In message
,
Robert Macy writes
On Feb 10, 1:36*pm, Robert Macy wrote:
On Feb 10, 9:40*am, nesesu wrote:





On Feb 10, 8:17*am, JW wrote:

Hi all,

Is there any reason that a 120VAC to 120VAC *isolation transformer would
draw 2.54A on its primary when there is no load present on it's
secondary?

Part


reference:http://www.temcoindustrialpower.com/...rs/FT2036.html




datasheet:http://attachments.temcoindustrialpo...o/Federal_FB_1...

I finally got around to wiring this transformer, and I noticed something
that doesn't seem quite right to me. I have it wired for 120VAC (H1
connected to H3 and H2 connected to H4) and it seems to be working as I
get about 120VAC on the secondary, ( wired X1 to X3 and X2 to X4)
but with
no load on the secondary, the transformer is drawing 2.54 Amps.

Looking for a sanity check I guess. I'm beginning to think the thing may
be defective... Email to the Temco has produced no response as of yet.

As a quick test, disconnect all the windings from each other and then
power up any ONE winding and see what the current draw is.
I see that it is a 15kVA rated, so it is not unreasonable that the
magnetizing curent is that high, but the actual power dissipation
would be much less than that current suggests. It is probably working
correctly, but a bit of an overkill for the average workbench.

Neil S.

Sounds VERY reasonable for a 15kVA transformer. 2.5 A suggests
coupling ratio on the order of 0.982, not bad for an AC mains
transformer that weighs that much.

If it bothers you, you can add *a high quality AC cap in parallel
around 55 uF. That should 'resonate' out the reactive current assuming
120Vac, 60Hz yields around 127 mH.

Or, ignore it and let your house wiring dissipate a bit of power less
than 1W ?

ARRRGGG! That'll teach me NOT to do my own research. Now, I have to
reply to my OWN posting!
ok your transformer is the 1kVA version of that series, the smallest
transformer.

current of max load is 1kVA/120 or 8.3A.
reactive current is 2.5 A that implies the core reactive impedance
from its inductance is around 3.3 to 1 Seems a little low, but in
range for a super cheap transformer that will get hot while running. I
would have expected more like around 1A, or less.

Here are some 'good' rules of thumb:
The core inductance reactance is probably 5 to 10 times the load
impedance, I've seen as low as 3 times.
The winding resistance is usually split half in pri and half in sec.
actually more like 45% in primary and 55% in sec.and the total is less
than 1/10 of load impedance.

So the transformer is in 'range' but that current does seem pretty
high for what should be a high quality transfomer. Could be a short
somewhere. Depending on how the transformer is wound, you may or may
not learn much from measuring the DC resistance of each winding. You
could power each winding with 120Vac and measure the current of each
winding, but then again.

If you don't need much power through this thing, like less than 500W,
wire it for 240/240 and that'll lower the core current for you.

The symptoms described sound very similar to using a 60Hz transformer on
a 50Hz supply (as might happen if you are using American equipment in
Europe), and the transformer hasn't got enough iron in it - so it's
saturating. However, that's not what you are doing.

If saturation IS the problem, you can usually confirm it (under no-load
conditions) by winding the supply voltage up on a variac, and measuring
the current the transformer draws. It will rise suddenly when the core
starts to saturate. Although the problem is much more likely to be
shorted turns, a quick test for saturation might be interesting.
--
Ian