Electronics > Beginners
Do inductors sing in old age?
NivagSwerdna:
I built a nixie clock a few years ago and I have noticed it has got quite loud... at first I thought it was the tubes singing and a multiplex effect but I am now pretty sure it is the inductor in the HV power supply.
The inductor is a 220uH CoilCraft job.
The clock has been on continously for around 2 years... do inductors wear out? Sing in old age?
BravoV:
Thermal cycle eventually will make something loose.
T3sl4co1l:
More often it's always singing, and either you never noticed it (too high frequency? Environment changed to make it more audible?), or the singing frequency changed.
Adhesives can conceivably fatigue loose but I wouldn't think this very common, unless it's been exposed to temperatures so hot that magic smoke could be smelled.
The frequency can change due to marginal compensation and aging of electrolytics or the like. Electrolytic capacitors are the component most prone to aging.
Shall I guess it's the usual shitty Nixie supply circuit, no protection or nothing?
Tim
Berni:
It could certainly be something getting loose due to thermal cycling.
Often a reason for switching supplies starting to make noises is the electrolytic caps gradually degrading in performance. This makes for more ripple on the rails and this ripple can cause ceramic capacitors to make audible noise trough the piezoelectric effect.
The trick i use for locating the noisy component is to press tweezers on components one by one until i find one where the sound changes when poked. This mostly works by the tweezers picking up the vibrations and vibrating along it to make the sound louder.
Benta:
Be happy that it sings! Most inductors just hum, and it's a major task to teach them the lyrics! :-DD
Sorry, couldn't resist...
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
Go to full version