Re: Homebrew Transformer


Don Taylor wrote:
Jamie <jamie@xxxxxxxxxxx> writes:
Hello! I'd like to try building a step-down power transformer from
scratch. Can anyone recommend any how-to sites? Googling didn't turn up
anything useful, maybe I was using a bad search string.

If you don't know of any sites, is it easy to build a step down
transformer? I'm uncertain about what would be a decent easy-to-find
material for the core. I'd like to try building one that steps down 120
volts to 15 volts.

How about buying a spool of iron wire? Preferably insulated in some way.
Then you form the wire into a coil, looking something like an overgrown
toroid core. Bare the two ends of the iron wire and bond them together,
solder would probably do. Then wrap your windings around that. Putting
your winding wire onto a spool that you can easily move around and around
the core as you unspool it onto the core will probably be necessary.

The insulation on the iron wire is to reduce "eddy current" losses.

From what I've read, the primary winding should have 6-8 turns per
volt, so I would want 960 turns on my primary, and 64 turns on my
secondary winding.

I vaguely remember guidelines like that.

Ive seen "cores" made using insulation hangers.....small "sticks" of
iron used to push up against insulation between floor joists to hold
the insulation up....you can lightly spray them with laquer to insulate
the rods from each other before making a bundle....

Ive also heard you can make your own "E" and "I" laminations from
ordinary sheet metal....take the sheetmetal and burn it in a
fire.....cut the laminations from that....the burning supposedly does
something to the metal ...makes it perform better.....not as good as
silicon steel but better than just ordinary unburned steel.

There should be some resources on the net concerning homebrew power
transformers....at least there used to be in the late 90s early
2000s....

used to be a whole "book" online about it.

.

Quantcast