MOT Primary Current Question

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Original poster: norman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 

I measured the primary current of a small 120 VAC MOT.  To my surprise the
primary current was 10 Amps with the secondary open!  The MOT is about 4" x 3"
x 3" and came from a 1000 Watt oven.  Is the MOT bad, or do these transformers
just have a low primary inductance?  The primary wire is aluminum and the
secondary voltage was measured by me at about 1800 Volts.  Also, I also
measured a much larger transformer from (I think) an older oven with a copper
primary and it drew 6 Amps.  The small transformer was very beat up and it is
possible that there is a short in the primary.  If you guys out there think
that the primary must be shorted then I will rewind it, but if the transformer
is acting normally then rewinding it will not reduce the current.