Re: MOT help

["Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>]

Original poster: "Shaun Epp by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <scepp-at-mts-dot-net>


----- Original Message -----
From: "Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
To: <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
Sent: Saturday, October 27, 2001 9:59 AM
Subject: Re: MOT help


> Original poster: "by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>"
<Kidd6488-at-aol-dot-com>
>
> OK,
> There is one main difference between OBITs & NSTs and Pigs, PTs and MOTs
> (besides the power) The first are what we call "current limited." This
means
> that they can limit how much power they put out all by themselves. Just
plug
> 'em in and go.  But MOTS (and the others) are not. So if you plug them
straight
> into the wall, they will keep drawing more and more amps indefinitely
until the
> breaker kicks out. To keep this from happening, we must "ballast them."
Many
> things can be used as ballasts:
>
> hot water heater elements
> stove elements
> dryer elements   ???
> arc welders
> other MOTs
> a specially wired VARIAC
> even a light bulb (i think)
>
> You simply hook your ballast up in SERIES with the mains going to your
> transformer. This keeps it from drawing too many amps. It is sometimes
helpful
> to build a special extension cord with a box on one end with a standard
outlet,
> only when you wire it up, break the little tabs that connect the two
outlets
> and wire them in series (instead of parallel like you normally would). So
the
> incoming 'hot' would go to the 'hot' side of the first outlet, a jumper
> connecting the 'neutral' of the first outlet to the 'hot' of the second,
then
> the incoming neutral to the neutral of the 2nd outlet. The third wire
ground
> then goes to its normal screw. This then lets you just plug your trannie
and
> ballast into either of the plugs on your cord.
>
> Now someone correct me if I'm wrong, but in order to see how many amps you
are
> actually supplying your transformer with, you just see how many amps it
(the
> ballast) would normally draw. I don't know for sure about non-current
limited
> ballast, like another MOT, but I would guess somewhere around 10-12 A.
>
>  From what I have heard, MOTs hardly EVER work with a Jacob's Ladder. You
can
> try hooking 2, 3 or 4 MOTS together (any more and the insulation would
probably
> fail) and then do the Jacob's Ladder... Quite a spark I would imagine!

Yup,  I've tried using  a MOT on a jacob's Ladder and it does limit current
but it makes the jacob's ladder suck wind!!!.    the arc is not as thick and
insead of sounding powerfull, it changes to a wimpier but snappy sound, does
anyone know why?.  I tested one, then two in parallel with a transformer I
ripped out of a mobile xray machine,   Half way up on a variac and 3/4 inch
gap and it'll impress or scare anyone.  It also blows 20 amp fuses from time
to time... oops.

Does anyone know what the tipical current limit is for a MOT and what does
it do to the wavefore, squashed sinewave maybe??

Shaun Epp
>
> If you only have one MOT and don't plan on getting any more soon, there
are
> other things you can do with them:
>
> Make a spot welder (check the archives  [Terry, the link?])
> make a current sensing transformer (again)
> or anything else needing a heavy duty primary...
>
> Have fun, and stay safe...
>
> ---------------------------------------
> Jonathon Reinhart
> hot-streamer-dot-com/jonathon
>