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Magnetic Coil — Parallax Forums

Magnetic Coil

ArchiverArchiver Posts: 46,084
edited 2003-12-10 04:34 in General Discussion
I am working on a project that involves turning on a magnetic coil
for brief periods (about 1 second, every 1 minute). The coil should
draw 2-4A at 6V. Can anyone recommend a common transistor that
would enable me to control this device with the BS2? It would also
help to know what other components need to be built into the circuit
to prevent damage to the stamp. I am a beginner as BS users go.
Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Jack Miller

Comments

  • ArchiverArchiver Posts: 46,084
    edited 2003-12-09 19:31
    Treat the coil as if it were a relay - there are several posts in this
    newsgroup about driving relays.

    Is the 2-4A a varying load?, or are you not sure what the actual demand
    from the coil is? If so, use Ohms law (I = V/R) where R is the coil
    resistance and V = 6V to determine the current.

    Select your transistor based on your current requirement X2 as a good
    rule of thumb. Don't forget a diode in reverse bias across your coil
    or transistor (E-C junction) to protect against back EMF from the coil.

    >I am working on a project that involves turning on a magnetic coil
    >for brief periods (about 1 second, every 1 minute). The coil should
    >draw 2-4A at 6V. Can anyone recommend a common transistor that
    >would enable me to control this device with the BS2? It would also
    >help to know what other components need to be built into the circuit
    >to prevent damage to the stamp. I am a beginner as BS users go.
    >Any help would be appreciated.
    >
    >Thanks,
    >
    >Jack Miller
  • ArchiverArchiver Posts: 46,084
    edited 2003-12-09 19:58
    First of all what is the inductance? If it has a air core (air core
    coils normally have a low inductance), you can not treated as a relay.
    You can not turn a coil with DC, you have to drive the coil with a
    very short duty cycle or some sort of alternating voltage not
    necessarily a sinewave but a square wave.
  • ArchiverArchiver Posts: 46,084
    edited 2003-12-09 20:03
    Darlington driver ULN2803, with built in suppression diodes, driving a
    relay.

    Dennis

    Original Message
    From: jlmillerncsu [noparse]/noparse]mailto:[url=http://forums.parallaxinc.com/group/basicstamps/post?postID=RNkJusTe0Ix43axdEdpZ0AwgK1vQNkPtCbKNTUFaGylmQbYV_6VQgrDdCvmkU9Ch1CNjSGRnAg]jmiller@n...[/url
    Sent: Tuesday, December 09, 2003 10:33 AM
    To: basicstamps@yahoogroups.com
    Subject: [noparse][[/noparse]basicstamps] Magnetic Coil


    I am working on a project that involves turning on a magnetic coil
    for brief periods (about 1 second, every 1 minute). The coil should
    draw 2-4A at 6V. Can anyone recommend a common transistor that
    would enable me to control this device with the BS2? It would also
    help to know what other components need to be built into the circuit
    to prevent damage to the stamp. I am a beginner as BS users go.
    Any help would be appreciated.

    Thanks,

    Jack Miller



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  • ArchiverArchiver Posts: 46,084
    edited 2003-12-09 20:57
    check out this web site for schematics to do this kind of switching with a
    stamp.
    http://www.geocities.com/jimforkin2003/
    jim

    Original Message
    From: Beau Schwabe [noparse]/noparse]mailto:[url=http://forums.parallaxinc.com/group/basicstamps/post?postID=RP-Hd-0jnAy0H8i9m3B4blO3809xkJuR3q5hTjY5geqrCM_uBSD6X15fghUjFm49otFk-lpyYOcHfl61BhYgQre6]bschwabe@a...[/url
    Sent: Tuesday, December 09, 2003 2:32 PM
    To: basicstamps@yahoogroups.com
    Subject: Re: [noparse][[/noparse]basicstamps] Magnetic Coil


    Treat the coil as if it were a relay - there are several posts in this
    newsgroup about driving relays.

    Is the 2-4A a varying load?, or are you not sure what the actual demand
    from the coil is? If so, use Ohms law (I = V/R) where R is the coil
    resistance and V = 6V to determine the current.

    Select your transistor based on your current requirement X2 as a good
    rule of thumb. Don't forget a diode in reverse bias across your coil
    or transistor (E-C junction) to protect against back EMF from the coil.

    >I am working on a project that involves turning on a magnetic coil
    >for brief periods (about 1 second, every 1 minute). The coil should
    >draw 2-4A at 6V. Can anyone recommend a common transistor that
    >would enable me to control this device with the BS2? It would also
    >help to know what other components need to be built into the circuit
    >to prevent damage to the stamp. I am a beginner as BS users go.
    >Any help would be appreciated.
    >
    >Thanks,
    >
    >Jack Miller



    To UNSUBSCRIBE, just send mail to:
    basicstamps-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
    from the same email address that you subscribed. Text in the Subject and
    Body of the message will be ignored.


    Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
  • ArchiverArchiver Posts: 46,084
    edited 2003-12-09 23:32
    Beau,

    Thanks for the reply. The load does not vary; I just have not
    finalized the design of the coil. For the application, I need a
    holding force of about 2 oz. My initial crude experiment used 24 ga
    mag wire around a nail and had about the right degree of grab. The
    problem was that this configuration had a resistance of about .4
    ohm. I am planning to rework device using more turns and 30 ga
    wire. I had estimated that I could get the current draw down to the
    2 - 4A range and still maintain the holding force. I am also
    looking for a source for a standard core of about 1/16 inch if
    anyone knows of such a beast (so that I can abandon the nail
    approach).

    Jack

    --- In basicstamps@yahoogroups.com, "Beau Schwabe" <bschwabe@a...>
    wrote:
    > Treat the coil as if it were a relay - there are several posts in
    this
    > newsgroup about driving relays.
    >
    > Is the 2-4A a varying load?, or are you not sure what the actual
    demand
    > from the coil is? If so, use Ohms law (I = V/R) where R is the
    coil
    > resistance and V = 6V to determine the current.
    >
    > Select your transistor based on your current requirement X2 as a
    good
    > rule of thumb. Don't forget a diode in reverse bias across your
    coil
    > or transistor (E-C junction) to protect against back EMF from the
    coil.
    >
    > >I am working on a project that involves turning on a magnetic coil
    > >for brief periods (about 1 second, every 1 minute). The coil
    should
    > >draw 2-4A at 6V. Can anyone recommend a common transistor that
    > >would enable me to control this device with the BS2? It would
    also
    > >help to know what other components need to be built into the
    circuit
    > >to prevent damage to the stamp. I am a beginner as BS users go.
    > >Any help would be appreciated.
    > >
    > >Thanks,
    > >
    > >Jack Miller
  • ArchiverArchiver Posts: 46,084
    edited 2003-12-09 23:36
    Planning on using an iron core. Does this still require a non-DC
    supply?


    --- In basicstamps@yahoogroups.com, "Albert Catano"
    <acatano2002@y...> wrote:
    > First of all what is the inductance? If it has a air core (air
    core
    > coils normally have a low inductance), you can not treated as a
    relay.
    > You can not turn a coil with DC, you have to drive the coil with a
    > very short duty cycle or some sort of alternating voltage not
    > necessarily a sinewave but a square wave.
  • ArchiverArchiver Posts: 46,084
    edited 2003-12-10 04:34
    Jack, well Radio shack sells some small reed relays that can be
    turned on with a TTL level, but wont support 4 amps. Id use a IRF511
    Vmos FET. It has the back emf diode inside for keeping your bs2 from
    blowing.

    Chris Schur

    --- In basicstamps@yahoogroups.com, "jlmillerncsu" <jmiller@n...>
    wrote:
    > I am working on a project that involves turning on a magnetic coil
    > for brief periods (about 1 second, every 1 minute). The coil
    should
    > draw 2-4A at 6V. Can anyone recommend a common transistor that
    > would enable me to control this device with the BS2? It would also
    > help to know what other components need to be built into the
    circuit
    > to prevent damage to the stamp. I am a beginner as BS users go.
    > Any help would be appreciated.
    >
    > Thanks,
    >
    > Jack Miller
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