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Re: MicroWave oven Transformer



Tesla List wrote:
> 
> Subscriber: pylon-at-nwlink-dot-com Sun Jan  5 20:46:33 1997
> Date: Sat, 4 Jan 1997 19:45:16 -0800 (PST)
> From: James <pylon-at-nwlink-dot-com>
> To: tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
> Subject: MicroWave oven Transformer
> 
> I just recently disassembled an old microwave (circa 1983?) and I got an
> old 15+ lb transformer out of it that is used to drive the magnetron. It
> has two secondaries, one for the magnetron filament, the other for the
> magnetron drive. I don't know what the exact outputs are, but I also took
> out a 1 MFD, 2000V oil-filled cap (Yes, i discharged it before i touched
> it...;) that the Drive section of the secondary was connected in series
> with. The wire in the secondary is fairly heavy (~16 ga on the filament
> winding, ~22ga on the drive winding) My question is: Since this is a fairly
> low-voltage transformer (i guess about 1000-1500V), but the current rating
> must be fairly high, because of the size of the wire in the secondary,
> would it be suitable for a tesla coil? It doesn't have any current limiting
> shunts on it, so would I have to put something on it to limit the current?
> Also, would the cap I retrieved from the oven be suitable for
> pulse-discharge experiments? If the x-former isn't suitable for tesla work,
> could I use it for a pulse-discharge supply?
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> James.....


James,

The Microwave oven xfrmer is a good item for a tube coil, but is a bit 
low in voltage for a common discharge type Tesla system.  If it were used 
for that purpose, it would supply a rather fearsome current which would 
be hard to quench in a single gap system.

Finally,  For pulse discharge work it is also a bit low in voltage but 
would work if a large capacitance could be obtained.  This would be a 
"slow system" and the rapidity of discharge (di/dt) would be very poor.  
Ideally you want very high voltage and very small capacitance coupled 
with virtually zero circuit inductance (no real wiring) to allow the 
surge impedance to approach zero and the energy delivery rate to go to 
the moon!  Peak currents in a well designed discharge system can easily 
hit 100,000 amps.  Poor systems, rarely achieve 5,000 amps.

Richard Hull, TCBOR

Richard Hull, TCBOR