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AKesh

Control Panel Transformer Question

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Hello All, A transformer produces a lot of noise. The noise is dissipated 1/r^2. If I have a 480 v to 120 1500 VA transformer how far away to does have to be height and width from the wire duct / PLC / I/O? Do I have to mount it into an external panel? I have searched and searched but I cant find any documentation on this topic. For example, my VFD recommends a 2 inch gap between itself and other equipment and a 4 inch gap between the top and bottom wire ducts. Would this be roughly suitable for a transformer? The transformer has 3x the current of my VFD. Does that mean it should be a little bit farther? Thank you

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What most people are referring to when they use the term "noise," is actually eddy currents produced by a magnetic field within close proximity. In it's purist form, what happens is that a magnetic field creates mutual inductance into an adjacent conductor. Eddy currents are defined as any current that flows opposite to the standard current flow at any given point. Keeping that in mind, transformers are built to keep the magnetic field in as close proximity to the transformer as possible. Knowing transformers are not 100% efficient, one of these reasons is flux leakage, which is what you're concerned with. Flux leakage is not something you should need to worry about when locating your CCT's in your panels. The real culprit of disaster is heat. The reason VFD's and CCT,s need room between them and wiring ducts is for cooling purposes, not necessarily noise. If your wiring duct is mounted at a safe distance that your transformer is not going to pass unnecessary heat onto the wiring duct, then you should have no flux leakage issues to worry about either. As a general rule of thumb, we mount anything larger than 750va outside of the panel. Especially if we have VFD's inside. No sense in added heat in a panel with drives.
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