How Can I Quiet Down The Hum Of An AF 22035 175W Transformer?

[MickeyDemian]

Hello:

  I am looking for ideas from the pool of experience out there on how to quiet the hum on a AF 22035 transformer.  While investigating internally I noted the noise is coming from the stacked metal plates around the coil.  If I squeeze the plates together with my fingers the unit quiets down.  Is there an easy fix to clamp those plates together?  Zip ties?  Any clamping device available?  Please let me know how any of you have addressed this issue.

Thank You For Your Insight

[Major]

In 1964 we ordered directly from AC Gilbert the dual 350 Watt transformer. It humed right out of the box and still does to this day!  It was just the way it was made. As far as I know there is no way to eliminate the hum.

[rrlineman]

Mine has small wood wedges between the core and the metal lamanations. If you have them, then tap them in closer to the center. this will tighten up the windings and the lamanations.

[lionelsoni]

The plates are the core.  In any case, squeezing them together by just about any means you can improvise is harmless.

[MickeyDemian]

  Am I to understand that the core you describe is the center thick copper winding?  The laminations are the thin stacked metal plates surrounding this core that are the source of the humming I hear---right?  Wedging a piece of wood between these two should solve my problem?

[lionelsoni]

The windings are copper wire.  The core is the thin iron plates, which are where the noise is coming from.  Squeeze the iron plates together, however you can, to stop the noise.

[MickeyDemian]

Thank you for the explanation, its much appreciated.

[Banks]

Be careful not to damage the windings while doing it.

[Sturgeon-Phish]

Mickey,

If you try this repair I'd like to know your results.  I'm using a 22090 350w on my layout and it too is noisy.  The transformer is going into an enclosure and I'm going to put some material under the transformer to see if this helps but the wedges should help a lot.  Please provide feedback with your results.

Jim