Coils: inside out or outside in?

[ShaneF]

Coils: inside out or outside in?

Does this make any difference in terms of flow direction? Coming from the amp, do you solder from the outside of the coil and to the speaker out from the inside of the coil?

Does this matter?

 

[Osvaldo de Banfield]

Usualy the output from amp will go to the positive end, and the negative to the ground point (or the inverted out if bridge), independently of the position in the coil itself, which, also is normally not visible.

 

[ShaneF]

I wasn't aware that there was a polarity. So in the case of a coil upon a bass driver (parallel), does the signal in go to the outside of the coil (amplifier) and the inside of the coil goes to the bass driver... or is it the opposite?

 

[Osvaldo de Banfield]

Not necessary. You must only respect the polarity, the relation between coil winding sense and the polarity of the magnet may be bot reversed with no alteration.

In any case, if you doubt of the speaker polarity, place intermitently a small 1.5V cell across the coil terminals, and see how the cone moves (Inside or outside), and wire both parallel or series in such a way all cones move in the same direction.

The cone terminals usualy are marked with a + and a - or red and black terminals, if the same trade and model, wire them as they would be batteries, + with + ... for parallel and + to -, + to -,... for series.

 

[ShaneF]

I am referring to the induction coil! Not the speaker.

"In" to the inside of the wound coil

or

"In" to the outside of the wound coil?

 

[Osvaldo de Banfield]

What do you call "induction coil"?

 

[AndrewT]

each turn of the inductor is in series with every other turn of that inductor.

All these series connected elements can go in any order and the performance is the same.

 

[zelgall]

I am referring to the induction coil! Not the speaker.

"In" to the inside of the wound coil

or

"In" to the outside of the wound coil?

I've tried both connections and not noticed a difference but I use low power tube amps.
People that say there is a difference are using higher power amps and say that the effect is based on constriction caused by the current through the coil. I can't see how it would make a difference to the current but you could easily try for yourself with some clip leads.

OdB - He's talking about speaker crossover inductors or coils or selfs as they're called depending on where you live.

 

[Xoc1]

Makes no difference which end is connected.
But...
Coils are electromagnetic, and will interact with their surroundings. Positioning and mounting material can make significant differences.
Look at this for example.


Placement of coils in crossover networks

 

[ShaneF]

Finally! And yes, I know about placement. I make separate boards for tweet woof

 

[Osvaldo de Banfield]

He's talking about speaker crossover inductors or coils or selfs as they're called depending on where you live.

Ahhhh, OK, now I understand.

As a rule of the trumb when there is no reaction between coils (Transformer) or with magnets (motors or speakers), then there is no polarity for the winding, mainly at low frequencies. In RF usually the inner turns are taken as the hottest, so the outer turns acts as a electrostatic shield, imperfect of course, but lowers the electrostatic field around the coil.

 

[JMFahey]

If you are talking about the crossover lowpass inductor in series with a woofer , no, it does not have polarity, one way or the other is exactly the same.

 

[ShaneF]

Alright, how about poly caps? I generally follow the writing on the cap as the current flow.

 

[cliffforrest]

Are you just trolling?

A/C flows both ways, which is what Alternating means. Therefore there cannot be a unidirectional "signal" current in a cap.

 

[slipton]

I second Cliff!!!! All of the music signals are completely symmetrical, despite having a (+) and a (-). The (+) is simply to make sure that all of the channels have the high point of the signal occur at the same time.

 

[Osvaldo de Banfield]

I believe he means that signal flow is in the lettering direction, which, of course, has other meaning.

I use to put resistances in the PCB in order to have the first significant color directioned to indicate the higher signal level, or some level (DC or signal) thate may result intereresting to find or measure readily.

 

[chrisb]

assuming the answer the query in JMF's post above is yes, and as cliff states - it's AC, so there's no electrical "polarity" to worry about

I think the most pertinent post in this thread so far is Xoc1's - proximity and orientation of fields generated by multiple inductors - whether crossover coils, power transformers and filter chokes or audio output transformers in relation to each other should probably be the primary concern in parts layout.

I've definitely experienced hum induced with poor layout of "coils", but must say have never heard issues with "directionality" of non polarized film caps either in crossovers or tube amp coupling stages.

 

[ShaneF]

I am not trolling. I am asking question that some people think is fish oil and others that disagree... like, for example, flow direction(s) on speaker wires.

 

[cliffforrest]

OK, accepted, but you will find it helpful to get a basic understanding (and not from a comic!) of how AC signals propagate in a loop around a circuit.

If the model in your head imagines water in a pipe or billiard ball collisions you are way off beam.

 

[AllenB]

I am not trolling. I am asking question that some people think is fish oil and others that disagree... like, for example, flow direction(s) on speaker wires.

As far as the primary function of the component is concerned, there is no issue with polarity.

Some speak about such things as the outer foil of a capacitor and its relation to ground with respect to RF interference and its effect on a poorly designed amp. This shouldn't be an issue but when it comes to this kind of effect it is harder to predict the outcome. It is better to understand the concerns and fix them rather than have to worry about component polarity.