Wire wound resistors have been used for many years in heavy industry in a huge array of applications where the need to dissipate a large amount of power in a resistive assembly is required. A recent application that required a 200 watt power resistor was in the mining industry where large electric motors used in the drive chain of coal conveyor belts, employed large capacitors that needed to be discharged safely and efficiently and required a suitable wire wound resistor capable of handling significant amounts of electrical energy during their discharge.
Mounting Considerations
The client had advised us that due to the nature of the conveyor belt operation, that significant vibration was likely to be ‘encountered’ by the wire wound resistor in this application. By supplying the HO series tubular wire wound resistor with our spring loaded horizontal mounting feet, the client was able to successfully mount the resistor into the conveyor belt control box in a way that allowed the resistors to work reliably with a considerable amount of vibration.
Reliability Of Resistor Construction
Reliability of electrical components is absolutely critical in the mining industry, as ‘down time’ is extremely costly to the mining 
companies. The ‘HO’ series resistor has, in this application, proved to be the ideal resistor to discharge the motor capacitors. The reliability of this wire wound resistor series is attributed to the following factors:
- High temperature and overload performance. These resistors can withstand temperatures of 1000 degree C and display excellent short term overload characteristics.
- Moisture resistant resistor coating. This ensures the resistor assembly can tolerate the high humidity environments often experienced by the mining industry.
Customisation
Because these resistors are manufactured here in Australia, we can ensure the resistance winding is wound to the clients required resistance value (within our specified tolerances). This ensures correct electrical operation within the clients circuit.