Re: Duty cycle of OBIT?

["Tesla list" <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Original poster: "Jonathan Peakall" <jpeakall@xxxxxxxxxxxx>

Gerry,

Never took one apart, since I never killed it. :) All I know is you can
really beat on the one I have. :) However, one can tell that it is shunted
(limited) because as I said hours of JL use only gets it good and warm, but
not hot, so like an NST it can take a dead short. I'm sure it's potted, but
that is a guess.

Jonathan
www.madlabs.info

----- Original Message -----
From: "Tesla list" <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, February 14, 2007 9:59 PM
Subject: Re: Duty cycle of OBIT?


> Original poster: "Gerry  Reynolds" <gerryreynolds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>
> Hi Matt and Jon,
>
> Just because the application has low duty cycle, doesnt mean the
> transformer is not robust.  I would think knowing how its built could
> shed some lite on this.  Is the xformer packed in tar?? or open air,
> etc.  I dont have any experience with these so I just wonder :-))
>
> Gerry R
>
> >Original poster: Mddeming@xxxxxxx
> >In simple terms, No. An OBIT is designed to initiate an arc and then
> >just maintain the arc @ 22ma until the fuel ignites and heats a
> >thermocouple enough to open the contact on its primary side. It then
> >sits dormant during the room heating part of the cycle. When the
> >main thermostat closes the fuel valve and the OBIT thermocouple
> >cools off enough to close the contact again, the cycle is repeated.
> >Neon signs, except for flashing ones, are supplying some power all
> >the time. OBITs work, at most, about one minute out of ten or
> >fifteen for part of the year. and the peak voltage is only to
> >initiate the arc, and to maintain the tiny arc in air. Thus, they
> >are less long-term robust than NSTs.
> >
> >Hope this helps.
> >
> >Matt D.
>
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