What Happened to My Coil?

My induction coil arced and now the coax stud is damaged.

Recently, a customer called with an induction coil problem they had not experienced before.  Without warning, one of their coils began arcing and damaged the coax transformer stud.  Our technicians took a look at the coaxial transformer and the coil and discovered that the coil had not been installed correctly and the coil was loose.

Unfortunately for the customer, the arcing problem cracked the coax stud and it had to be replaced. It turns out that two different operators had used the machine that day, changing coils between different jobs, and not enough care was taken during the swap.

When the coil isn’t tight, there is no current path between the mounting face of the coax and the base of the coil foot.  Therefore, the current runs up the metal stud and through the clamp bracket into the top of the coil foot.  Once damaged, the entire output transformer must be disassembled and rebuilt because the stud goes all the way through into the transformer.

You can avoid a similar problem in your shop by following our step-by-step procedures for changing coaxial cables and installing induction coils as well as by adding our adapter called a Coax Saver in between the transformer and the coil clamp. 

See our helpful posts below:

• Simple Adapter Protects Coax Transformers
• Avoiding Common Induction Coil Problems