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Re: Does anybody know what this is?



Original poster: Bert Hickman <bert.hickman@xxxxxxxxxx>

Tesla list wrote:
Original poster: "David Rieben" <drieben@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Hi all,
I ran across this item on ebay and was wondering if
anyone could offer a good description of it :
<http://cgi.ebay.com/KIRKHOF-F4490W625W-WELDER-TRANSFORMER_W0QQitemZ200099067349QQihZ010QQcategoryZ11774QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem>http://cgi.ebay.com/KIRKHOF-F4490W625W-WELDER-TRANSFORMER_W0QQitemZ200099067349QQihZ010QQcategoryZ11774QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
I'm assuming that it is some type of industrial welder
transformer, as the description states. It is rated at
230 volts @ 69 amps and I'm thinking that this would
make for one heck of a pig coil ballast. However, there
is also wording on the label about motor rpms and ball
bearings? So is this a transformer or a motor? It would
nice if this 210 lb. chunk could be used as a pig ballast
as this seller is only located about 50 miles from me,
which means that I could go and pick it up instead of
having to pay those expensive freight charges.
Thanks in advance for your comments,
David


Hi David,

I love the massive lugs coming out of that beast! It looks like a spot welding transformer. It also has a current adjustment that apparently selects discrete transformer taps to adjust output voltage (and current). The output open circuit voltage of a spot welding transformer is typically no more than 3-5 volts, and the "loaded" voltage across the joint during welding is typically only a volt or so at thousands or many tens of thousands of amperes. Like arc welding transformers, spot welding transformers are often constructed with built-in leakage reactance so that they behave sort of like a current source during welding, so it may indeed function as a high power ballast for a TC. Less expensive/homemade spot welders simply rely on voltage taps and combined circuit resistance of the secondary winding, cabling, and electrodes to provide a level of current control.

However, it also looks like the single picture in the auction that shows a comparatively clean spec sheet for 230/460 volts and 69/34.5 amps is actually for a 30 HP motor and NOT this welding transformer. The bottom line shows that it is from Fort Wayne, Indiana while this welding transformer was made in Grand Rapids, MI. Sounds like a question for the seller...

BTW, here's a patent assigned to the Kirkhof Manufacturing Corporation that may shed some light on the internal construction of this transformer. The company is now Kirkhof-Goodrich, Inc., a small division of Mark IV industries.
http://cgi.ebay.com/KIRKHOF-F4490W625W-WELDER-TRANSFORMER_W0QQitemZ200099067349QQihZ010QQcategoryZ11774QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Nice find (or a very nice yacht anchor)!

Bert
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