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Inductor Ga. Question

J

JB1962

Well-Known Member
Greetings
I am in the process of sorting out a new speaker system, working on the tweeters first. I have four Dayton PTMINI-6'S that I need crossovers for, I am toying around with different configurations. I have a parts list from Maniscus Audio.

For a crossover point of 4000Hz they say to use an inductor of .47mH, 20ga. My question is, what affect does the guage of the coil wire have on the overall xo?

Thanks in advance
 
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The gauge affects how much power it can handle and to an extent, how tightly you can wind the coil. A smaller diameter coil produces a higher inductance. The same dimentional coil of a different gauge will not affect the inductance.
 
Wire gauge is a compromise, with larger gauge wire leading to lower DC resistance & higher power handling and smaller gauge wire leading to smaller physical size & lower cost.
 
So Maniscus, knowing that these xo's were being built for experimental use and not a final solution may have suggested 20ga for economical reasons, is there a standard measure for how much current a particular guage inductor can handle? I have receivers starting at 15w's X's 2 @ 8 Ohm's to a karaoke integrated amplifier rated at 1300w X's 2 @ 4 Ohm's.

Would I be better off using a heavier guage coil wire for the final xo's or would a relatively small guage help protect the tweeter from high current on the HP side of the xo? The Dayton PTMINI-6 Planars are rated at 15w nominal, I believe 35w's max
 
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Also, they suggested for these tweeters an inductor of .47mH - 20ga, they have standard sizes available. They have, in 20ga. an .45mH and, the recommended, according to the quoted price, a .50mH inductor. How much difference would either of those coils make compared to the exact value of .47mH?
 
I would use what ga is in the plans because they should have considered the wire resistance in the design. 20ga, in itself, is not protecting the tweeter from too much power.

Far as which mH to use, I would use which one is numerically closer. They all have some tolerance anyway, perhaps like +/-5%. What is advertised is the nominal value, not exact value.
 
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JB1962 said:
Also, they suggested for these tweeters an inductor of .47mH - 20ga, they have standard sizes available. They have, in 20ga. an .45mH and, the recommended, according to the quoted price, a .50mH inductor. How much difference would either of those coils make compared to the exact value of .47mH?
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Within the typical ± 5% tolerance, a 0.45mH coil could measure between 0.428 and 0.473mH. The range for a 0.50mH coil would be 0.475 to 0.525mH.

If you get lucky at either high side of the 0.45mH coil or low side of the 0.50mH coil then you're golden. Advantage with the larger value coil is you can always wind it down a bit to get an exact value if you want to be that precise.
 
Since the inductor for the tweeter is not in series with the driver, best stick with the designer's specifications. And the difference between a .45mH and a .47mH isn't a big deal as long as the tolerances are the same.
 
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