Arc Lamp Transformer

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Original poster: Gregory Morris <gbmorris@xxxxxxxxx>

Hi,

Today I found what appears to be an arc lamp transformer in a 
dumpster outside my school's chemistry building, it's pretty heavy (I 
assume well over 100lbs, but maybe I'm just a wimp...) and is about 
2' * 1.5' * 1' in dimension. The front panel says Hanovia Arc Lamp 
and max rating of 1000W, has a few switches (e.g. "Start/Run") and 
knobs and a couple of dials (DC Amps, and DC Volts). It looked as 
though it had been drop-kicked a couple of times, but upon opening 
the case everything inside looked perfect (as far as I could tell). 
It has a couple of fairly big transformers inside (4"*7"*5" or so) 
and a few other things I am not familiar with.

I connected it to a couple of carbon electrodes (lead taken out of a 
#1 pencil) and turned it on, pleased to hear the quiet whir of the 
fan, and not the loud bang of a circuit breaker or anything like 
that. I flipped a few switches and played with a few dials, (as you 
can tell, I'm not really sure what I'm doing) and got an arc between 
my two makeshift electrodes.

Any idea what this could be used for in coiling or how I can make the 
best of my new discovery? How can I tell if it's working properly, 
and does anyone know what the various controls are for? I would 
upload some pictures, but I am digital-camera-less, though it looks 
rather similar to this: 
<http://cgi.ebay.com/Hanovia-Miller-Welders-Arc-Lamp-Power-System-NR_W0QQitemZ7600074523QQcategoryZ113743QQcmdZViewItem> 
with notable exceptions being that mine isn't as tall, the controls 
are different, and the dials of mine are part of the face, not 
sitting on top as those are.

Thanks for any enlightenment you can provide,
Greg