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chopper
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Join Date: Nov 2009
Posts: 31

Measuring Coil Inductance

11/18/2009 4:44 AM

helo everyone, i winded a coil myself buy i have no idea how much inductance is it. I know i can calculate it with formula but i am afraid my winding is not so perfect.any method of measuring its inductance??

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TVP45
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Join Date: Jul 2007
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#1

Re: measuring inductance of a coil

11/18/2009 7:08 AM

Yes. The correct, and expensive, way to do it is to use an RLC bridge which is really just a precision Wheatstone bridge that can be adapted to a whole variety of measurements.

The cheap, quick, and not so accurate way is to measure the resistance, then put an ac signal, say 1 kHz, in and measure the impedance. Use Z = √(R2 + (2πfL)2) to back-calculate L.

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jack of all trades
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#2

Re: Measuring Inductance of a Coil

11/18/2009 1:53 PM

If you don't want to buy an inductance meter (and a signal source is not readily available) you could try building one. There are plenty of simple designs on the internet for add-on modules to digital volt meters (ie no signal source and frequency meter or oscilloscope required).

A Google search of "inductance meter design" produced a number.

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babybear
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Join Date: Jun 2008
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#3

Re: Measuring Coil Inductance

11/18/2009 11:34 PM

Hi chopper,

You may find this helpful.

http://www.thompsonrd.com/induct2.pdf

Good luck.

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GW
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Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Surrey BC Canada
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#4

Re: Measuring Coil Inductance

11/19/2009 3:28 AM

What current and inductance do you expect?

Testing a 1000Amp 10uH reactor has different challenges than a 1mA 1H reactor.

#1 is still a GA, but needs to be tempered with practical limits of what you are measuring.
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Andy Germany
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#5

Re: Measuring Coil Inductance

11/19/2009 5:36 AM

Today you can buy a relatively cheap multimeter with both inductance and capacitance ranges. Every workshop should have one to my mind......

Buy a known value inductance or two, measure them on a known accurate meter, measure them on yours, note any differences. Check at least once a year using the same (carefully stored) inductances.....

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