Anybody have any success with cheap transformer winding machines?

[FusionITR]

Such as this:

**broken link removed**

Do these things work good? I need some custom smps transformers made and I was thinking about buying something like this.

 

[Sceadwian]

Cheap? I'd hardly call 400 dollars cheap! You can hand wind coils with nothing more than simple wood doweling and some bobbins, no cost really just gotta assembly it from scrap wood. What kind of SMPS coil do you plan on making because most SMPS supplies are e-core or pot wound, any solenoid wrapped SMPS coil is going to be a tremendous generator of AM RF noise.

 

[FusionITR]

Cheap? I'd hardly call 400 dollars cheap! You can hand wind coils with nothing more than simple wood doweling and some bobbins, no cost really just gotta assembly it from scrap wood. What kind of SMPS coil do you plan on making because most SMPS supplies are e-core or pot wound, any solenoid wrapped SMPS coil is going to be a tremendous generator of AM RF noise.

EE core around bobbin. Is there a guide out there how to build a cheap winding machine?

 

[alec_t]

If the bobbin is removable, just mount it in the chuck of a hand drill (using wooden dowel, or a bolt), clamp the drill in a bench vice (vise, if you're from the US!), and guide/tension the wire by hand as you rotate the bobbin to wind the coil.

 

[Sceadwian]

Fusion do a search for DIY coil winder, there are plenty of examples, it's not really that difficult, you just need a spinning rod and a steady hand, you keep the wire slightly behind the leading edge of the current coil and it wraps itself quiet neatly. You could do it with a simple geared hand crank which would give you better control of the spooling rate. If you don't have a steady hand you can mount the feed bobbin on a second threaded rod for fine control.

 

[FusionITR]

You guys are right, this seems like a easy machine to make. I bought a small DC motor today and going to try to put together some kind of contraption that will wind the coil. I'll post my results in a few days.

 

[squishy36]

For a one-off situation, you can also do it on a lathe. It's not hard to rig up a turns counting device. Of course, it's like salting a bird's tail -- you need the lathe first to be able to do it.

 

[Boncuk]

My first coil winder was mainly the motor (worm to sprocket) of an ancient turn table which I modified with a mechanical counter (as used for knitting machines) to count the number of turns.

Traverse movement was hand controlled and I made a transformer with primary 220V and secondary 1,500V for the power stage of a short wave transmitter to feed the electronic valves.

The transformer worked well for decades without ringing or any annoying sound. Because of insulating layers between winding layers there is little chance of shorting turns.

You'll have to have the touch to get the turns side by side and layer on layer with insulating material between layers.

All you need to do that is the necessary eye balling system and tons of patience.

Boncuk

 

[Sceadwian]

If you wind the primary and secondary at the same time from the same gearset no counting is required (aside from bulk approximations for current limiting min/max inductance values) Primary/secondary transfer is ratiometric.

 

[ronsimpson]

A sowing machine motor and foot pedal works well for me. Because it takes hands to feed the wire into the bobbin correctly I like using my foot to control the speed. A counter is important.

 

[FusionITR]

A sowing machine motor and foot pedal works well for me. Because it takes hands to feed the wire into the bobbin correctly I like using my foot to control the speed. A counter is important.

Do you mind taking pics of your setup?

 

[ronsimpson]

Small machine: gear motor, 200 to 400RMP???, counter, shaft with interchangeable tooling.
Each type of transformer uses a different tool to hold it in place.
winds coils and transformers up to about 1.5 inches.
Uses a bench supply. Set voltage for speed and current limit for max toque.
Can stop the motor by hand and the current limit cuts in.

 

[ronsimpson]

Medium machine:
This machine is older than I am, and I am old.
It came too fast so we added another wheel to reduce the speed.
Note foot speed control. There is a counter. The red lever moves a shaft on the right to capture the transformer. You might be able to see a gray part in the center. That piece fits the inside of a transformer. I have many different pieces like that. (tool) This works on transformers from about 1 inch through 5 inches.

 

[ronsimpson]

Large machine:
No pictures! It is used to make degaussing coils for TVs and CRT monitors. It also makes coils for metal detectors. Coil size 2" through 3 feet. Uses 110VAC gear motor with foot control. Very strong. Has counter that counts down to 0 and kills the motor. Hit reset and it starts counting. I have many different tooling for it. I made wire tension dispensers. You load a large spool of wire and breaks hold the spool and allow it to turn when the correct pull is on the wire. I have 3 of these machines and they (in the past) ran 8 hours a day.

 

[FusionITR]

Small machine: gear motor, 200 to 400RMP???, counter, shaft with interchangeable tooling.
Each type of transformer uses a different tool to hold it in place.
winds coils and transformers up to about 1.5 inches.
Uses a bench supply. Set voltage for speed and current limit for max toque.
Can stop the motor by hand and the current limit cuts in.

Can you show one of your transformers mounted on this machine? Thanks.

 

[Mr RB]

Great photos thanks!

I love it when a machine is made with JUST enough parts and effort to work (and work well) and then you just use the heck out of it!

 

[ronsimpson]

I do not have a photo of the pieces that hold the transformer. Each one is different. Many are made like the picture. I have a 1/4" shaft, gray, with a screw or pin (red) to hold the PVC in place. There is a PVC pipe with 1/4" ID that slides over the shaft. The PVC is glued to a rectangle block of PVC that is filed or milled to match the inside of the transformer. Not shown, there is usually a stop that keeps the rectangle block from going too far into the transformer.

Hope this helps!

 

[William I. Behen]

Most smps transformers only take a dozen turns or so. We had one of the things when I was in school, but the bobbins kept slipping due to the stiff wire you use in power supply design, and the counter was useless, since you're usually trying to completely fill the bobbin anyway, or your number of turns is small enough to just count! Winding power mags is not fun, for all these reasons. One dreams of twirling away several hundred turns of #30 magnet wire, but in reality, not so. You'll spend most of your time with copper foil, ten turns of Litz wire, half turns, and trying to get large gauge wire soldered to the skinny little pins on bobbins left over from the linear electronics days. Pot-cores, for instance, were designed by Bell labs (in the old rotary phone days) for signal level filtering inductances rather than for power supplies.

Sorry for the glum response

P.S. If you can figure how to wind with flat wire, see: **broken link removed** let me know!

 

[Sceadwian]

Depends on the type of SMPS William, The SMPS transformers from a CFL driver contain far more than a dozen turns of wire.

 

[Brevor]

Hello William, I haven't seen you here before, and were happy to have your input. Your location is interesting I lived in Darien, IL. for many years.