What is a Wire Wound Resister : Types and Applications

• A wire-wound resistor is an electrical passive device that limits or restricts current flow in a circuit.
• Wire wound resistors are constructed using a conductive wire. The conductive wire is then wound around a non-conductive core.
• The wounded wire is covered with an insulating material (vitreous enamel), which opposes or blocks the outside heat. This step is taken to achieve high stability.
• Hence, even at high temperatures heat does not enter the wire wound resistor. Thus, the wire wound resistors operate at high temperatures.
• The wire wound resistor is made by winding the metal wire around a metal core. In wire wound resistors, metal wire is used as the resistance element and metal core is used as the non-conductive material.

Resistance of the wire wound resistor depends on

• the resistivity of the metal wire
• length of the metal wire
• the cross-sectional area of the metal wire

Types of Wire Wound Resister

Power wire wound resistor:

• Power wire wound resistors are non-inductive wire wound resistors that operate at high temperatures. These resistors are commonly used for high-power applications.

Precision wire wound resistor:

• Precision wire wound resistor operates at low temperatures with high accuracy. It is used as a precision resistor in instrumentation because of its high accuracy.

Applications of Wire Wound Resister

• Telecommunication, Computers, Audio and video equipment, Medical electronic equipment, Defense and space, Telephone switching systems, Transducers instrumentation, Current and voltage balancing, and Current sensing.