been uniform through.
Were both ends hot? If not then something else is going on. Because you
are saying the .5 end of a 4.5 coil got HOT. Yet which end? the 4.5 coil
has two .5 ends and should in theory be symmetric and hence both get
equally HOT. If they wern't then something is aloof.
LOLROTF, ya both ends would be a 1/2 turn??? I'm speechless
and don't know what to say. :) Don't confuse me with such things!
MikeK
 
A

amdx

Jan 1, 1970
0
amdx said:
Not impossible, there's more than one heating mechanism, not that I can
explain them,
but I know there can be heating in the fringe field of the gap.


Hot enough to burn the insulators used.

Flux my not have been uniform through.
LOLROTF, ya both ends would be a 1/2 turn??? I'm speechless
and don't know what to say. :) Don't confuse me with such things!
MikeK
BTW we were use the inductor at about 660 khz.
Mike
 
A

amdx

Jan 1, 1970
0
Jeff Johnson said:
huh?

The half turn and the other turns were ok? This is impossible!?!?! One
has the same current through the whole coil and if the wire was uniform
then it should heat heally well. Not only that copper is a good heat
conductor so if the 1/2 turn was heating up then he heat should spread
pretty quickly.

This assumes everything else is uniform along the coil. Something has to
be going on that your not telling us? Ideally the heat should be uniformly
distributed along the coil.

By "HOT" I assume you mean much much hotter than the other coils?

Heat is generated by the current, is it not? and the current should be
uniform throughout the wire? The resistance of the wire itself should also
be uniform. This suggests that the heat dissipated per unit length is
independent of position.

Were both ends hot? If not then something else is going on. Because you
are saying the .5 end of a 4.5 coil got HOT. Yet which end? the 4.5 coil
has two .5 ends and should in theory be symmetric and hence both get
equally HOT. If they wern't then something is aloof.
I got some confirmation from my collaborator, The 1/2 turn as were
describing it
was the LAST 1/2 turn wound on the bobbin.
MikeK
 
A

amdx

Jan 1, 1970
0
brian whatcott said:
This kind of odd-ball result can be caused by "parasitics" - in other
words, a high overtone excited by just the right length of inductor
paired with just the right stray capacitance, and energized by something
that can hit the high notes....

Brian W

Maybe, but we had it confirmed by someone else and I doubt very much
they developed the circuit we were using to do the test. We used it to
cancel
out the capacitance of a piezo transducer. Driving about 250 watts into a
20 ohm load, at about 600 khz.
MikeK
 
T

Tim Williams

Jan 1, 1970
0
amdx said:
I got some confirmation from my collaborator, The 1/2 turn as were
describing it
was the LAST 1/2 turn wound on the bobbin.

It doesn't happen to be nicked, forming a shorted turn perhaps?

Tim
 
J

Jeff Johnson

Jan 1, 1970
0
amdx said:
I got some confirmation from my collaborator, The 1/2 turn as were
describing it
was the LAST 1/2 turn wound on the bobbin.
MikeK

What you describing is,

L1 V L2
V1--/\/\--+--/--0

on the same core?

L2, the 1/2 turn part of the coil is behaving wildly different than expect?

After all, ideally L2 has resistance in direct proportion to the total
winding which in this case 0.5*/4.5 ~ 11% of the total resistance of the
coil.

In a single coil the power dissipation of the 1/2 turn would also be ~ 11%
and this is quite easy to see. You are saying that it is much more than this
as if the ratio's were turned up side down. Something like the 1/2 part
dissipating 90% and the 4 turns part dissipating 10%?

if you agree with the layout of

L1 V L2
V1--/\/\--+--/--0

Then it is easy to see that in ideal circumstances the current through L1
should equal that of L2 and the I^2R heating would produce the results I
described first.

Instead of assuming the two inductors are on the same core we can assume
they are on different cores. This will help us understand if differences in
flux could cause such problems.

You mentioned in another post that you were using AC to drive the coil? Did
the effect happen with DC?

Did you measure the voltage on the 1/2 turn?

Was the core itself generating the heat or was it due to the 1/2 turn?

What was the total current through the coil?

Was it possible the coil could have been shorting out on another turn or the
core?

Was it really 1/2 a turn getting hot or "just the end of it"?

Was the coil tested by itself outside the circuit? If so did it exhibit the
same phenomena?

What was the end of the coil that generated the heat connected to? Was the
connection itself possible cause for the heat?

Was the coil reversed in the circuit? If so did it exhibit the same problem
with the ends switched?

You mentioned that you tried 4 turns and 5 turns and the problem went away.
Did it go away completely or partially? Was those two coils made exactly the
same way and connected the same or were they in any way different besides
just the turn difference?

Was the coil one continuous piece? the 1/2 turn was not spliced on?

Did you try a 5.5 and/or 6 turn coil?

Did the 1/2 turn end get hot very quick or did it take a while? Basically
seconds or minutes?

Did you try to change the direction of the core relative to the coil? If so
did it make any difference?

Is there any possible way the core itself could have been generating the
heat at the 1/2 turn and the effect you experienced was just the core
heating up that 1/2 first?

Did you allow the inductor to run a long time? If so, What was the effect
still? Was the whole coil hot or still just the 1/2 turn?

Hopefully you can answer some of these questions. It sounds to me like you
didn't do much troubleshooting so I expect most of them can't be answered so
the true reason probably will not be known.
 
A

amdx

Jan 1, 1970
0
Jeff Johnson said:
What you describing is,

L1 V L2
V1--/\/\--+--/--0

on the same core?

L2, the 1/2 turn part of the coil is behaving wildly different than
expect?

After all, ideally L2 has resistance in direct proportion to the total
winding which in this case 0.5*/4.5 ~ 11% of the total resistance of the
coil.

In a single coil the power dissipation of the 1/2 turn would also be ~ 11%
and this is quite easy to see. You are saying that it is much more than
this as if the ratio's were turned up side down. Something like the 1/2
part dissipating 90% and the 4 turns part dissipating 10%?

if you agree with the layout of

L1 V L2
V1--/\/\--+--/--0

Then it is easy to see that in ideal circumstances the current through L1
should equal that of L2 and the I^2R heating would produce the results I
described first.

Instead of assuming the two inductors are on the same core we can assume
they are on different cores. This will help us understand if differences
in flux could cause such problems.

You mentioned in another post that you were using AC to drive the coil?
Did the effect happen with DC?
Never tried it with dc.
Did you measure the voltage on the 1/2 turn?
No.

Was the core itself generating the heat or was it due to the 1/2 turn?
It's been ten years, all I recall is the insulation on the last 1/2 turn
of the coil
got charred.
What was the total current through the coil?

I think about a litle over 2 amps at 600khz.
Was it possible the coil could have been shorting out on another turn or
the core?
No

Was it really 1/2 a turn getting hot or "just the end of it"?
It was the 1/2 turn.
Was the coil tested by itself outside the circuit? If so did it exhibit
the same phenomena?
Not by us, but someone else confirmed our observation.
What was the end of the coil that generated the heat connected to? Was the
connection itself possible cause for the heat?
Naw.

Was the coil reversed in the circuit? If so did it exhibit the same
problem with the ends switched?
No

You mentioned that you tried 4 turns and 5 turns and the problem went
away. Did it go away completely or partially? Was those two coils made
exactly the same way and connected the same or were they in any way
different besides just the turn difference?
We shipped the product, as far as I know the didn't it back for replacement
smoke.
Was the coil one continuous piece? the 1/2 turn was not spliced on?
One continuous piece.
Did you try a 5.5 and/or 6 turn coil? No


Did the 1/2 turn end get hot very quick or did it take a while? Basically
seconds or minutes?
Minutes.

Did you try to change the direction of the core relative to the coil? If
so did it make any difference?
No

Is there any possible way the core itself could have been generating the
heat at the 1/2 turn and the effect you experienced was just the core
heating up that 1/2 first?
I don't think so.
Did you allow the inductor to run a long time? If so, What was the effect
still? Was the whole coil hot or still just the 1/2 turn?
The whole think would have got hot, we were pushing limits.
Hopefully you can answer some of these questions. It sounds to me like you
didn't do much troubleshooting so I expect most of them can't be answered
so the true reason probably will not be known.
Probably, won't know the answer, once we learned the 1/2 turn overheated we
didn't do it again.
But it stuck as a curiosity. I had one of the overheated 4-1/2 turn bobbins
hanging on a cord over my
bench for years. It's been ten years but my old bench is still the same,
next time I stop in I'll see if it
the bobbins is still hanging.

MikeK
 
J

John Smith

Jan 1, 1970
0
verified more than once.

There isn't a cold solder joint at the heating end of the coil? This
would result in localized heating to one end of the coil ... strange is
all I can say.

Regards,
JS
 
J

John Smith

Jan 1, 1970
0
There isn't a cold solder joint at the heating end of the coil? This
would result in localized heating to one end of the coil ... strange is
all I can say.

Regards,
JS

Never mind, the confirmation you mention, done by another, was obviously
done on another coil ... duh, should have read all the posts before
commenting ...

Regards,
JS
 
J

Jeff Johnson

Jan 1, 1970
0
amdx said:
Never tried it with dc.

It's been ten years, all I recall is the insulation on the last 1/2 turn
of the coil
got charred.


I think about a litle over 2 amps at 600khz.

It was the 1/2 turn.

Not by us, but someone else confirmed our observation.

We shipped the product, as far as I know the didn't it back for
replacement smoke.

One continuous piece.

I don't think so.

The whole think would have got hot, we were pushing limits.

Probably, won't know the answer, once we learned the 1/2 turn overheated
we didn't do it again.
But it stuck as a curiosity. I had one of the overheated 4-1/2 turn
bobbins hanging on a cord over my
bench for years. It's been ten years but my old bench is still the same,
next time I stop in I'll see if it
the bobbins is still hanging.


I don't know what to say. Just not enough information. If your looking from
some exotic possibility I don't think you'll find one.

The reason is that the current through the wire will almost be surely the
same through out all points along the wire. That precisely means that the
heat generated per unit length will be the same. Even if you have some crazy
resonance or core flux/transformer effect going on, that current in the wire
has to be the same through the whole wire(assuming no shorts).

You can't have electrons bunch up on part of the wire and not on any other
part. Even if you could, that bunch would have to flow through the wire from
one part to another and on average it would heat it up uniformly.

The reason is simple, We all know that for a power supply when one electron
is supplied on the wire one electron leaves it so there really is no way to
"bunch" it up.

Now, if the wire is not uniform in size or resistance then the heating
effect is not uniform. As smith mentioned about the joint connecting the
coil. In this case it is possible that the joint could be heating up and it
was being passed along to the 1/2 turn and it just happens that you didn't
let it run long enough to heat up any more turns.

The 1/2 turn was really a point at the joint and the heat just spread about
about 1/2 turn.

To me this is the most plausable case. I'm not sure if it's physically
possible any other way that involves the coil itself generating generating
the heat. (I gave a good reason about about electron flow being uniform in
the wire)

It may be possible using some type of standing wave or transformer like
effect but even here I can't see it possible if the wire's restance per unit
length is constant.
 
T

Tim Williams

Jan 1, 1970
0
The reason is that the current through the wire will almost be surely
the same through out all points along the wire.

Well, no:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proximity_effect_(electromagnetism)

the current density varies strongly, especially if the wire is thick
(curiously, it was never stated what size wire is in question, nor what
type; 600kHz suggests fine stranded litz!).

Wire near the gap (which is usually placed in the center, right underneath
the winding) experiences fringing fields, which dramatically increases
losses.
That precisely means that the heat generated per unit length will be the
same.

Eddy currents in the center of the coil are much stronger than at the
ends, so the center of a solenoid heats up much more strongly.

The uncooled coil in this video demonstrates proximity effect:
See the connections are clean and coppery, but the coil has seen better
days. You can't really tell if the center turns are hotter; they probably
are by a little bit.


Of course Kirchoff is harder to fool, obviously the total current flowing
along the wire is the current flowing along the wire period. Unless
there's a short, which supposedly was inspected as to have none.


None of these are an "end" effect. The only possible explanation is a
short, or else, "look harder". It's plainly obvious that the cause is NOT
"an additional half turn". It is only a coincidence that this symptom
showed up between turns 4 and 5.

Tim
 
A

amdx

Jan 1, 1970
0
Jeff Johnson said:
I don't know what to say. Just not enough information. If your looking
from some exotic possibility I don't think you'll find one.

The reason is that the current through the wire will almost be surely the
same through out all points along the wire. That precisely means that the
heat generated per unit length will be the same. Even if you have some
crazy resonance or core flux/transformer effect going on, that current in
the wire has to be the same through the whole wire(assuming no shorts).

You can't have electrons bunch up on part of the wire and not on any other
part. Even if you could, that bunch would have to flow through the wire
from one part to another and on average it would heat it up uniformly.

The reason is simple, We all know that for a power supply when one
electron is supplied on the wire one electron leaves it so there really is
no way to "bunch" it up.

Now, if the wire is not uniform in size or resistance then the heating
effect is not uniform. As smith mentioned about the joint connecting the
coil. In this case it is possible that the joint could be heating up and
it was being passed along to the 1/2 turn and it just happens that you
didn't let it run long enough to heat up any more turns.

The 1/2 turn was really a point at the joint and the heat just spread
about about 1/2 turn.

To me this is the most plausable case. I'm not sure if it's physically
possible any other way that involves the coil itself generating generating
the heat. (I gave a good reason about about electron flow being uniform in
the wire)

It may be possible using some type of standing wave or transformer like
effect but even here I can't see it possible if the wire's restance per
unit length is constant.
I'm sure it was not a bad connection.
I know all about heat caused by I^2 x R at connections.
In fact just yesterday I was checking for bad connections on my electric
gokart and I burned my finger! I found a loose connection between a
5/16" post and a ring terminal connected to a 6 gauge wire.
It was some oddity about the 1/2 turn in a potcore. I suspect the low
turns count is also important to the phenomena.
I thought I'd ask and see if anybody else ever had the problem.
Closest I got was when John Larkin said,
"I've seen it do strange stuff, too."
John, would you care to elaborate?
MikeK
 
A

amdx

Jan 1, 1970
0
Tim Williams said:
Well, no:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proximity_effect_(electromagnetism)

the current density varies strongly, especially if the wire is thick
(curiously, it was never stated what size wire is in question, nor what
type; 600kHz suggests fine stranded litz!).

Again it has been 10 years, but I think the coil in question had something
like 4-24 gauge wires in parallel, maybe 28 gauge.
Wire near the gap (which is usually placed in the center, right underneath
the winding) experiences fringing fields, which dramatically increases
losses.
Yes, we learned to space our wire away from the gap, after finding burned
wire and melted bobbins in the center where the gap was.
Eddy currents in the center of the coil are much stronger than at the
ends, so the center of a solenoid heats up much more strongly.

The uncooled coil in this video demonstrates proximity effect:
See the connections are clean and coppery, but the coil has seen better
days. You can't really tell if the center turns are hotter; they probably
are by a little bit.


Of course Kirchoff is harder to fool, obviously the total current flowing
along the wire is the current flowing along the wire period. Unless
there's a short, which supposedly was inspected as to have none.


None of these are an "end" effect. The only possible explanation is a
short, or else, "look harder". It's plainly obvious that the cause is NOT
"an additional half turn". It is only a coincidence that this symptom
showed up between turns 4 and 5.

Tim
And some people don't believe in DDWFTTW! :)
But thanks, MikeK
 
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