×
INTELLIGENT WORK FORUMS
FOR ENGINEERING PROFESSIONALS

Log In

Come Join Us!

Are you an
Engineering professional?
Join Eng-Tips Forums!
  • Talk With Other Members
  • Be Notified Of Responses
    To Your Posts
  • Keyword Search
  • One-Click Access To Your
    Favorite Forums
  • Automated Signatures
    On Your Posts
  • Best Of All, It's Free!
  • Students Click Here

*Eng-Tips's functionality depends on members receiving e-mail. By joining you are opting in to receive e-mail.

Posting Guidelines

Promoting, selling, recruiting, coursework and thesis posting is forbidden.

Students Click Here

Jobs

mercury (wetted) slip rings

mercury (wetted) slip rings

mercury (wetted) slip rings

(OP)
Has anyone used mercury slip rings.  12 v 1 amp signal. 1800 rpm / 10 inch diameter

Aside from potential leakage are there any issuew?

Any good  or bad suppliers.

Thanks,

Dan T

RE: mercury (wetted) slip rings

I guess this proves the adage "you learn something every day"

Never have seen mercury slip rings.  Most interesting - can you teach me some stuff about them please?

Just for idle curiosity can you use brushless excitation?

RE: mercury (wetted) slip rings

after responding got curious
I was thinking alternator or synch motor slip rings.
Learned even more - these look kind of handy

try this outfit

Mercotac, Inc.
 Address:  6195 Corte del Cedro, #100, Carlsbad, California 92011
 Telephone:  (760) 431 7723
 Fax:  (760) 431 0905
 Email Sales:  info@mercotac.com
 Email Support:  techsupport@mercotac.com
 Web Site:  http://www.mercotac.com
    

Dan Bentler

 

RE: mercury (wetted) slip rings

I met them on a hermetic package lid welder for military power hybrids. The machine uses two rotating electrodes to pass welding current through the component to be welded.

Picture at http://www.ssecusa.com/ssec2004/pages/hpsp.html

High current pulses of ~1000A or so, voltage would only have been 10V or so. We had a never-ending maintenance battle with this machine. The 'mercury' wasn't actually mercury as I recall, but some other liquid metal alloy without the toxicity problems. The alloy degraded into something with the consistency of lumpy custard and didn't perform it's function of keeping the current off the bearings. I think the housing was nickel plated to prevent the liquid metal reacting or forming an amalgam with the housing. The housing itself was probably brass or bronze. You may wish to check the compatability of the metals you're using.

I think you may find turbulence problems with a 10" disc spinning at 1800rpm. Do you need such a large contact area for such small voltage and current?

----------------------------------

One day my ship will come in.
But with my luck, I'll be at the airport!

RE: mercury (wetted) slip rings

(OP)
The big shaft diameter is driven by other aspects of the machine.  The slip ring size is inherited from the large diameter shaft.

Red Flag This Post

Please let us know here why this post is inappropriate. Reasons such as off-topic, duplicates, flames, illegal, vulgar, or students posting their homework.

Red Flag Submitted

Thank you for helping keep Eng-Tips Forums free from inappropriate posts.
The Eng-Tips staff will check this out and take appropriate action.

Reply To This Thread

Posting in the Eng-Tips forums is a member-only feature.

Click Here to join Eng-Tips and talk with other members!


Resources