I have this inductor salvaged from a junked DC stick welder. There are
4 layers of winding and between each pair is this copper sheet. Each sheet has 2 ends, implying that it's a winding, to be connected somehow.What are they?
If you know the manufacturer and model of the junked welder , you might be able to find information on line. Some owners manuals had schematics.
Dan
I've never seen this sort of transformer but I will offer my two guesses:
Just throwing this out, I can't tell how big that core is. Is it possible that what you have is the actual welder transformer and the copper strap are windings for the secondary. Looks like you could have 5 or 6 heat ranges if the 6 (that I see) taps went to a switch. Does it look like the copper strap has been cut off? Mikek
Only example I can find.
Mikek
That's an intriguing idea. It's been awhile since I collected it, so I don't remember the details of it's installation, but I took it because I assumed that it was an inductor.
It is about 6" x 6" x 1-1/2". There are about 24 turns of the wire, so it's unlikely that it's a transformer since a stick welder's OCV is about 70V, IIRC.
I'm not even certain that the straps actually go around the core - I didn't want to damage the varnish insulation by digging.
It's been awhile since I picked it up, so make & model is unknown.
No idea, you might try posting the question on rec.crafts.metalworking
George H.
Hmm... ya, a bit to small for the main transformer. Put 12 vac on the primary and see if there are different voltages you can pick up off the tabs.
** It's clearly an inductor, made from non-interleaved E and I laminations plus an "air gap" using a rectangular piece of hard wood fitted on top. Two other similar bits of wood are wedged between the core and winding and tap ped home from beneath to stop vibration.
The additional copper packing strips would be easy to slide in while the tw o wedges are loose and everything has been heated to keep the fit tight whe n in use.
Looks like a pretty rough, DIY inductor that might be connected to the outp ut of a SS rectifier DC welder.
how.
** Never in the way shown, copper or steel flux shields surround the outsid e of the whole core in the same direction as the copper windings.... Phil
A few millivolts - so the copper sheets aren't windings
OK, now all we need know is the purpose of the copper sheets. :-)
I did find this,>
If the copper sheets are single turn windings, then it could be some sort of saturable reactor. No idea how this would fit in with a welder.
Cheers
-- Clive
Was it three-phase?
Cheers
-- Clive
A clarification: when I scratched the sheets to get a contact area for the meter probe, I found that they are not copper. Shiny & hard like steel, but not magnetic.
The top & bottom tabs are electrically continuous, but not the 2 ends of a winding. There is no voltage induced in them by current in the wired winding.
Start another thread with all the new data and the picture over on, >sci.engr.joining.welding< Maybe someone there will know. Mikek
Are the tab pairs insulated from each other, and from the wire?
Cheers
-- Clive
Yes
Non magnetic, not copper, shiny, steel-like insulated from each other but continuous top to bottom.
Thermocouples or a small thermopile. Top half (say) Constantan, bottom half Chromel (type E). They get wired in series to provide enough current to operate a temperature cut-out of some sort. The cold junction is possibly just ambient temperature.
Cheers
-- Clive
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