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Excellence in Magnetics and Cost-Effective Manufacturing
Quality
and customer services are the cornerstones upon which TECAL Manufacturing,
LLC of El Paso, Texas, USA, has built its reputation as one of the finest
manufacturers of custom magnetic components in the industry. We are small
enough to be extremely responsive on small-lot, short-run, or prototype
quantities and large enough to handle high-volume, long-run production. TECAL emphasizes quality every step of the way to insure that our output
will meet every standard set by our customers. We chose
the name TECAL in 1983 to express the idea of combining the cost
effectiveness of manufacturing in Texas while utilizing the rapid advances
in technology originating in California. Today, our factory is still in
Texas, but we draw on ideas originating anywhere in the world.
Magnetics means coils and TECAL deals with the full range. Be it
free-standing, intricately shaped air coils, or thousands of turns wound on
a simple plastic bobbin, TECAL can do it. We make coils using wire sizes
compatible with an electrician’s installations (#10 AWG) to those of only 1
or 2 mils (#46 AWG) diameter. We work with insulation systems compatible
with the environment of a motor vehicle or with that of a piece of office
equipment. We package for space flight of for home appliance applications.
A notable
example of our bobbin-wound coil production skills is a two-part coil
combining #40 magnet wire with skeined ends and #21 magnet wire. This coils
is on a 7/8 diameter by 1: long bobbin. Another example is a solenoid coil
on a 5/32” diameter by ½” long bobbin. Both have been made in high volume
over a long period of time.
 Toroid
winding for inductors, choke filters, and transformers is another area where
TECAL has expertise. From units machine-wound ith thousands of turns to
hand-wound subminiature units, TECAL does it. We build toroidal coils where
size, material, and turn count are precisely controlled. We also build units
where tight tolerances require that the turn count be adjusted on virtually
every individual part in order to give specific inductance values at a
desired frequency.
Switch-mode or output transformers for high frequency power supplies are a
special challenge. Performance and efficiency often depend on the uniformity
of the wire layering or the way that the wires are “scramble”, as opposed to
being layered.
TECAL has
solved more than a few customer’s problems because we recognize and
appreciate the effects of such details. Examples of our successes are a
transformer used in and energy-saving fluorescent lamp ballast and an EMI
shielded, multiple voltage transformer used in a special-application
computer.
T ECAL also
makes conventional iron core transformers. We have manufactured a range of
such transformers from 100 pound power transformers with multiple secondaries to units that weigh mere grams and must be assembled under
magnification. We manufacture ferrite pot core transformers of all
configurations.
The
recognition that the inductive components in a modern high frequency
switching power supply are second only to the IC control chip itself has led TECAL to manufacture power supplies for widely diverse applications. TECAL
builds a resonant mode, zero current switching power supply that has proven
to be highly reliable for a computer that controls post-production burn-in
and testing a hard disk drive. The TECAL power supply provides 120 watts
with 7 separate output voltages. This extremely compact power supply is just
75% of the volume of power supplies that are considered small by industry
standards. In order to burn-in and test a high (3500 volts) voltage
multiplier, that we manufacture for a military application, TECAL designed
and build a unique power supply with a 1500 volt, nearly perfect square wave
output at 100 kHz. TECAL’s repertoire includes more than miniaturized, solid
state units. We also have the resources to handle high voltage/high current
applications built into standard or custom enclosures. Less complex power
supplies include our line of modular linear AC-to-DC power supplies with up
to three output voltages in a totally encapsulated package.
 Additionally, TECAL manufactues, EMI/EMC filters for noise suppression of AC
and DC power lines as well as digital data lines. These filters can be built
into power supplies or provided as free-standing, shielded assemblies. Our
special vacuum molding techniques permit us to encapsulate even sensitive
inductive devices without degrading their performance.
TECAL
manufactures to either detailed customer-engineered specifications or to the
broadest description of the customer’s problem. If our own management cannot
translate your “need” statement into a product specification, we have access
to specialist who can. By dealing with design and engineering on this basis,
our customers benefit in two ways. TECAL’s overhead stays low; this allows
us to keep our selling prices competitive with many off-shore locations at
all but the highest production volumes. Then too, the engineering talent is
not locked-in to other things that TECAL is doing. You get state-of-the-art
materials and methods to solve the problem at hand. Our work on systems
gives us a better understanding of our components because we recognize them
as the building-blocks that they are.
TECAL
builds several different voltage multiplier networks for laser and low-light
vision enhancement systems. These networks require special care in isolating
high voltages within extremely small volume, and in component selection for
life and reliability. We have on-site facilities for acceptance test, such
as temperature cycling and burn-in (or life) testing under various
environmental conditions.
Quality is
a production-floor concern at TECAL. The combination of our workers’
exceptional pride of workmanship and up-to-date quality management
techniques has enable us to satisfy even the most demanding customers. We
work comfortably with stringent military specifications or highly
competitive commercial requirements. Most of our employees have been with TECAL for several years, thus we operate effectively with low
supervision-to-labor ratios. When needed to support product development in
the “custom magnetics” segment of our business, our technically trained
management can devote the time necessary to insure the successful conclusion
of a project.
Over the
years much of our business has come by way or referrals; some have come from
customers, others have come from our raw material suppliers, still others
have come from those who provide equipment or services. All of them come
from those who recognize and appreciate TECAL’s attention to detail in every
job that we do.
What can
TECAL Manufacturing, LLC do for you?.... Contact us,
we'll like to earn your business.
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