Are inductor kits worthwhile?

Obviously having a few resistor and capacitor kits are a must-have and there are a huge variety to choose from on eBay and Amazon as well as the professional suppliers. I have several of each now. It looks like inductors are a different matter. There aren't nearly as many choices out there and they seem to fall into a few categories: 1. Very expensive for the ones that can have large values, 2. Surface mount components with very small values, 3. Inexpensive ones with medium range values that are packaged like fat resistors.

  1. http://www.ebay.com/itm/271093655595 (damn, these are works of art)
  2. http://www.ebay.com/itm/200862599522
  3. http://www.ebay.com/itm/130819879981

Are these kits worthwhile to have? In a way, I already know the answer. It's been no for me. I am constantly reaching for the capacitor and resistor kits but never for the non-existing inductor kit. But I know of a few parts that I might want to use that require an external inductor like the LT1370 boost converter. Is having a kit a good idea or is a better idea buying some ferrite toroid cores and magnet wire and making your own as necessary?

Aside from amateur radio and other RF applications, there are only a few common uses in electronics for inductors, mostly:

  1. Removing noise from power supplies. You may want to keep a few low-current inductors for this purpose, typically 33 to 100 uF uH with current ratings of 50 to 200mA.

  2. For switch mode voltage regulators. In this case, there are many parameters to choose from, and an inductor kit is unlikely to include the type you need for a particular application.

So IMO it's not worth getting an inductor kit unless you design switch mode regulators for a living.

dc42:

  1. Removing noise from power supplies. You may want to keep a few low-current inductors for this purpose, typically 33 to 100uF with current ratings of 50 to 200mA.

Are you sure they measure inductors in Farads...?

fungus:

dc42:

  1. Removing noise from power supplies. You may want to keep a few low-current inductors for this purpose, typically 33 to 100uF with current ratings of 50 to 200mA.

Are you sure they measure inductors in Farads...?

LOL, they must be super inductors.

Lefty

fungus:

dc42:

  1. Removing noise from power supplies. You may want to keep a few low-current inductors for this purpose, typically 33 to 100uF with current ratings of 50 to 200mA.

Are you sure they measure inductors in Farads...?

Ha, I read this as microhenry without even noticing that. I bet DC42 wrote it the same way. Inductors are used a lot less often than capacitors but both are usually measured in nano, micro, milli. Easy mistake.

Not worth it. The exact value you need, in the specs you need, is probably not there.

Besides, these are unshielded... barfs EMI everywhere.

vasquo:
Not worth it. The exact value you need, in the specs you need, is probably not there.

Besides, these are unshielded... barfs EMI everywhere.

Are all three considered to be unshielded or just the inductors on my top link? What is an example of an inductor with good shielding?

I have seen these used these on a nixie tube boost switcher - http://www.tayloredge.com/storefront/SmartNixie/PSU/1363.jpg. This has an unshielded inductor on it. It works great. Was I irritating my neighbors when I was running this? :grin:

fungus:

dc42:

  1. Removing noise from power supplies. You may want to keep a few low-current inductors for this purpose, typically 33 to 100uF with current ratings of 50 to 200mA.

Are you sure they measure inductors in Farads...?

Too much Christmas spirit I guess! I've corrected it now.

dc42:
Too much Christmas spirits I guess! I've corrected it now.

Fixed. ]:smiley:

On a serious note, though, thank you for your detailed answer. I read it as you had intended it to mean.

tumblr_md3p3jrkzi1qi4ajvo1_500.gif

What is an example of an inductor with good shielding?

There's 8,000+ examples of shielded inductors on Mouser.com, available in both SMD and TH versions.

Was I irritating my neighbors when I was running this?

No, not that bad.
But say you have an audio application and depending on the distance between the inductors and your sensitive audio circuit, the shielded version makes a dramatic difference.