Rattling shaft in electromagnet

[mrgingernutz]

Hi to all, I'm new to the forum and forgive me if I'm not in the right place.
I have a drag knife sign making cutter which uses an electromagnet to drop and raise the knife. The shaft that runs through the coil rattles/vibrates and although the machine cuts ok it drives me mad. Obviously the shaft needs to be free within the coil but is there a way of stopping the rattle - grease maybe?
Thanks in advance.
Al

 

[Drmarshall]

Hi to all, I'm new to the forum and forgive me if I'm not in the right place.
I have a drag knife sign making cutter which uses an electromagnet to drop and raise the knife. The shaft that runs through the coil rattles/vibrates and although the machine cuts ok it drives me mad. Obviously the shaft needs to be free within the coil but is there a way of stopping the rattle - grease maybe?
Thanks in advance.
Al

Try grease or a sideways force via a padded spring

 

[Windadct]

If you have access to the Armature ( the part in the solenoid that moves) - Try wrapping it in parchment paper - to fill in the gap between it and the coil.

 

[mrgingernutz]

Thanks for the replies, i can get to the armature but do you think grease or parchment paper affect the performance of the solenoid? Al

 

[Windadct]

It is likely anything you do can affect the performance - I am not a big fan of grease as it collects dirt. The parchment paper can just be removed if there is a problem.

 

[jim hardy]

Is this 'rattle' a buzz at line frequency?
if so, look for something that prevents the last few thousandths of an inch armature travel. A small air gap will cause high current and buzzing in an AC solenoid.

Disregard it it's a DC solenoid,.