Original poster: Frank <fxrays@xxxxxxxxxx>
Hi Justin,
I have had 2 old X ray transformers, oil filled and pack a punch!
Still have one and wondering what to do with it. It weight about 400
pounds and 22" square by 18" tall. it is from the 20's.
I was going to try and build a TC around it and gave up. First
problem is finding a cap to withstand that kind of voltage. The only
way to get one would be to make an oil filled one and it would be
huge to withstand the voltage and give the required capacity.
You would be inputting a crude guesstimate of 18KW into the coil
which requires very special construction, insulation and large
diameter conductors, not to mention very high cost for specialized materials.
Not saying it cannot be done as Bill Wysock certainly is one of the
best at fabricating such a coil!
Lastly, operating such a coil would require wide open spaces, very
secure and proper safety precautions, interlocks and planning. The
RFI from such a coil would be enormous.
You would be better building a coil with a lower input voltage
higher currents, a 15.5 KV transformer at a 20KVA rating would give
the same results with less critical components. All the other
requirement for safety and etc would be unchanged.
Coils of this power will not give seconds chances if you get stuck
by them and components can blow up with serious results.
Frank
At 09:54 PM 2/20/2007 -0700, you wrote:
Original poster: Justin <rocketfuel@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Hi all,
I built my first coil around a pair of 12kV NSTs and am now thinking
about building something a little bigger. I've come into possession of
an x-ray transformer that outputs +/- 62.5kV at 300mA (with 240V in) and
I'm wondering how best to harness the power.
Of course it will need a choke to limit current, but what I'm wondering
about is what primary circuit voltage to try to design for. I seem to
recall seeing something about bang energy being related to the square of
voltage, so doubling voltage should quadruple the bang energy, right?
But then there is the problem of insulation. I would think the primary
turns would need to be spaces farther apart to prevent inter-turn arcing
as well as the spark gap.
Is there any general rule of thumb for highest reasonable voltage to run
the primary at?
Thanks!
Justin in Austin