# pictures of inductor mounting w/ solitons?



## dtbaker (Jan 5, 2008)

planning layout for next build, which will use soliton jr controller, so needs inductors between controller and charger and dc-dc..... haven't done that before, so looking for examples of elegant mounting. 

I bought some 100uH, 5A toroid inductors off ebay, and they are just little bitty things with raw stumps of wire sticking out from the toroid wrapping. Given that they are rated for 5A, I think I need to put three in parallel as the charger (and dc-dc) could be pushing up to about 12 amps into or out of the traction pack. right?!

so I'm looking for ideas on a safe slick way to mount these suckers up. anybody have close-ups on how they've done it?


----------



## azdeltawye (Dec 30, 2008)

dtbaker said:


> ...
> so looking for examples of elegant mounting.
> ...


Just use a standard off-the-shelf EMI filter from Digikey or Allied...
A 20 A filter can be had for about $25.


----------



## dtbaker (Jan 5, 2008)

azdeltawye said:


> Just use a standard off-the-shelf EMI filter from Digikey or Allied...
> A 20 A filter can be had for about $25.


is this type of filter that much better than 3 x $2 for the plain jane toroid inductors? just asking to determine the 'suggested' component that needs to be planned when using a Soliton.

i.e. here's no external contactor required with solitons, but you *should* get one of these things, or some plain inductors. I just wanna get to the most cost-effective solution that will do the job and protect the charger and dc-dc from the controller ripple. Be nice if the Soliton retailers stock the solution and suggest purchase/schematic along with solitons....


----------



## azdeltawye (Dec 30, 2008)

dtbaker said:


> is this type of filter that much better than 3 x $2 for the plain jane toroid inductors? ...


Its better in that it is a nice compact sealed unit which makes for a clean and reliable installation. 

This as compared to some Rube Goldberg assembly of torroids hanging off the high voltage wiring just begging for a fault...


----------



## Hollie Maea (Dec 9, 2009)

When sizing inductors, don't forget that inductance decreases when you place inductors in parallel, the same way that resistors do (1/Ltotal = 1/L1 + 1/L2 ....)


----------



## Tesseract (Sep 27, 2008)

azdeltawye said:


> Just use a standard off-the-shelf EMI filter from Digikey or Allied...
> A 20 A filter can be had for about $25.


That is a "common mode filter" normally used for EMC compliance and so it might not be a good substitute for a series inductor... it will highly depend on how much differential mode inductance is present in the single common mode inductor (usually from intentionally winding the inductor to have a lot of leakage inductance).


----------



## Tesseract (Sep 27, 2008)

dtbaker said:


> is this type of filter that much better than 3 x $2 for the plain jane toroid inductors? just asking to determine the 'suggested' component that needs to be planned when using a Soliton.
> 
> i.e. here's no external contactor required with solitons, but you *should* get one of these things, or some plain inductors. I just wanna get to the most cost-effective solution that will do the job and protect the charger and dc-dc from the controller ripple. Be nice if the Soliton retailers stock the solution and suggest purchase/schematic along with solitons....


The inductors you bought on ebay are basically useless and for precisely the reason Hollie Maea has already explained: when you parallel them you will end up with a 33uH inductor rated for 15A, whereas you need 100uH rated at 12A or so. A better single inductor would be this part number from Mouser: 1140-101K-RC

It only costs $8 + shipping and is rated for 14.4A. Sure, I'd like to see a bit more current rating here - and towards that end Rebirth Auto sells a big honking custom wound inductor I specified that is rated for at least 25A at 100uH - but this little $8 inductor will be a helluva lot better than the little toroids you bought on ebay.


----------



## dtbaker (Jan 5, 2008)

Tesseract said:


> The inductors you bought on ebay are basically useless and for precisely the reason Hollie Maea has already explained: when you parallel them you will end up with a 33uH inductor rated for 15A, whereas you need 100uH rated at 12A or so. A better single inductor would be this part number from Mouser: 1140-101K-RC
> 
> It only costs $8 + shipping and is rated for 14.4A. Sure, I'd like to see a bit more current rating here - and towards that end Rebirth Auto sells a big honking custom wound inductor I specified that is rated for at least 25A at 100uH - but this little $8 inductor will be a helluva lot better than the little toroids you bought on ebay.



ohhhh, ok, see this is why I'm asking. To show off my ignorance.  Be nice if all the Soliton retailers stocked the suggested accessory so we mechanical types do it right...

what about the packaged EMI mentioned in the earlier post. is that a cleaner solution? $25 compared to $8 is irrelevant if it would be a better solution. OOOP, just noticed your post above. Looks like a 'plain' inductor is better like the one you linked to from Mouser......


so.... lemme refine my question, look at your recommended inductor, and ask if anyone has a nice picture showing off actual physical mounting of the thing. and.... should I put one on the positive AND one on negative leads to charger/dc-dc ? i.e. do I need one, or two?

....I went to ReBirth, and could not find the BIG inductor anywhere online.....


----------



## Tesseract (Sep 27, 2008)

I don't know why Rebirth Auto doesn't have the inductor listed on its website. That is not something that is under my control, however.

To use the off-the-shelf inductor I linked to earlier you will need to either crimp or solder wires to it. Only one inductor is needed and it can technically go in series with either the positive or negative lead to the traction battery, but it wouldn't hurt to put a second one on the other lead, either (that would double the inductance and also reduce any common mode current flow through the so-called "Y" capacitors).

Retailers could certainly stock an item like the aforementioned $8 inductor from Mouser, just realize that they would have to mark the price up considerably on a percentage basis for it to be worth their while. Despite the financial statements saying otherwise, none of these businesses is a charity.

EDIT - another method of installing the inductor would be to insert the wires into one side of a double row "European" terminal block and then make the wire connections on the other side.


----------



## dtbaker (Jan 5, 2008)

Tesseract said:


> I don't know why Rebirth Auto doesn't have the inductor listed on its website. That is not something that is under my control, however.
> 
> To use the off-the-shelf inductor I linked to earlier you will need to either crimp or solder wires to it. Only one inductor is needed and it can technically go in series with either the positive or negative lead to the traction battery, but it wouldn't hurt to put a second one on the other lead, either (that would double the inductance and also reduce any common mode current flow through the so-called "Y" capacitors).
> 
> ...


thanks for details.....

as a customer, it's always nice to see recommended accessories available in one swoop, lumped into one shipping charge. especially for these little electronic components where the individual shipping from ebay or alternate sources adds up to more than the component itself. I know you can't MAKE retailers offer 'kits', but I know I'll suggest that your authorized distributers at least list the recommended accessories available as a kit. Like: Liang pump or similar, some cheap transmission cooler, a coolant reservoir, and this inductor listed as 'suggested' for Solitons.....


----------

