[Prev][Next][Index][Thread]

Arc welders and Variacs



Quoting Chip:

 CA> I saw an ad in the paper for a new Lincoln arc welder for    
 CA> $199.  It appears to be one of the smaller "home-type" jobs  
 CA> that probably has a duty cycle  of about 5% or less.  My     
 CA> question is will this be sufficient for tesla coil work      
 CA> (regulating a pole pig), or should I hold out looking for a  
 CA> used welder with a much higher duty rating?

It should work just fine. You will find that normal heavy duty
Tesla coil firing rarely exceeds a 5% duty cycle anyway. Things
like gaps and caps (and sometimes variacs) need time to rest. 
The important thing is to verify that the primary current rating
will match your expected amp requirements, even if the rating is
only at a 5% duty cycle.

 CA> The next question is, does any one have a variac that they   
 CA> could sell me? I am looking for 0-120 volt ~10 amp (~1.0kva) 
 CA> for controlling things like rotary gap motors.  

E-Mail <gary.glunz-at-slug-dot-org>. I sold him one a couple of years
back for $35.00. He was going to use it for a model train
controller I think, but he has never had it out of the box. 
I bet you could buy it for what he paid, plus shipping. 

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