Driving a coil Voltage drive? Current drive?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the effects of driving a coil with either a sinusoidal voltage signal or a sinusoidal current signal. Participants explore how these driving methods may influence the coil's response, including parameters like resonance frequency and Q factor. The context includes experimental observations related to mutual inductance and coil design considerations.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Experimental/applied

Main Points Raised

  • One participant questions whether driving a coil with a voltage or current signal affects its response, particularly regarding resonance frequency and Q factor.
  • Another participant explains that when using a voltage source, the coil should be in series with a load resistor, while a current source should have the coil in parallel with a load resistor.
  • It is noted that high Q factors can lead to significant voltage or current amplification under certain conditions, which may pose risks such as damaging the coil.
  • Concerns are raised about the difficulty of duplicating the coil's characteristics on a PCB, as it may result in different Q factors and coupling constants.
  • Discussion includes the potential benefits of using a PCB coil for consistency and the role of conductive shielding in protecting the circuit from external interference.
  • A participant corrects their earlier statement regarding the inductance of their coil, clarifying it is around 500 nH rather than 500 uH.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on the implications of driving methods for coils, and there is no consensus on the best approach or the effects on coil performance. The discussion remains unresolved regarding the optimal driving method and its impact on the coil's characteristics.

Contextual Notes

Participants mention specific inductance values and the challenges of replicating coil properties on PCBs, indicating that assumptions about coil behavior may depend on design and experimental conditions.

kent
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Driving a coil...Voltage drive..? Current drive..?

Hi Guys

As the title...I am now having a 10 turns coil, does it really matter that I drive it with sinusoidal voltage signal or a sinusoidal current signal? Will it affect the response of the coil? (like resonance frequency, Q factor...etc)

I am still doing the mutual inductance experiment..(thanks for u guys' help previously! especially Berkeman and what)...I am now having a identical coil as the transmitter to be a magnetic induction detector (properly shielded..) what I observed is that the Q factor of my detecing coil is extremely high~! the magnitude of the detected signal at resonance is like 30 times more than the other frequencies...is that a normal observation?

And also, I am now thinking using a PCB coil instead of hand made coil (to make sure all the coils are identical...)Does anyone has this kind of experience? (like the shielding of the PCB...etc)

Thanks you so much for you guys' time!
Kent
 
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If you drive a coil with a voltage source, it needs to be in series with a load resistor (if there is one). And likewise, with a current source the coil or anything else for that matter should be in parallel with the load resistor (if there is one).

Resonance is a weird thing, under right conditions when driving an LC circuit with a voltage source in series, you can have large voltages developing, even a 1000 times higher then what you put it, if the Q is really high, but the current would be 1000 times less, and likewise, if you drive an LC circuit with a current source in parallel, large currents will develop, so much so that can even melt your coils when Q is high enough, but voltage will drop of course. That's why sometimes it's good to broaden the Q by inserting a load resistor to absorb some current.

You said your coil has ten turns, so it might have a like 500uH or something, it might be difficult to duplicate the coil on a PCB, and even if you do it will have a different Q, and coupling constants.

And for PCB shielding, anything conductive and grounded placed over the PCB will shield the circuit from the outside world. Nothing significant will get in or out.

Hope that helps.
 
Thanks you!...The size of my coil is quite small...so the inductance of my coil is around 10uH...which is OK...I think...
 
I meant 500 nH not uH sorry. That's what you would typically get with a small 10 turn coil. Coils etches on pcb's are in nH range.
 

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