One of my 110v transformers fell off a stanchion,dropped 2m hit the concrete,so it now trips the mains,opened it up,pulled the lump out yet can’t find anything wrong,no arcing marks either,is there something simple I can test,or is it scrap,it’s only 37 years old!
- Thread starter nickk
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) a couple of 3kVA and three 5kVA 110V trannies.The crack on the end of the former suggests there might be further trauma inside the transformer.
However, with the very recent increase in temperatures, and with the transformer being a fairly hefty lump, could it be that there is condensation on the windings and iron core, sufficient to cause the RCD to trip?
However, with the very recent increase in temperatures, and with the transformer being a fairly hefty lump, could it be that there is condensation on the windings and iron core, sufficient to cause the RCD to trip?
Pete.
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I was just going to suggest the same. That former is no issue IMO, or at least it shouldn't be.
@voipio ,small chance I think,the accident happened Thursday well before the warm up.
@Onoff ,I’ll let you know thanks,we’re down after Christmas actually.
I do have a 10kva I’m using in its place,however I’m always concerned the bigger ones use more juice when most of the time I only need 3kva,or do they only draw what I need?
@Onoff ,I’ll let you know thanks,we’re down after Christmas actually.
I do have a 10kva I’m using in its place,however I’m always concerned the bigger ones use more juice when most of the time I only need 3kva,or do they only draw what I need?
Transformers will only "pull" current from the mains when it's required, and only as much as required, plus a bit arising through losses. On top of that, transformers will draw a small standby current, arising from losses in magnetising the core repeatedly as the mains cycles alternate, which will tend to increase with the size of the transformer, but it's not a huge amount, else the transformer would run hot just plugged in doing nothing. Often small tranformers in budget equipment consume quite a bit of standby current, relative to their rated capacity, because the manufacturers have skimped on the number of turns of copper wire inside the thing. I have a transformer here, which is rated at 30W and consumes 3W, and gets noticeably warm, with nothing connected to the output. If the 10kVA transformer was equally "bad", it would be drawing 1kW on standby, and get hot very quickly!!
