A
arjan
Guest
I have some transformers with many wires. How do I know which wire is
which?
Regards
Arjan
which?
Regards
Arjan
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I have some transformers with many wires. How do I know which wire is
which?
Regards
Arjan
of that does often help to figure out the windings.What colours, how many wires and where are they on the transformer?
Chris
No, that shouldn't be a question mark at the end. Because all
"arjan" <arj1@nospamxs4all.nl> wrote in message
news:vgpapvopf6pmma0dnk2d16h7394l3o6frm@4ax.com...
I have some transformers with many wires. How do I know which wire is
which?
Regards
Arjan
Let's assume for the moment that you have power transformers. I would startI have some transformers with many wires. How do I know which wire is
which?
Regards
Arjan
"arjan" <arj1@nospamxs4all.nl> wrote in message
news:vgpapvopf6pmma0dnk2d16h7394l3o6frm@4ax.com...
I have some transformers with many wires. How do I know which wire is
which?
Regards
Arjan
Let's assume for the moment that you have power transformers. I would start
first by looking at the colors, assuming you can still see them. There
should normally be two of each solid color and perhaps one of the same color
with a twisted color stripe. Get these wire groupings together for later
identification.
Before I continue, let me say that there are no hard and fast rules here but
the transformer primary is normally black. The primary winding may have
several taps for to compensate for different line voltages. These colors are
usually darkish and muted. The 6.3.volt secondary filament windings are
usually green, the 5.0 volt windings yellow, and the B+ windings reddish
orange.
To check yourself, take resistance measurements of the windings with an
ohmmeter if you have one available. The resistance is roughly proportional
to the number of turns (assuming that the guage of the wires is similar.
Filament windings will have a very low resistance, primary power windings
and intermediate resistance, and B+ windings the highest resistance.
Once you think you have the wire combinations nailed down, you can apply a
primary line voltage, preferably through an autoformer if you have one. The
advantage of an autoformer is you can bring up the voltage slowly in case
there are any oops's lurking in the wings. You can double check your
findings by measuring the voltages of the other windings. Be careful,
secondary B+ windings can produce many hundreds of volts. If you don't have
an autoformer, you will just have to apply the primary voltage and hope for
the best. Be prepared for some smoke if you miscalculated.
If the transformers are audio, you can pretty much follow the same procedure
except for applying an a.c. line voltage. Preferably, you will have an audio
generator on hand but if not, you might try applying a filament voltage from
a power transformer as your a.c. signal source.
The colors will all be different however.
Hopefully, this will get you in the ballpark but please be prepared to make
a few mistakes.