Cyclopedia of Telephony and Telegraphy, Vol. 1 / A General Reference Work on Telephony, etc. etc.

by American School of Correspondence

It is to be understood that in Table III the wire referred to is bare wire and is of pure copper. It is not commercially practicable to use absolutely pure copper, and the ordinary magnet wire has a conductivity equal to about 98 per cent of that of pure copper. The figures given in this table are sufficiently accurate for all ordinary practical purposes.

Silk and Cotton Insulation. The insulating material usually employed for covering magnet wire is of silk or cotton. Of these, silk is by far the better material for all ordinary purposes, since it has a much higher insulating property than cotton, and is very much thinner. Cotton, however, is largely employed, particularly in the larger sizes of magnet wire. Both of these materials possess the disadvantage of being hygroscopic, that is, of readily absorbing moisture. This disadvantage is overcome in many cases by saturating the coil after it is wound in some melted insulating compound, such as wax or varnish or asphaltum, which will solidify on cooling. Where the coils are to be so saturated the best practice is to place them in a vacuum chamber and exhaust the air, after which the hot insulating compound is admitted and is thus drawn into the innermost recesses of the winding space.

Silk-insulated wire, as regularly produced, has either one or two layers of silk. This is referred to commercially as single silk wire or as double silk wire. The single silk has a single layer of silk fibers wrapped about it, while the double silk has a double layer, the two layers being put on in reverse direction. The same holds true of cotton insulated wire. Frequently, also, there is a combination of the two, consisting of a single or a double wrapping of silk next to the wire with an outer wrapping of cotton. Where this is done the cotton serves principally as a mechanical protection for the silk, the principal insulating properties residing in the silk.

Enamel. A later development in the insulation of magnet wire has resulted in the so-called enamel wire. In this, instead of coating the wire with some fibrous material such as silk or cotton, the wire is heated and run through a bath of fluid insulating material or liquid enamel, which adheres to the wire in a very thin coating. The wire is then run through baking ovens, so that the enamel is baked on. This process is repeated several times so that a number of these thin layers of the enamel are laid on and baked in succession.

The characteristics sought in good enamel insulation for magnet wire may be thus briefly set forth: It is desirable for the insulation to possess the highest insulating qualities; to have a glossy, flawless surface; to be hard without being brittle; to adhere tenaciously and stand all reasonable handling without cracking or flaking; to have a coefficient of elasticity greater than the wire itself; to withstand high temperatures; to be moisture-proof and inert to corrosive agencies; and not to "dry out" or become brittle over a long period of time.

Space Utilization. The utilization of the winding space in an electromagnet is an important factor in design, since obviously the copper or other conductor is the only part of the winding that is effective in setting up magnetizing force. The space occupied by the insulation is, in this sense, waste space. An ideally perfect winding may be conceived as one in which the space is all occupied by wire; and this would necessarily involve the conception of wire of square cross-section and insulation of infinite thinness. In such a winding there would be no waste of space and a maximum amount of metal employed as a conductor. Of course, such a condition is not possible to attain and in practice some insulating material must be introduced between the layers of wire and between the adjacent convolutions of wire. The ratio of the space occupied by the conductor to the total space occupied by the winding, that is, by the conductor and the insulation, is called the coefficient of space utilization of the coil. For the ideal coil just conceived the coefficient of space utilization would be 1. Ordinarily the coefficient of space utilization is greater for coarse wire than for fine wire, since obviously the ratio of the diameter of the wire to the thickness of the insulation increases as the size of the wire grows larger.

The chief advantage of enamel insulation for magnet wire is its thinness, and the high coefficient of space utilization which may be secured by its use. In good enamel wire the insulation will average about one-quarter the thickness of the standard single silk insulation, and the dielectric strength is equal or greater. Where economy of winding space is desirable the advantages of this may readily be seen. For instance, in a given coil wound with No. 36 single silk wire about one-half of the winding space is taken up with the insulation, whereas when the same coil is wound with No. 36 enameled wire only about one-fifth of the winding space is taken up by the insulation. Thus the coefficient of space utilization is increased from .50 to .80. The practical result of this is that, in the case of any given winding space where No. 36 wire is used, about 60 per cent more turns can be put on with enameled wire than with single silk insulation, and of course this ratio greatly increases when the comparison is made with double silk insulation or with cotton insulation. Again, where it is desired to reduce the winding space and keep the same number of turns, an equal number of turns may be had with a corresponding reduction of winding space where enameled wire is used in place of silk or cotton.

In the matter of heat-resisting properties the enameled wire possesses a great advantage over silk and cotton. Cotton or silk insulation will char at about 260° Fahrenheit, while good enameled wire will stand 400° to 500° Fahrenheit without deterioration of the insulation. It is in the matter of liability to injury in rough or careless handling, or in winding coils having irregular shapes, that enamel wire is decidedly inferior to silk or cotton-covered wire. It is likely to be damaged if it is allowed to strike against the sharp corners of the magnet spool during winding, or run over the edge of a hard surface while it is being fed on to the spool. Coils having other than round cores, or having sharp corners on their spool heads, should not ordinarily be wound with enamel wire.

The dielectric strength of enamel insulation is much greater than that of either silk or cotton insulation of equal thickness. This is a distinct advantage and frequently a combination of the two kinds of insulation results in a superior wire. If wire insulated with enamel is given a single wrapping of silk or of cotton, the insulating and dielectric properties of the enamel is secured, while the presence of the silk and cotton affords not only an additional safeguard against bare spots in the enamel but also a certain degree of mechanical protection to the enamel.

Winding Methods. In winding a coil, the spool, after being properly prepared, is placed upon a spindle which may be made to revolve rapidly. Ordinarily the wire is guided on by hand; sometimes, however, machinery is used, the wire being run over a tool which moves to and fro along the length of the spool, just fast enough to lay the wire on at the proper rate. The movement of this tool is much the same as that of the tool in a screw cutting lathe.