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Wire Wound Potentiometer Manufacturing

The usage of wire wound potentiometers has varied hugely since we started manufacturing them well over 60 years ago. As modern electronic design concepts and digital electronics have evolved over the last 20 years the demand for wire wound potentiometers has declined however there is still a good market and demand for these products from a wide variety of nice markets. These markets include:

audio amplifiers, both valve and solid state
industrial control circuits requiring a wattage of 2 to 3 watts power rating
lighting control circuits
motor control circuits
laboratory test jigs
replacement market
heater control circuits
transportation related industries

As Australia’s only manufacturer of wire wound potentiometers we […]

January 5th, 2016|Applications, resistor manufacturer, wire wound potentiometer|

Cement Power Resistor

The term cement power resistor refers to a design and construction method of producing wire wound resistors and power resistors. This method of construction has been used for over 70 years and is still widely used today to produce resistors with these characteristics:

high reliability
low cost production
stable temperature performance
compact design
wide range of power ratings possible
resistance tappings possible
ease of mounting and a variety of types of mounting brackets available

Construction Of Cement Filled Resistors

The above image shows a PW50 50 watt wire wound resistor. The resistance winding is encased in a rectangular ‘ceramic boat’. Once the winding is placed into this ‘boat’ it is […]

Resistor Manufacturing Update 2015

With only just over 2 months to go of the year we thought it useful to update readers and customers on where resistor manufacturing is going in Australia and the trends we see from the local electronics manufacturing industry and the O.E.M. sector in Australia.
Custom Resistor Assembly Manufacture
We have received a large number of enquiries in 2015 for custom made wire wound resistors and power resistors. The O.E.M. sector in Australia is characterised by lower volume, ‘niche’ type manufacturing of electrical and electronic products. The sectors that remain strong in Australia include:

Whitegoods
Industrial Electronics
Audio Engineering
Lighting Control
Gaming Industry
Access Control
Security
Emergency Lighting
Fire Protection

All of […]

October 7th, 2015|Applications, resistor manufacturer|

Potentiometer and Rheostat Differences

We sometimes receive enquiries for potentiometers and rheostats that indicate there is some confusion between terminology surrounding potentiometers and rheostats. fundamentally there is little difference between the two. They both have the following characteristics:

Allow for variable and continuous adjustment of a specified resistance value
Allow for adjustment via a rotary shaft
Are mounted (generally) via a bush mounting system
Have similar temperature derating curves
Both offer solder or quick connect termination options
Both have a specified angle of rotation
Both have a wiper in totational contact with a resistance element

As we can see from the photographs below, there are physical similarities between the two (potentiometers and […]

September 11th, 2015|potentiometer, Rheostat, wirewound potentiometer|

Wirewound Potentiometer Applications

Wirewound Potentiometer – Power Rated Variable Resistor
The requirement for variable resistance in electrical and electronic circuits has existed ever since electrical engineering has been around. From the early days of valve based radio and television, there has been a requirement for a variable resistance that has a power rating of several watts.

The AW 3 watt wirewound potentiometer manufactured by Australian Resistors has been the ‘standard’ for wirewound potentiometers in Australia for over 50 years. It has also been extensively exported around the world due to its reputation for long term reliability and economic pricing. There is a strong distributor network for […]

Custom Power Resistor Manufacturing

Being Australia’s largest manufacturer of wire wound and power resistors, Australian Resistors has the capacity to manufacture custom designed resistor assemblies to meet customer specifications. We generally work with clients, both at an engineering and purchasing level, to determine the resistor specification required for their project. This can take into account parameters including:

Resistor wattage
Resistor power rating
Mounting requirements. This could include vertical mounting or horizontal mounting or indeed a custom mounting requirement to enable ease of mounting the resistor assembly within the clients’ equipment.
Resistor termination. This could include solder terminals, quick connect terminals, ferrule mounting or a wide range of other options. […]

Slider Resistors In Laboratory Calibration

The use of slider resistors or ‘laboratory resistors” have been employed for over 50 years as a means of calibrating electrical and electronic devices. The can be configured in resistance bridge arrangements and provided the correct ratings are available, in high voltage test circuitry.

The single tube slider resistor range is often used in test laboratories where electrical and electronic components are required to be tested to ensure they meet Australian Standards. Examples of these are street lighting systems, traffic lights and transformers. Slider resistors provide for precision adjustment of resistance allowing accurate setup of voltage and current in test circuitry.

 

June 19th, 2015|Laboratory Resistor, Power Resistor, Slider Resistor|

100 Watt Power Resistor

There is a wide variety of applications calling for a 100 watt power resistor. By looking through the power resistor products page it is apparent that there are several options when selecting a power resistor that meets this rating. Here we take a look at all the available options:

Power Wire Wound Resistor Assembly. The HA tubular power resistor is a highly reliable and ‘tried and tested’ resistor assembly that has been manufactured for over 40 years. It is robust, moisture resistant, resists chipping and can withstand temperatures over 1000 C.  It is available in an adjustable resistance and has many mounting […]

Wire Wound Potentiometer – Audio Amplifier Application

Potentiometers have been used for over 70 years for applications where varying a resistance is necessary as part of an electronic circuit. Typically carbon based tracks were employed for many years but when power ratings of several watts are required then the use of a wire wound element is preferable as greater power dissipation is possible.

A local high specification audio amplifier manufacturer needed a high reliability wire wound potentiometer to act as  a volume control in one of their amplifier designs. The potentiometer required a 2.2 watt rating and the AW potentiometer was deemed to be a suitable candidate as it […]

April 20th, 2015|Resistor Applications, wire wound potentiometer|

Precision Wire Wound Resistors

Wire Wound Resistors Requiring High Power And Precision
Certain applications in electrical or electronic design call for a combination of:

High power rating
Tight tolerance on the resistance winding
Wire wound construction

Obtaining all three of these requirements in a resistor calls for a unique type of resistor construction. The ASW series precision wire wound resistors have been used extensively for applications in industries ranging from power conversion, U.P.S. manufacture, lighting control, motor drive circuits (both a.c. and d.c.) and transportation.

With power ratings available in 1.5 watts, 3 watts, 6.5 watts, 8 watts and 11 watts these power resistors have an available tolerance as low […]