In many cases, products needing some extra EMC attention are too large to bring into the lab. In this month’s success story, our Schaffner troubleshooters work remotely to save a client from a catastrophic shutdown.
A Mystery in Germany
A Schaffner customer was installing a large induction heating system in a facility in Germany. The crew detected high readings of emissions radiating from the cabinets. The site had specifications on the maximum limit of radio frequencies allowed in the environment.
This left the customer line down: the project could not continue until they resolved the issue.
Having already found responsive support on a different project, the customer asked for Schaffner’s expertise again. Was there a way to limit the noise at the source and contain it within the cabinet?
Dave and Amir Investigate
Schaffner technical experts Dave Armitage and Amir Majedi travelled to the client’s headquarters in Rochester, NY and spent several days troubleshooting remotely with the installation team on site.
Dave and Amir suggested different internal filters and ring cores inside the product in various configurations and locations. They suspected the noise originated from the system’s internal high-speed IGBTs.
After much trial and error, a solution emerged. The Schaffner team placed 3-Phase Filters close to the high-speed switching circuits and upgraded the cabinets’ RF seals.
Heroes in the Making
The combination of the filter and gasketing took the levels of emissions below the required threshold.
These heroic efforts solidified the perception at the site that Dave and Amir were EMC experts – which of course they are.
The inductive heaters now incorporate FN3270H filters from Schaffner in their design and are headed for huge sales and many more successful installations.
MORE POWER TO YOU!