Re: Over volt your Neons (fwd)

["Tesla list" <tesla-at-xxxxxxxxxx>]

Original poster: Tesla List Moderator <mod1-at-poodle.pupman-dot-com>



---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 06 Dec 2000 17:01:01 -0800
From: Ed Phillips <evp-at-pacbell-dot-net>
Reply-To: ed-at-alumni.caltech.edu
To: Tesla list <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
Subject: Re: Over volt your Neons (fwd)

> Mine starts to draw a lot of current around 145VAC...  They aren't designed with a lot of margin. It's a price sensitive product, and they don't spend a penny more on iron than they need to.
> 
> Hook yours up to a ammeter and variac, and plot the current vs voltage.  You'll see a point where the current starts to rise much faster than the voltage.

	That is perfectly normal behavior for a power transformer; core
saturation at about 20% overvoltage.  They are typically operated with a
nominal flux density of the order of 80% of saturation  for the
particular core material used.  If more core area were provided (to
increase the maximum allowable input voltage) the transformer would be
bigger, heavier, and more costly.  The user wouldn't benefit at all. 
Not a question of penny pinching, but just good professional design.

Ed