Re: pole pig question

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

Original poster: "by way of Terry Fritz <teslalist-at-qwest-dot-net>" <dhmccauley-at-spacecatlighting-dot-com>

This may sound harsh, and I mean no offense by it.  But if you have to ask
these very basic questions regarding pole transformers, you really have
no business working with them.  Pole transformers are probably the most
dangerous things you'll ever encounter while tesla coiling.  There is NO
second chance with these things.  NONE!  Make a mistake, it will definitely
be your last.

I would suggest first working with some NST coils, and if you have already
done that, then perhaps a small 1.5kVA, potential transformer would be
a logical next step.  There is someone on EBAY selling these small but
powerful transformers for about $200.00.  If you are interested, I can give
you his email address as he has lots available.

Again, I mean no offense by this email.  But jumping right into a pole
transformer powered coil without the basic knowledge is like hopping into
the drivers
seat of a big rig without even knowing how to drive a car.

The Captain
-Dan

But to answer your questions . . .

-10kVA basically means its rated for a volt-ampere product of about 10,000.
For example, a 1.2kVA transformer would be rated to put out 10A at 120V.

-You could use a variac as an inductor to limit current (its wired
differently then typical variac use), but the variac would be rather large.
Better to use
an arc welder for current limiting such as a Lincoln 220AC or similar.  Some
also will suggest having a resistive element as well to the ballast.

-You can measure output current (or input current) with the ballast
connected to get a ballpark figure.

-The secondary usually have 240VAC with center tap.  When running normally,
you could get 120VAC from either side of the center-tap.  Or connect across
both of them to get your 240VAC in your house.

-The typical pole transformers people use are only single phase.




 > I will use the example of a 14.4 kV, 10 kva units. I know that the 14.4kv
 > means, 14,400 volts out. But, what does the 10kva mean? I think it is
amps,
 > but what does the kva mean? Also, when we use pole pigs for tesla coils,
we
 > have to use some sort of current limiting. If you use a variac, won't that
 > change the voltage going in, thus changing the output power of the pole
 > pig? How do you figure out how much power is really comming out of the pig
 > to find out how many caps you need? One more question, on the pigs, their
 > are 3 inputs (well, i guess outputs in the wild) and 2 outputs (inputs in
 > the wild), since their are 3 inputs, which two do you use for 2 phase
current?
 > Thanks
 > Adam
 >
 >
 >
 >
 >