Re: saturable reactor vs choke

["Tesla list" <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Original poster: Steve Conner <steve@xxxxxxxxxxxx>

Hi Gerry,

> What happens if the load is a PIG where the SG is firing???  It 
> seems like the load wont limit the current then
I think you just have to hope that the saturable reactor has enough 
stray inductance left over, even once it's saturated, to ballast the 
pig enough that the spark gap can quench. My gut feeling is that it 
probably would work fine. From reading the archives, it seems people 
successfully use ungapped variacs as ballasts, and these probably run 
in saturation most of the time.
When I really think about it, it seems that a small ballast choke 
sized to run the maximum power you want, combined with a pair of 
back-to-back SCRs wired like a huge lamp dimmer, would function 
identically to a SR, but be a good deal smaller and lighter. But i 
guess we want to keep the silicooties out :-<
Steve