Hi I have a faulty component on my yag laser simmer supply it is making all kinds of cracking and popping sounds. I have circled it in the attached photo. The supply is made by AMI I am attacking so photos a schematics of a similar unit. The part is maked 3c01 any help is great.
Hello @lpinmem
Welcome to the TechForum
We don’t carry LaserStar as one of our suppliers and I was not able to find information on the part. LaserStar does have a Service Center that does help with repairs, and they may know what that component is.
I also did a search on the 3C81, and it came back to a pair of ferrite cores P42/29-3C81 and P18/11-3C81 but I cannot say for certain if that is the part you circled.
Hi lpinmem,
It looks like the circled part is likely a ferrite “pot core”. The “3C81” refers to the particular ferrite material used – examples of which @anthony_14117 pointed out above. Unfortunately, the two examples he found are obsolete.
Ferrite pot cores are used to make custom-wound inductors and transformers. As such, your component is almost certainly one of those custom parts, which means there would be no standard replacement. One could get a replacement core (if you could find one with same dimensions and the same or very similar material), but one would still need to rewind it properly to have a properly functioning replacement. This article I found might be of interest to you on this topic.
Hi @lpinmem ,
That snap, crackle and pop sound is likely due to arcing inside the transformer, which is caused by damaged insulation. You could attempt to rewind the transformer, although it may be quite a job.
Cheers, heke
