About Electric Coils and Electric Coil Manufacturers Including: Custom Coils, Encapsulated Coils & Molded Coils
Electric coils are an essential component in solenoid valves, transformers, transducers, circuits, electric motors and many electronic household appliances, providing either movement or electric current transformation. Made from conductive metal wire wrapped, or "coiled" into a specific diameter, electric coils are "electromagnets", or magnets which are only activated to magnetism when introduced to an electrical current. Solenoids, for example, are a type of electric coil which moves when an electric current is run through it, moving the solenoid by magnetizing it; the solenoid moves a switch of some sort - a valve, in the case of solenoid valves - to remotely regulate flow control of various substances. There are many types of electric coils with different wire gauges, wire lengths, coil diameter & materials around which the wire is wound, all of these specifications being customized to meet the particular demands of a wide range of applications. A few of these types are molded coils, inductors, transducers, encapsulated coils and air coils. Many manufacturers have custom coils designed to meet a virtually endless range of unique or new applications.
Electronics, automotive, medical, computer, telecommunication and appliance industries rely heavily on electric coils to produce movement, regulate flow and/or transform electric currents. Although coils are used in many very different applications, the basic electromechanical principles used in all electric coils are the same: a wire - usually copper but sometimes silver or aluminum, both good magnetic conductors - is wound around an insulator such as cardboard, plastic or even air. The two ends of the wire are usually made into electrical connection terminals called "taps", which are then connected to an electric current. When the current moves through the coiled wires, the coil itself becomes magnetized (or, in some cases, demagnetized), creating the movement which powers solenoid valves, electric motors, MRI machines and many other types of equipment. HYPERLINK "http://www.iqsdirectory.com/electric-transformers" Transformers and HYPERLINK "http://www.iqsdirectory.com/transducers" transducers work similarly to electromagnetically change the flow or voltage of a passing electrical current.
Some electric coils require protection from harsh environmental conditions such as moisture, salt, oil and vibration; with nothing to protect delicate copper coils from the elements, an electric coil's conductivity might be easily lost. Molded and encapsulated coils both solve this problem in two different ways: molded coils are encapsulated in plastic coverings which seal the entire coil unit, while encapsulated coils are made from wire which has itself been encapsulated in a polymer epoxy; this epoxy-coil ribbon is then coiled, and the encapsulated wire is protected from the environment. While most coils are wrapped around some type of insulating material, such as cardboard or plastic bobbins, size, space and shape requirements sometimes require coils to be "self-supporting", or wound around "air". Other types of electric coils, such as toroid transformer coils, are wound around ferrite rings and wrapped in sealing tape.
Harnessing electromagnetism has given industries like medical, industrial, and telecommunication an enormous opportunity to advance. Motion technology, medical imaging and electronics industries have exploded as scientists explore possible new uses for electromagnetism harnessed by electric coils. Common household appliances such as dishwashers and refrigerators depend on solenoid valves to regulate flow and temperature; speakers project sound with the help of electromagnets, and computers are regulated by tiny electric coils. With a rising demand for sustainable electric energy and no other technology comparable to the electromagnet, the wide range of applications for electric coils is likely to rise far beyond today's already exhaustive list.