# controllers and inductors to protect dc-dc/charger



## onegreenev (May 18, 2012)

I don't have one but should actually look into doing so. I have had my DC cut out. Might help with an inductor. I have plenty that I could put into the system. Want a couple? 

Pete


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## onegreenev (May 18, 2012)

I was thinking a bit larger.


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## Tesseract (Sep 27, 2008)

To quote the incomparable Yogi Berra, it's like deja vu all over again...

...because you asked some of the same questions back in February and I provided several detailed responses, including suggested part numbers, at that time!

Pictures of inductor mounting w/ solitons?

Note that once again you have picked a crappy inductor - when in doubt, always select a toroidal type of around 100uH inductance and which has a "DC saturation current" rating of at least twice the expected load current (where load current is either charger output current or dc/dc input current).

Nobody provided installation pictures in that thread, but where and how to wire up the inductor kind of depends on how you've arranged things in your particular vehicle, anyway. Some things to consider are:

1. If you have a box for distributing pack voltage to other devices then put the inductor in there.
2. If you have an interlock relay that disconnects the charger from the pack when the charger is not energized by the AC line then you don't need to protect the charger's output from controller ripple and can use a smaller inductor as a result.
3. The inductor's leads will almost certainly be tinned solid copper wire so you will have to solder either wires or crimp terminals onto them. While you can use wire nuts to join solid and stranded wires, that requires a bit more care and skill to do properly than when both wires are either solid or stranded.
4. It should go without saying that the inductor should be installed in such a way that it wont bounce around or hit other things while the vehicle is moving. 
5. The inductor core might get hot during operation, so keep that in mind when choosing where and how to mount it.

As for whether other controllers need an inductor to protect other loads on the HV battery circuit, anecdotally I have heard that Zilla and Curtis controllers do not. I do know for certain that NetGain controllers do require the inductor, as well as any other controller which says it uses "film capacitors". Finally, I have no idea about Raptors, as that company went out of business long before Evnetics even got started, nor do I know about Synkromotive, etc.


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## EVfun (Mar 14, 2010)

I have run Zilla, Raptor, and Curtis controllers without an inductor and without any problems from the DC to DC converters.


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## dtbaker (Jan 5, 2008)

Tesseract said:


> To quote the incomparable Yogi Berra, it's like deja vu all over again...
> 
> ...because you asked some of the same questions back in February and I provided several detailed responses, including suggested part numbers, at that time!
> 
> Pictures of inductor mounting w/ solitons?


yes you did give some great information in that thread response.... I always try to get more than one answer from one person, no matter how expert that person is.  It seems there are still a fair number of people including myself that don't really understand this particular issue, we just want a 'best' solution with a source for the parts.




Tesseract said:


> Note that once again you have picked a crappy inductor - when in doubt, always select a toroidal type of around 100uH inductance and which has a "DC saturation current" rating of at least twice the expected load current (where load current is either charger output current or dc/dc input current).


see, this is great new information.... I had no idea a toroidal was better than a rod-shape, or that 'saturation current' should be double expected actual current.



Tesseract said:


> Nobody provided installation pictures in that thread, but where and how to wire up the inductor kind of depends on how you've arranged things in your particular vehicle, anyway. Some things to consider are:
> 
> 1. If you have a box for distributing pack voltage to other devices then put the inductor in there.
> 2. If you have an interlock relay that disconnects the charger from the pack when the charger is not energized by the AC line then you don't need to protect the charger's output from controller ripple and can use a smaller inductor as a result.
> ...


all great tips... I didn't know these things get hot in use. changes how I might install'em.



Tesseract said:


> As for whether other controllers need an inductor to protect other loads on the HV battery circuit, anecdotally I have heard that Zilla and Curtis controllers do not. I do know for certain that NetGain controllers do require the inductor, as well as any other controller which says it uses "film capacitors". Finally, I have no idea about Raptors, as that company went out of business long before Evnetics even got started, nor do I know about Synkromotive, etc.


also great information that helps the average DIY guy.

So.... thanks for your time Tesseract once again. I'm not trying to exhaust your patience, just trying to establish 'best build' practices for the common DIYer in threads that should be easy to find in an effort to come up with de facto 'best' solutions and sources. I have tried to do the same with vacuum pump/braking solutions, battery box building materials/techniques, etc.


to wrap this up.... I now have two different inductors that look to be 'adequate' in supporting a 'typical' build with a 120v+ battery pack powering up to a 600watt dc-dc (drawing around 5amps max input). Inductors are recommended for Soliton, Netgain, and any other controller with 'film' capacitor guts.

13a $13 http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/CTX100-10-52LPR/513-1720-ND/1144855 

14a $8 http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/JW-Miller/1140-101K-RC/?qs=sGAEpiMZZMsg%252by3WlYCkUxXSDfig%2frcnUErsE4dzZpk%3d


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