Bob Engelhardt wrote:
Testing for saturation: I added a small secondary, so I could get an
induced voltage to measure. Then I measured this induced voltage vs. the
applied voltage in 10v steps up to 120v, applied. My thinking is that
there will be a linear relationship until the core saturates and then
the induced voltage will level off.

That didn't happen so far. Before I rig to test up to 240v, I want to
confirm that my thinking is correct about output voltage at saturation.
Anybody know?

Thanks,
Bob

BTW - in the microwave oven, this coil generates 2000v, so 240v won't be
a problem (current might be).

The inductance of that coil fell significantly when you lopped
off the 'I' core, yes?

Can you place a small value sense resistor in series with the
'common' line to your coil? The way I misunderstand magnetic
core saturation is that we expect a 'knee' where current begins
to increase in a nonlinear fashion in relation to applied
voltage. You could set your 'scope up as an X-Y display to
show this nonlinearity very clearly.

--Winston