Isolation Transformers, Variacs and Autotransformers

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  • Опубликовано: 24 дек 2024

Комментарии • 98

  • @philstuf
    @philstuf 9 лет назад +35

    I used to live in Dayton, Ohio as a child. Despite leaving there before I was 10, I began taking apart electrical devices (and some even worked when put back together). It is also where I learned what happens when you try to put 3 volt flashlight bulb into a 120 volt night-light base. For some reason, my parents decided to let me learn about electronics via books (only) for a while after that :).
    I am thoroughly enjoying your videos, and they make me want to dust off my electronics workbench.

  • @crocellian2972
    @crocellian2972 9 лет назад +2

    Outstanding work. I especially appreciate your comments regarding safety. I was a rocket builder as a grade school kid. I still have the scars. I wish there was a RUclips then with people like you pointing out safety issues.
    Young people sometimes simply don't know how dangerous things like variable autotransformers can be.

  • @TheSageDad
    @TheSageDad 10 лет назад +2

    This was an excellent tutorial series. Although I'm not from Dayton Ohio, I'm from the neighboring state of Pennsylvania... and sadly don't know anything about the company you mentioned.
    I love how you get into the details rather than skimming over them. I'm a novice EE garage-type hacker and it is great to see down to earth people like you make great content.
    I got married just outside of Munich, and can't wait to get back to Germany...

    • @ThePostApocalypticInventor
      @ThePostApocalypticInventor  10 лет назад +6

      Cool to know that there still are "garage type hackers" out there. Love it how the internet finally gave us a place to meet. Only a couple of years back I never could have reached you and others who live so far away.
      Bavaria is beautiful and it must be a good place to marry :). Hope you will find the time to visit Germany again.

  • @georgelewisray
    @georgelewisray 10 лет назад +2

    (1) excellently educational and scientifically entertaining.
    (b) happy 1st apocalyptic anniversary
    (iii) any video you choose to make is welcomed here, thanks much.
    (4) you caused some of the pieces of my physics education to fall into place 25 years after the fact and I am excited now to use the new knowledge/understanding.

  • @frac
    @frac 9 лет назад +33

    I learned more than one or two things. Excellent video (as always). Great work.

  • @fejfish1955
    @fejfish1955 9 лет назад +16

    Excellent teaching very much appreciated. Many thanks.

  • @marcuswilliamobrien
    @marcuswilliamobrien 10 лет назад +1

    I know the apprentice's wont believe that you can touch the live wire without getting a shock even if you touch earth as well, you have to prove it to them. But never touch the live and neutral of the isolation transformer (as you said in the video).
    Like you say earthing arrangements can be very different.
    I mess about with the amateur radio and have earth rods in the garden, and with the PME system the house earth is really only a connection to the neutral at the house incomer, but if the neutral got damaged externally and was lost, maybe the whole streets neutral load might try and return to the star point of the transformer via my earth rods due to the fact that the earth and neural are connected together. Its never happened so far thank the lord.
    Thanks for the great stuff,
    All the best

  • @sheep1ewe
    @sheep1ewe 9 лет назад +3

    I realy holding my thumbs up for Your projects!
    Your channel is clearly one of the best on RUclips.

  • @gylkag
    @gylkag 10 лет назад +2

    Thank you very much for videos. You explain everything so well and showing direct examples and how can something go wrong - very educational. Thank you and thumb up!

  • @commadore129
    @commadore129 9 лет назад +16

    I'm from Dayton, Ohio U.S.A. there were a lot of different industries around the area from the Wright brothers to aero space. Let me know if you want to know more.

  • @christheother9088
    @christheother9088 10 лет назад +2

    Excellent. Learning this stuff with just trial and error could be VERY exciting.

  • @radiotech181
    @radiotech181 10 лет назад +3

    Excellent video on Transformers!! Thank you for taking the time to make this video!

  • @aristidasvilkaitis1732
    @aristidasvilkaitis1732 9 лет назад +1

    Great job and great videos. Can't wait for your part 3 of the DC motor series. Keep on shooting!

  • @gatispastars
    @gatispastars 10 лет назад +1

    Danke schön von Lettland! Great video! It realy helped to understand things better.

  • @NikolaosLedZeppelin
    @NikolaosLedZeppelin 10 лет назад +2

    8:39 the earth reference of the (+) or (-) after the bridge rectifier is Vdc/2 so for 325V in respect to earth you will get 160V for either pole. In europe this DC voltage considered safe under DIN VDE 0100-410(VDE 0100-410):2007-06)

  • @Cnctrldotcom
    @Cnctrldotcom 10 лет назад +7

    Excellent video, I wish it had been around when I was building the power supply for my CNC machine and kept tripping the breaker due to the inrush current on the transformer.

  • @Lactuca
    @Lactuca 10 лет назад +7

    Your sense of style is immaculate. Though its usually a toss-up for me between early cold war industrial and turn-of-the-last-century laboratory equipment (of which I have a modest collection). Wood, brass and soapstone are wonderful things

    • @ThePostApocalypticInventor
      @ThePostApocalypticInventor  10 лет назад +5

      Lettuce I'm absolutely on your side! If I had free choice of materials and the necesarry wherewithal I would most probably refashion the entire house in the "turn of the century style".

  • @ericrobertson9569
    @ericrobertson9569 10 лет назад +1

    Thank you please keep them coming.

  • @Ecobion
    @Ecobion 10 лет назад +1

    Another excellently explained video.

  • @redalanvong
    @redalanvong 10 лет назад +2

    I love your channel. Keep up a good work!

  • @roadeycarl
    @roadeycarl 9 лет назад +1

    Your video's and explanations are really great! Thank you.

  • @fboo3232
    @fboo3232 10 лет назад +1

    This was 'Deep' for me but very interesting. I just purchased my first variac. Superior Electric Powerstat- Input 120v , Output 140V -10Amp. I need to learn more about these Isolation Transformers and if I need one in series with my variac.
    Thanks

    • @ThePostApocalypticInventor
      @ThePostApocalypticInventor  10 лет назад +1

      Fred Bookhoop Hey. It is possible to use a variac without an isolation transformer and I have seen many people do that. But you should be awarw of the risks involved.

  • @jagardina
    @jagardina 8 лет назад +4

    Check out Mr. Carlson's Lab for some videos on old tube radio repair. For his isolation, current limiting set up, look for the video "Big Dim Bulb Tester with Variac and Isolation Transformer".

  • @deangreenhough3479
    @deangreenhough3479 10 лет назад

    Great video. You have a gift kind sir. Your English is mesmerising and very precise. Well done and Happy Birthday. More videos please

  • @xxJerry19xx
    @xxJerry19xx 10 лет назад +1

    You can also use instead of soft-starter solid state relay with zero crossing switching. If you will use such relay it wil always wait for first zero crosing of voltage and switch it on in this moment. Just for information. Because probably it is more expensive option. And also it is effective only if there is no capacitor after rectifier on sec. side.
    And also I think, that it is good idea to put there socket for 100W lightbulb and switch with can short this bulb. And connect this socket in series with output. Sometimes this is better like circuit breaker. For example during repairing SMPS. :) Cold lightbulb is only like small resistor and after you will short something it just light lightbulb up without big sparks etc. And for low loads on tested SMPS it is no problem. If you need to load it more and test it if it works on full load you must short this lightbulb of course.
    BTW: Great video again.

    • @ThePostApocalypticInventor
      @ThePostApocalypticInventor  10 лет назад

      xxJerry19xx Thanks for the information. I actually do have such a "series lightbulb" with a socket. I used it from time to time for repair jobs.

    • @Michalmas64
      @Michalmas64 9 лет назад +2

      +xxJerry19xx Don't use zero crossing switching relay with a transformer - it will guarantee large inrush current surge. Transformer should be switched on while the instantaneous voltage is at its peak value. See explanation here: www.ibiblio.org/kuphaldt/electricCircuits/AC/AC_9.html#xtocid1085420

  • @glenstertx
    @glenstertx 9 лет назад +1

    Thank you very much for a series of excellent videos! :-)

  • @theDaftman
    @theDaftman 9 лет назад +2

    Thank you for all your time. Refresher course
    for me. Well explained and nice theory.

  • @tectalabyss
    @tectalabyss 10 лет назад +1

    Thank you very much for your very well done and very informative video. I am looking for war to your next one.
    All the best.
    Bobby

  • @drstrangelove09
    @drstrangelove09 9 лет назад +2

    Excellent video! Thank you! :)

  • @FRRRRAAANNK
    @FRRRRAAANNK 9 лет назад +3

    Thanks so much. I learned alot.

  • @Ogma3bandcamp
    @Ogma3bandcamp 10 лет назад +1

    Worth checking out John Ward's excellent series on Variac restoration.
    Search for 'Claude Lyons / Zenith 8A Variac Refurbishment'.

  • @michaelsteyn8797
    @michaelsteyn8797 9 лет назад +2

    Thank you well explained

  • @6Diego1Diego9
    @6Diego1Diego9 8 лет назад +46

    jesus christ how do you know so much?

  • @guyfromsac1
    @guyfromsac1 9 лет назад +1

    Another nice video.

  • @RossPotts
    @RossPotts 10 лет назад +1

    Interesting video. At 5:45, I see you're using a jigsaw for your holes. Have you considered a bimetal hole saw, like is used to install for locks? It would be more precise with basically no faceted sides to the large holes

    • @ThePostApocalypticInventor
      @ThePostApocalypticInventor  10 лет назад +1

      Yeah having something like that would of course be great! With the drills I own at this moment I can't make holes with a diameter larger than 30mm. Once I have some money to spare, I will buy some of those hole saws.

    • @andreisima1977
      @andreisima1977 9 лет назад +1

      The Post Apocalyptic Inventor
      Let me see if i got some hole saws around my garage. Thou it might be futile because i saw may ex girlfriend now my wife to be called messing around there and trying to "tidy up" some stuff (when the wife will learn that only us are entitled to tidy up OUR OWN stuff).
      I will take a look any way and if i have them i will mail them to you. I do not need them anymore because near me is a milling shop, and i became a friend with the owner.
      Cheers from Romania. BTW Bavaria is a good place to drink beer 'und wurst essen' not to get marry (any place is good for marry stuff actions).
      And almost forgot that in Bavaria germans used to build a very nice car. Now China seems a good place for that to (neeeeah).

    • @ThePostApocalypticInventor
      @ThePostApocalypticInventor  9 лет назад +2

      Hey thank you. That is a very nice offer :)
      You can reach me under my donation mail-adresse. You can find it in the "about" section of my channel. Kind regards from Germany :)

  • @steveone
    @steveone 10 лет назад +1

    Happy Birthday PAI ! Most impressed with your latest vid . Did you use the German variac in this transformer ? This variac looks like what I need . Was it a one off or are there more available ? Regards .

    • @ThePostApocalypticInventor
      @ThePostApocalypticInventor  10 лет назад +1

      Thank you !
      The German variac (220V, 4A) is part of the second unit that you could see in the very beginning of the video.
      In the unit that i presented in this video I used an even larger variac (230V, 10A).
      I bought the variacs on ebay. Thus I have only the ones shown in the video. They are quiet expensive, when you buy them as new parts.

  • @ThingsWhichArentWork
    @ThingsWhichArentWork 10 лет назад +1

    Excellent video - thank you. I am about halfway through building my own isolation+variac setup myself, so this video was perfectly timed for me. Would this kind of setup benefit from the addition of an optional high-wattage fillament bulb in series with the input? I have a vague memory that I saw this kind of setup a long long time ago in a TV Repair shop (yeah... back then people actually used to repair those things)... I think the theory was that the filament bulb had very low resistance when it was cold, so would let the power flow to the device-under-test, but if the DUT was a dead-short or something like that, then the bulb would just light up instead... It seems a very simple way of providing a current limit on the output as you can swap the light bulbs to a different wattage to get different current limit values. Cheers!!

    • @ThePostApocalypticInventor
      @ThePostApocalypticInventor  10 лет назад +1

      Hey. Good to know that there are actucally still other people who work on similar projects.
      I used that old light bulb trick a couple of times in the past. I repaired an audio power amp, it began to oscillate wildly and drew very high currents. The series lightbulb which acts as a thermistor in this case helped to limit the current and prevented the power stage from self destruction. But I would not integrate that into the isolation transformer unit. I have a separate wire with a bulb and a socket for that exact purpose. And yes! For repair jobs it makes a good addition to an isolation transformer !

    • @ThingsWhichArentWork
      @ThingsWhichArentWork 10 лет назад +2

      The Post Apocalyptic Inventor It was seeing your two 15 Ohm resistors on the input with the relays across them which gave me that 'lightbulb moment' :)

  • @niuxx
    @niuxx 10 лет назад

    Greetings from dayton Ohio. The birth place of aviation.
    :)

    • @ThePostApocalypticInventor
      @ThePostApocalypticInventor  10 лет назад +1

      Yes! How cool. Someone from Dayton actually watched the video within the first few hours :D. I love the internet !
      Thanks for leaving the comment !

  • @IbrahimAbdAllatif
    @IbrahimAbdAllatif 9 лет назад +3

    Thanks for your great videos and your effort. Would you please recommend me a book about SMPS that will teach me every thing I'll need to build one myself ?

  • @missionscrapprwill7530
    @missionscrapprwill7530 9 лет назад +3

    i Really Admire Yo Electrical/Digital Control Knowledge, do u hav a video how to fx a Flat Screen TV, i found 3tvs on street, i tryin see if i had enuf buy 1 by Christmas but if i can troubleshoot/fx it then no need. 2 tvs screen is cracked, anthr wont come on but red lite does. Got Advice?

  • @sim6699
    @sim6699 9 лет назад +2

    Could you not add an rcd after the isolation transformer?

  • @Gunbudder
    @Gunbudder 9 лет назад

    This is fantastic

  • @brice9613
    @brice9613 8 лет назад +15

    1 € for an old radio that is a good deal

  • @alexpaww
    @alexpaww 10 лет назад

    Thank you for this video!

  • @marcuswilliamobrien
    @marcuswilliamobrien 10 лет назад +1

    Very nice video, very interesting.
    I see the output earth was removed and the connection cut off was that needed?
    I while back I thought I would check the output earth connection on an isolation transformer we use at work and was surprised to find the earth from the input was actually carried though to the output connection. I thought it was faulty but when you think about it, no current could flow to that earth via your isolated supply, but if some other external supply happen to touch the metal framework of what ever you were feeding from your isolated supply, it would still act as a safety ground and blow the fuse. It would stop the whole lot sitting there live if a fault from another source happen to liven up the framework.

    • @ThePostApocalypticInventor
      @ThePostApocalypticInventor  10 лет назад +1

      Mark Lee It always depends on the circumstances what is save and what is not. In the case you discribed earthing the output socket would of course be of advantage. But as I tried to show in part 1, there are situations where the whole earthing system can work against you. At the end of the day, the regualtions which are in place try to avoid dangers under the most probable circumstances. Regulations in Germany say that the output sockets are not to be
      connected to the PE. The enclosure only when the unit is not mobile but
      stationary.

  • @xsterawesome
    @xsterawesome 9 лет назад +1

    My only question is why a 555 timer and not a microcontroller?
    microcontrollers are just so cheap and easy to implement these days plus you would be able to change delay timer on the fly and you could implement thermal protection and/or temperature readout.

    • @robbmg9716
      @robbmg9716 8 лет назад +5

      +xsterawesome I think the answer is the question itself - why?
      Why go and program it and what not, when you can hook up a resistor and a cap and be done with it?
      He also did implement thermal protection in a safer way, an actual thermal switch.

  • @jdennee
    @jdennee 9 лет назад

    Really great video!!!

  • @xDR1TeK
    @xDR1TeK 10 лет назад +3

    This!!!! Is engineering in the making. My life is so empty.

  • @BorisZech
    @BorisZech 9 лет назад +1

    I have an isolation transformer which has PE on the sockets on the secondary. This PE is even connected to mains PE. Can someone explain?

  • @ronaldschild157
    @ronaldschild157 8 лет назад +3

    You have a very nice handwriting. Is this still taught in German primary education? Here in the U.S. most public primary schools are abandoning the teaching of cursive writing in favor of keyboard skills.
    I'm not from Ohio but I have seen and heard of Staco over the years. I think this company is now re-branding itself as an "energy products" company but the transformer market is still its foundation.

  • @two_number_nines
    @two_number_nines 9 лет назад +3

    why microwave transformers dont use the autotransformer trick?

  • @funkyironman69
    @funkyironman69 9 лет назад

    Hey, what is a safe way to test that the output is properly isolated from mains earth?

  • @Timme9515
    @Timme9515 10 лет назад

    geiles Video weiter so!

  • @JeffRatliffhome
    @JeffRatliffhome 10 лет назад

    I lived in Dayton OH for a while. Looks like Staco Energy is still around. Their website is stacoenergy.com. They've expanded their product line a little bit. You can see the factory on Google street view at 301 Gaddis Blvd, Dayton, OH. I've been through that area and there are several small factories there. A "small" factory may mean something different to you than to me though.

    • @ThePostApocalypticInventor
      @ThePostApocalypticInventor  10 лет назад

      Jeff Ratliff Hey thank you very much. I will check the street view. We have some large factories in Germany too, but it's right that it's the small and midsized corporations which are the backbone of our industry.

  • @radajan6
    @radajan6 9 лет назад +1

    I got hold of a nice 120Vac (US made) 1kVA autotransformer, can I use it on 230Vac mains? Although I can guess your answer... the enamel insulated wire should have higher breakdown voltage than 325Vpp. The peak current and wire diameter of my transformer should be more than enough for 230V and hence peak magnetic flux should be smaller so the magnetics should be fine. Is the wire insulation the only issue and why some manufacturers make 2 models for 120Vac and 230Vac autotransformer, couldn't it be the same part?

  • @krampdrucker1753
    @krampdrucker1753 9 лет назад +3

    From your video I learned so much in such a short period!
    Remanence explanation was perfect, and finally cleared up the last details in my mind.
    One question: Does the phase difference on the output of an isolation transformer, with respect to mains current, cause in weird circumstances, a voltage potential that can shock and damage components and people, and would a double isolation potentially reduce this voltage potential to zero (phase difference of 180 deg)?

  • @b5a5m5
    @b5a5m5 9 лет назад +11

    "DUI Projects" HAH I hope that doesn't stand for Do It Yourself under the influence projects. that could end very badly :)

    • @ThePostApocalypticInventor
      @ThePostApocalypticInventor  9 лет назад +34

      +BAM5 Well... Me personally: I have done lots of "DUI-Projects" :D. But I recommend my viewers to do the drinking AFTER the work is done.

  • @vicudobre5100
    @vicudobre5100 9 лет назад +1

    hi there. how to make a 12v battery to 19v laptop with out using 220v

  • @mdesm2005
    @mdesm2005 10 лет назад

    I'll be dam ... Remanent hun .. I never knew.. Thanks.

  • @chrisgandy4977
    @chrisgandy4977 9 лет назад

    "... is comprised of ..." in many places. Shouldn't that should be "... comprises ...' or "... is composed of ..."?

    • @ThePostApocalypticInventor
      @ThePostApocalypticInventor  9 лет назад

      +Chris Gandy I'm not sure if "comprised of" would be used by language purists, but I have read and heard it many times:
      en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comprised_of

    • @chrisgandy4977
      @chrisgandy4977 9 лет назад

      +The Post Apocalyptic Inventor
      That Wikipedia entry appears to be about what seems to be known now as US English and that may be the origin of what you've read and heard. The UK English dictionary in my computer (US designed OSX) states: 'Comprise primarily means ‘consist of’, as in the country comprises twenty states. It can also mean ‘constitute or make up a whole’, as in this single breed comprises 50 per cent of the Swiss cattle population. When this sense is used in the passive (as in the country is comprised of twenty states), it is more or less synonymous with the first sense ( the country comprises twenty states). This usage is part of standard English, but the construction comprise of, as in the property comprises of bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen, is regarded as incorrect.'

  • @dcacmc3693
    @dcacmc3693 10 лет назад

    Hello, Sir. As a matter of fact, I live in Ohio and Dayton is only 25 mins from me. I do not own any of their products, but From what I've heard, Staco is a fairly reparable company. Here is their website if you wish to look into them www.stacoenergy.com
    Best regards to you as well, my friend. Keep up the good work, I've been watching your videos repeatedly and learning a lot of useful information.

    • @ThePostApocalypticInventor
      @ThePostApocalypticInventor  10 лет назад +1

      DCACMC369 Hey thank you for the comment. I love it when people write me from the places where the things were made that I'm working with in my workshop. As for Staco: Indeed. I checked their website and they are doing a lot of interesting stuff in the field of power electronics, like buidling uninterruptable power supplies for instance. Exactly my kind of thing !

  • @JulianPicht
    @JulianPicht 10 лет назад

    You forgot to post the EEVBlog Link: ruclips.net/video/xaELqAo4kkQ/видео.html

    • @ThePostApocalypticInventor
      @ThePostApocalypticInventor  10 лет назад +2

      Thanks! I was dead tired when I finally uploaded the video. But now I added the link :)

  • @ZenPunk
    @ZenPunk 10 лет назад

    You might not have noticed, but towards the beginning of the video you pronounce the "I" in "DIY" in the German way...I think this might confuse your English-speaking viewers.

    • @ThePostApocalypticInventor
      @ThePostApocalypticInventor  10 лет назад

      Zen Punk Yeah you're right. I'll better make an annotation for that. Thanks for telling me !

  • @Anon-hs9py
    @Anon-hs9py 10 лет назад

    Du klingst so Deutsch