Taking apart a large transformer

[Gymy Bob]

This just implies that he posted information without even knowing much about the subject matter. This wreaks of M II again. This is her style.

[Gymy Bob]

LOL. These are standard electrolytic capacitors and have no PCBs in them!

However the metal cans at the back may have. Careful with them.

[Stormin Mormon]

Friend of mine used to harvest the coils off the back of picture tubes from TV's. He'd smash the black iron out with a hammer, and compact t he copper parts.

[john johnson]

I've work with tranformers for over 27 years, and most them are I filled. I've seen lots of windings and laminations, its pretty easy once they come out of their tank.

regards,

John

[Martin H. Eastburn]

Simply add Tin and you have a Bronze of some sort. Copper is worth it to me. I have a fist with of backplane buss line copper that is 1/8 to 1/4" thick. So after I move, I'll buy some TIN from a Solder company or sorts and make Bronze.

Mart> Insulated square copper wires from a dry transformer are not 99% copper and

[Harold & Susan Vordos]

Speaking from the position of a guy that, as a kid, did one hell of a lot of copper wire recycling------that's how I made my money-------------------

For someone that claims to be recycling copper on a daily basis, you don't appear to know much about copper. *ANY* copper wire that is used for electrical purposes is electrolytically refined copper. It must have excellent electrical properties in order to be used, and also to be drawn successfully. It is by the electrolytic refining that copper attains that level of quality. It's also necessary for the refinery, for copper, as extracted from ores, is typically the carrier of other elements, many of which are valuable (gold, silver, platinum, palladium, etc.) and it is in the electrolytic process that they are recovered. It would be absurd, at best, to assume that copper wire isn't pure, unless it is alloyed to specifics for a given purpose.

If, in the process of making connections, the copper has tinned ends, the copper is used in the brass industry for alloying to their specifications, so the recycling market still has a keen interest in buying it. There is *always* a market for recycled copper, it is never worthless as you suggest. If you're not getting paid near market price, it's your own shortcoming that is preventing you from doing so. You're being taken for a ride and don't know it. Maybe you need to step up to the plate and get an education.

If you have anything in the way of links to lead me to information contrary to this, feel free to provide them. I'm not interested in your opinion. You've already shown us that you don't have a grasp on reality and don't know what the hell you're talking about.

Harold

[Tim Williams]

5% each zinc, tin and lead makes the classic semired brass/bronze. Up to 22% tin (alone) makes a hard bell bronze. Up to 30% Pb (alone or with others) will make a frothy bearing bronze. Up to 35% zinc makes brass, much more and you get white (beta) brass, aka muntz I think.

By which you mean liberal application of less than a dollar of propane? I'm all for that...

Is that thin stuff or house wiring? Insulated or enameled? How much is shipping say 50lbs to 53511?

Tim

-- "I've got more trophies than Wayne Gretsky and the Pope combined!" - Homer Simpson Website @

[Tim Williams]

Energy stored in a capacitor E = 0.5 * C * V^2, so a 100uF cap charged to

100V stores a quarter of the energy of one charged to 200V. 1F charged to 16V = 128J stored. A capacitor charged to 250V storing the same energy would be 0.004F = 4mF = 4000uF (more exactly, µF if that extended character shows up). Of course, the voltage and capacitance (among other specs) have other electrical importance, depending on use. :)

Tim

-- "I've got more trophies than Wayne Gretsky and the Pope combined!" - Homer Simpson Website @

[Tim Williams]

Meh, I picked it up pretty well on my own (though under the slag I am still finding beads attached to only one piece of work :P ). I learn pretty quickly though.

For stick and TIG, you need an AC or DC output with current limiting. For MIG, you need an adjustable constant voltage output.

The first is done by either a series inductor or resistor, or more commonly, a transformer specifically designed to be lossy. The losses (mainly inductive) are adjustable by what's called a magnetic shunt, which effectively splits the transformer in two, magnetic field-wise.

The second, MIG, is done by taking a standard transformer (which has good regulation, meaning the voltage does not drop much when a load is applied - aka, constant voltage) and adding taps to it. So you might have 240V primary down to 15, 20, 25, 30, 35V taps on the secondary.

Looking at your transformer, it appears to have two windings, a small one on the bottom and a large one on top, seperated by laminated iron (the same construction as the main iron core) magnetic shunts. (Or are those wood blocks??) I'm guessing this is a ferroresonant transformer, and the oil can caps were the resonant part.

Meaning: primary is loosely coupled to the secondary, which has a certain value of inductance. Combined with the capacitance, it resonates at 60Hz. By constructing the transformer properly, it can be ran on the edge of saturation in the secondary (top) side - if primary voltage increases, it saturates more and stops working as well. (Saturation is where the iron core simply stops accepting a larger magnetic field, it maxes out.) If primary voltage drops (brownout), it comes out of saturation, efficiency goes up and secondary voltage remains constant.

That's my guess. Depending on the windings, your transformer may be welder ready right now!

Tim

-- "I've got more trophies than Wayne Gretsky and the Pope combined!" - Homer Simpson Website @

[Doug Kanter]

Right. Same as the fish that are contaminated.

[Doug Kanter]

And as I pointed out, I don't know enough for "laminations and windings" to mean anything at that point in the discussion. My goal was to get him to slow down and wait for a little more input from others. You don't really have a problem with that, do you?

[Doug Kanter]

At what point in this thread did I claim to be an expert? Let's simplify:

1) OP says he has a transformer. His question contains clues which make sense to people who know more than I do about transformers. 2) People who know more than I do have not yet joined the discussion, at the moment when I posted my first comment. Matter of fact, mine was the first response to his question. 3) I suggested he investigate further, which the OP (and a few observers) thought was a fair suggestion. 4) A number of people decided it was a good day to hurl insults because that somehow distracts them from their little, tiny pee-pees and their powerless lives.

Get it?

[Doug Kanter]

Send to: "Bob" Tent Site 118 Nick's Lake State Park Old Forge NY

ROFL!

[Ignoramus584]

At the very least, I will need to read a good book.

I see.

A resistor would lead to a lot of wasted energy, no?

Oh, I see.

I am going by memory, but you are right and the separator looks more like iron to me.

Interesting.

Wow, that would be interesting. I told my wife that I might make a welder out of that transformer, she displayed relatively little reaction.

In other words: the hypothesis is that the transformer is designed to saturate so that the output on the secondary winding is limited by that. If this hypothesis is true, then, I can weld using current from the small secondary winding.

i

[Me]

He doesn't need to "Slow Down", you need to keep up with the thread, and read what the OP stated in the first place, and COMPREHEND what he wrote. The rest of us certainly understood what he stated, and your whole PCB thing was just "Off the Wall" because it was obvious to the rest of the UNIVERSE, that he had a dry transformer..............

Me

[Me]

Give the UNIVERSE a break, and stop with the "Tommyboy Beno" type replys. You just can't admit that you posted, before thinking, and the rest of the UNIVERSE, caught you at it, and commented.

Me

[Doug Kanter]

Mine was the 2nd post in the discussion, so there WAS no thread to keep up with. Is that clear, or do you need a diagram?

As far as comprehending what he wrote, if I knew enough to extrapolate from his description, I would not have asked my question. However, as it turned out, it seems there *are* some parts in his UPS that may require careful handling due to PCBs.

[Ignoramus584]

Correct.

No, there is no PCB in that UPS. The sealed capacitors do not contain PCB.

i

[Doug Kanter]

OK....but still.

[Doug Kanter]

It wouldn't have mattered WHAT I thought. Based on my slim knowledge of transformers, the information was enough enough for ME to know that his were not dangerous. Why is it such a problem for YOU that I suggested he be cautious for what.....4 hours until he knew a little more?