Re: Variac Faults

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

Original poster: "Peter Komen by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <pkomen-at-zianet-dot-com>

Hello Matthew,

Something I haven't seen mentioned.  I bought a motor-drive variac off
e-Bay.  It was about 240v -at-30 amps.  The brush contacts the windings on the
outside.  The windings are coming loose from the core over most of the
middle range of the variac.  It's almost useless except at either end of the
range.  I would stay away from motor-drive variacs.  If I could have
inspected it, I would have found the problem right away.

One old Variac needed cleaning of the parts that held the brushes so that
the spring tension would hold the brushes against the windings.  The brushes
were sticking and not contacting the winding all the way around.

Regards,

Pete Komen

----- Original Message -----
From: "Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
To: <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
Sent: Sunday, December 01, 2002 6:21 PM
Subject: Variac Faults


 > Original poster: "Matthew Smith by way of Terry Fritz
<twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <matt-at-kbc-dot-net.au>
 >
 > Hi All
 >
 > When buying second-hand Variacs, what are the things that are likely to be
 > wrong with them?  I would imagine that brushes may be worn/broken, but has
 > anyone seen one actually burnt out before?
 >
 > I've just bid on a 25A 300V (240V in) beauty and was wondering just how
far
 > to go...
 >
 > Cheers
 >
 > M
 >
 > --
 > Matthew Smith            | Business: http://www.kbc-dot-net.au
 > IT Consultant            | PGP Key:  http://gpg.mss.cx
 > Kadina, South Australia  | * Tivis Project * Community Connect *
 >
 >
 >
 >
 >