Pole pig

To: tesla-at-grendel.objinc-dot-com
Subject: Pole pig
From: richard.quick-at-slug-dot-org (Richard Quick)
Date: Fri, 25 Aug 1995 18:02:00 GMT
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Quoting Alan.Jones-at-kaboodle.is-dot-net (Alan Jones):

 AJ> Would someone please explain what a pole pig is. I have been 
 AJ> seeing this term a lot here, and I kept hoping I could       
 AJ> figure it out without having to ask. But I haven't figured   
 AJ> it out yet. 

A pole pig is a commercial power distribution transformer. These
are the big "cans" sitting on top of utility poles. They got the
nick-name "pigs" from the guys at the salvage yards. The older
ones would leak PCBs and transformer oil from bad seals, 
repeated overheats, pressure relief valve seepings, etc.. 
They don't really have any hand holds on them that makes them
easy to grab, so the joke was they were as easy to handle as
"greased pigs". The name kind of stuck, and it certainly is
easier to say "pig" or "pole pig" than "commercial power
distribution tranformer".

Coilers find that pigs are bulletproof step-up transformers when
they are wired in reverse. Using a variac and some from of
current limiting (ballast) you can put 240 into the pig secondary
(our primary) and get your HV off of the primary (our secondary).

Hope this helps. If you have any other questions feel free to
ask.

Richard Quick


... If all else fails... Throw another megavolt across it!
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12