Chipped Inductor Repair

[Thayne]

I accidently chipped the side of an inductor and broke off a small piece of the ferrite housing. I have two of the little pieces that I can glue back on, but not all of it. I was thinking of either grinding up some ferrite and making a paste to patch the remaining hole. Or, I could just use a small amount of JB Weld epoxy.

My question is, is it worth the trouble to make a ferrite paste? Or will the JB Weld be enough?

I am not worried about strength. I am worried about the properties of the ferrite and whatever purpose it is serving there. The inductor is on a Bluetooth amplifier.

Also, the little metal prong only needs to touch the ferrite housing right? Or, does it need to be imbedded in the material?

Thanks!

 

[betwixt]

You will never recover it completely but sticking the pieces back together will go a long way to fixing it. Just keep the joint as thin as possible, remember these these things do not conduct electricity, they conduct magnetic flux so very close proximity is important.

The metal prong connects to the coil inside the ferrite case, it doesn't have to touch the ferrite itself and as ferrite isn't a conductor there is no need for it to physically touch it.

Note that the value is marked on the top, under the yellow blob. You can probably buy a direct replacement but soldering it might be a problem.

Brian.

 

[Easy peasy]

Yup, just glue all the bits back you can with a good epoxy glue and you'll be right ....

 

[SLK001]

A second on just glueing it back on. That part is just a magnetic shield and will not really effect the operation of the circuit (it may be slightly more noisey, but only slightly).

 

[FvM]

It's not only shielding. You have lost about 15 % of core cross section. Saturation current will drop respectively, no problem if the core isn't operated near it's maximum ratings.

 

[Thayne]

I put the pieces back on with a very thin bit of super glue on the outside. Then, I ground up ferrite and patched up the little holes that were left. I think it is about the best I can do. No chance of re-soldering a new one.

The board is for a JBL Charge. It was dropped. I am making a new housing out of wood and want to reuse all the parts.

Thanks!

 

[Relayer]

Hello Thayne,

It was dropped

Can you please have a look at the piccie below:

PCB Section

Can you please inspect your PCB to see if there's a c.r.a.c.k where indicated.
Its more than likely just a glue strand from manufacture, but since it was dropped
there's a chance it may have actually separated.

I have to say that the Chinese were a tad excessive with the glue. Hopefully its not
the conductive type from years ago.
Tough luck if you needed to replace or analyze the circuit that's sitting under the glue.
I have to wonder if the person who applied the glue had just started his/her job and
was a tad enthusiastic?
Please let us know what you find.
Regards,
Relayer

 

[Thayne]

Good eye! Yeah, it is just a thread of glue. I am pretty sure whoever put the glue on this thing was blind. The other side is even worse.