Re: Amateur Night

To: tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
Subject: Re: Amateur Night
From: Richard Wayne Wall <rwall-at-ix-dot-netcom-dot-com>
Date: Sun, 7 Jul 1996 11:07:14 -0700
You wrote: 

>Help!
>Well, I just got a Gen. Radio Variac Type W 30 H, (thanks to Scotty M) 
>but there is one little problem...I'm not sure how to wire it up. I 
>know this is an easy one for just about anyone readin' this, so if 
>someone would just peck out a few lines, I'd sure appreciate it :)  
>It's a big, heavy son of a gun, and it's two of 'em ganged together. 
>It's a little larger than I expected, but bigger IS better! I'm going 
>to attach a .jpg of the wiring plate on the unit, just to make it 
>easier on me when someone says "attach hot wire (a) to terminal # (?) 
>" or whatever. I just need to know how to wire up one of 'em for now, 
>but if you could show how to wire them together for more current or 
>voltage or whatever, that'd be good too! In case the .jpg doesn't get 
>sent, the specs are as follows.. 240v  12amps  Open Rating   50-60 
>cycles    (I'll be usin' 120v for now ) The plate says "for common 
>(gnd) Line-Load connection use term. 2 or 4 " I hope someone can send 
>a diagram...one picture's worth 1000 words :o)
>                                   Thanks,
>                                  Ken(devrydropout)Cravens


7/7/96

Kevin,

I also have a Gen. Radio Variac Type W 30 H, (thanks to Scotty M).  
It's a great variac and I again thank Scotty.  The connection diagram 
is confusing but I finally figured it out.

For 120 volt hookups:

1.  Place your main and load grounds (green) on any bolt or screw on    
    the variac.

2.  Place your load hot (black) wire on the wiper at #3.

Now you have two chioces.  Whether you want 120 vs 140 volts for the 
load and whether you wish to turn the knob clockwise vs 
counterclockwise when increasing the voltage.   

3.  For 120 V loads put both the main and load common (white) on either 
    #2 or #4.  Depends on your choice of cw vs ccw.

4.  Put the main hot (black) on the opposite #2 or #4.

5.  For overdriving in a 140 volt mode repeat steps 1 - 3 above.

6.  Put the main hot (black) on the opposite #1 or #5.

That's it.  For 220 volts you can wire the other hot wire as above, but 
on the opposite side.  The variac has cartridge fuses on each side.  I 
added a 15 Amp circuit breaker and a 20 Amp RFI/EMI filter.

My brushes on the wipers are wearing thin.  If you come across a 
source, please let me know.

RWW