Large off-the-shelf power  inductors shoudl not be used in products? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / beginners

author: ocset
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 20, 2017, 06:25:12 am
content: Hello,Our engineering contractor wants to use the C1061-AL PFC inductor in a 150W PFC design.C1061-AL PFC inductor:https://www.coilcraft.com/pdfs/c1061.pdfWe are convinced that such offtheshelf parts are only for single prototype units, and not for use in real products, since the part may well go obsolete, or become nil-stocked, do you agree?If a PFC inductor is needed, then it should preferably use a standard offtheshelf core and former (eg ferroxcube PQ30 , ETD39, ETD54, etc etc). These standard formers and cores are standard and will never go obsolete.Admittedly they need to be wound, and so it is effectively a custom part in the BOM,..but that surely is better than using a part that has a high chance of going obsolete? After all, if one builds an enclosure round a part that goes obsolete, then the entire enclosure will likely need to be changed to accommodate whatever is found to replace the obsolete part.

author: JoeN
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 20, 2017, 07:19:09 am
content: Any possible way to provide two footprints for both parts in case the Coilcraft one obsolesces?Trying to think outside the box here. Seen this even in some production PCBs before.

author: T3sl4co1l
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 20, 2017, 07:27:05 am
content: Quote from: treez on December 20, 2017, 06:25:12 amWhy don't you ask the manufacturer instead of fear-mongering here?Coilcraft's representatives are available, approachable and helpful, at least the ones I met over here. I guess YMMV from the UK, but you might then find a UK or EU equivalent which is easier to work with (Wurth?).QuoteThey all come from China anyway, what's it matter?It's not like they're handing out the winding drawing and test spec for that part, anyway. (Not that that would be hard to recreate if you wanted to second source it.)QuoteWhat does winding have to do with it?Those little molded inductors you can buy? Wound. Only multilayer parts are not wound from wire (they're baked from metal and ceramic layers, or built from foil layers in the case of planar ones). Everything else under the sun uses some manner of metal round or strip, coiled up.Indeed, Coilcraft works exclusively with wound components (and a handful of planar). They don't offer multilayer inductors, or ferrite beads. Their whole business begins with the wrapping of metal around a core. Their molded powder inductors are a relatively new introduction (2000s -- magnetics is a slow-moving business), and have a bundle of wire in the middle.QuoteAh, is that what this is about?How much is the enclosure NRE, amortized over the product lifetime let's say two or three times, in the unlikely event that so many redesigns are needed?If it's a lot, the answer may be not so much "find more reliable suppliers" as "design the enclosure for many future options" -- an X-Y problem.Tim

author: Delta
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 20, 2017, 08:25:50 am
content: Make sure it can handle the 292v mains it will see....

author: mikeselectricstuff
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 20, 2017, 08:51:11 am
content: Quote from: treez on December 20, 2017, 06:25:12 amWhat exactly has convinced you of that? Why that part over any other part you're using? Have you compared the cost to a custom part?PFC is a very common requirement - seems unlikely that demand for it will go away, unless the IC it's designed fror also goes obsolete, in which case you're equally screwed.And large inductors are very commonly custom made and need minimal tooling and therefore MOQ, so if it did go obsolete, getting a compatible one custom made would be no big deal.