Hi Joe, I guess it's going to depend on the amount of current you need to get enough repulsion. 5V will give you 10A max, 12V will give you 24 etc. If you use the equation V=3DLdi/dt then for 65uH and 5V supply, the current will initially increase at 5/65 A/uS or about 76A/mS. This will be ultimately limited by the DC resistance to 10A but the field may be further limited if the core saturates. If the core does saturate, the inductance will drop and the current will increase even faster. So no, for a 10mS pulse, the inductance will not be a significant factor. Pick a supply voltage that gives the performance you need. Richard P On 7 April 2012 14:54, IVP wrote: > Hi all, > > as part of a project I need to energise an electromagnet to > repel a permanent magnet. The pulse will be fairly short, > probably a few 10's of milliseconds, at a rate of about 0.5Hz > > The electromagnet is 200 turns of 0.7mm enamelled copper > wire on a 7mm soft iron rod. DC inductance is 65uH. To > energise it I'd have the coil as the high-side load for a FET > or BJT (eg power Darlington, TIP12x) driven by a PIC > > Need to make a decision re PSU and reservoir caps to use > > Would I be right in thinking that a higher voltage would be > better for the switching component and the PSU because the > amperage will be less for the same pulse wattage or is the > inductance going to play some part in this ? > > TIA > > Joe > -- > http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive > View/change your membership options at > http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist --=20 http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist .