Re: pig power control

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

Original poster: "J. B. Weazle McCreath by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <weazle-at-hurontel.on.ca>


At 07:43 AM 13/11/02 -0700, you wrote:

 >Original poster: "by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>"
<Mudslide13-at-aol-dot-com>
 >
 >I need information on controlling a pig?  If I was to get my hands
 >on a PIG, how would I construct a controller for it?
 >

Hello,

Having just recently switched to pig power (we now call them PDT's)
myself, I can offer you my limited experience.  Think Big!!  What I
mean by that is that you'll need bigger everything, from the branch
circuit breaker in your power panel, to heavier power leads and the
matching connectors, to the control switches.

Even a small PDT requires conciderably more power than an NST does
and you should build your power controller with conservative sized
ratings for every part of it.  I recommend using a large contactor
to switch the power on and off to the PDT, and use a normally open
low voltage push button switch on a long lead to actuate the
contactor.

You'll need to incorporate some kind of current control, usually in
the form of an inductor, plus a variac for ramping up the voltage
in a controlled manner.  Check the list archieves on just how to do
this, and also take a good look at Greg's and Richie's sites for a
wealth of information.

73, Weazle, VE3EAR/VE3WZL
G-1#1214

Listening: 147.030+ and 442.075+
E-mail:    weazle-at-hurontel.on.ca
            or ve3ear-at-rac.ca
Web site:  http://www.hurontel.on.ca/~weazle