Re: T-24 Hours Until New (Really Bright 10KVA) Light...

[Esondrmn-at-aol-dot-com (by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-uswest-dot-net>)]

In a message dated 9/12/00 9:47:02 PM Pacific Daylight Time, tesla-at-pupman-dot-com 
writes:

<< 
    My 10KVA pig has been sitting very patiently in the garage awaiting its
 moment of glory.  We have almost finished wiring up the big extension cord
 that is to be run from the big 240v dryer outlet.  Very convenient since
 that is only about 10 feet from where the transformer will be.  We have a
 great arc welder to work with for ballasting, but I also went to the local
 junkyard and ripped an element from a dryer.  With my DMM, it measures
 about 8 ohms.  Does that sound right?  I hope so, because I like the idea
 of my coil running at a cool 30 amps. :-)  Also, I imagine that that
 element is bound to get VERY hot.  What do ya'll suggest to keep it cool?
  >>
Ryan,

8 ohms of resistance in series with the inductive ballast is a bit too much.  
You want somewhere in the range of .5 to 2.5 ohms.  I used to use an array of 
about 7 oven elements wired so I could switch in only one or all 7 of them in 
parallel.  I now use fixed resistors.  I use a large fan blowing on the 
resistors to help get rid of some of the heat - and yes, they do get real hot.

Ed Sonderman