• WARNING: Tube/Valve amplifiers use potentially LETHAL HIGH VOLTAGES.
    Building, troubleshooting and testing of these amplifiers should only be
    performed by someone who is thoroughly familiar with
    the safety precautions around high voltages.

Design of transformers for valve amplifiers

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I measured the impedance of some chokes i made in the past.
The influence of winding technique on the windingcapacity is clear.

btw i forget how much insulation i used for the "layers". I think it was 0,3mm.
The core i used was 0,05mm double c-core.

An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.



Tip#3 Interlayer insulation

Modern magnet wire has a breakdown voltage of more than 4 KV, so no need a great insulator, unless you make a very high voltage transformer.
However there are two more reasons for use insulation between layers

1- Decrease mechanical stress between layers

2- Decrease interlayer capacitance

One or two layers of 0.05mm polyester would be enough.
 
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I measured the impedance of some chokes i made in the past.
The influence of winding technique on the windingcapacity is clear.

btw i forget how much insulation i used for the "layers". I think it was 0,3mm.
The core i used was 0,05mm double c-core.

Sure, in an OPT you have many primaries in series, so winding capacitance will lower, but in an inductor there is no way, but vertical sectioning and/or increasing insulator.

Forget special winding techniques, they are beyond my winding lathe...:D
 
Perfect not exists.

The reason that i posted some measurements of my own transformer in another thread (unfortunately destroyed by some other forum member) was that that is the only thing what is really important (ok, some people believe in listening only but that is far more tricky).

So the technical results are important. People can ask questions about design parameters, not if the wire is red or blue ....



I also use vertical sectioning, but perfect layer technique? :confused:
 
Perfect not exists.

The reason that i posted some measurements of my own transformer in another thread (unfortunately destroyed by some other forum member) was that that is the only thing what is really important (ok, some people believe in listening only but that is far more tricky).

So the technical results are important. People can ask questions about design parameters, not if the wire is red or blue ....

No, I mean perfect layer technique IIRC to minimize capacitance between turns in the winding, is a complete nightmare to do.

Edit: Be free to post what you want about your transformers, is always interesting and a source of inspiration.
 
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No, I mean perfect layer technique IIRC to minimize capacitance between turns in the winding, is a complete nightmare to do.

Edit: Be free to post what you want about your transformers, is always interesting and a source of inspiration.

Ahh, yes i agree.

btw if you have some measurements of your transformer you can make "plot" in a speadsheat as Excel.

btw2 i have some old test equipment what i can sell for : "as is" for free to you. Only shipment you have to pay.
I have to see what i have in my basement.....
 
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Tip#4 Interwinding insulation

We must be very cautious here, because voltages involved can be very high, mostly in OPT when secondaries are grounded.

The best of the best insulator is NOMEX, you can kill three birds with one stone

1- Insulation, about 27 KV/mm for 0.08mm NOMEX 410

2- Low dielectric constant, about 1.6 for 0.08mm NOMEX 410

3- Heat resistant

Five to seven layers of 0.08mm would be enough for most cases.
 
Damn, i love Nomex but it is very expensive.



Tip#4 Interwinding insulation

We must be very cautious here, because voltages involved can be very high, mostly in OPT when secondaries are grounded.

The best of the best insulator is NOMEX, you can kill three birds with one stone

1- Insulation, about 27 KV/mm for 0.08mm NOMEX 410

2- Low dielectric constant, about 1.6 for 0.08mm NOMEX 410

3- Heat resistant

Five to seven layers of 0.08mm would be enough for most cases.
 
btw if you have some measurements of your transformer you can make "plot" in a speadsheat as Excel.

The only measurements I have, is a comparative EI vs C core saturation, but I must search for them.

btw2 i have some old test equipment what i can sell for : "as is" for free to you. Only shipment you have to pay.
I have to see what i have in my basement.....

You are very kind my friend, and I appreciate so much your gesture, but even when I could to pay shipping, here is forbidden the import.

Thanks a lot anyway. :)
 
Forbidden import? Damn, what country do you live?

Anyway, if there is an opportunaty let me know. Maybe all or free.......


The only measurements I have, is a comparative EI vs C core saturation, but I must search for them.



You are very kind my friend, and I appreciate so much your gesture, but even when I could to pay shipping, here is forbidden the import.

Thanks a lot anyway. :)
 
Damn, i love Nomex but it is very expensive.

Yes, it is, but my magnetic materials provider is a little "Kiosk" and sell me NOMEX by weight, and I usually buy a few grams, in multiples of 50g, say 100g is about two meter long sheet 0.08mm, enough for a couple of OPT.

Forbidden import? Damn, what country do you live?

Better no to say, forum rules...:D

Anyway, if there is an opportunaty let me know. Maybe all or free.......

Thanks again. :)
 
btw2 i have some old test equipment what i can sell for : "as is" for free to you. Only shipment you have to pay.
I have to see what i have in my basement.....

popilin lives in Argentina, shipping from Europe will be hell expensive.
BTW, there are a lot of LCR meter schematics published in different magazines, so you can suggest poppilin something capable but not too complex.
I used toroidal variac, 50W wire-wound resistors and true RMS voltmeter to plot inductance/permeability curve. LCR meters usually use only fixed voltage, 0.6V or 1V.

This is Python function I use in conjunction with LibreOffice (you can convert it to whatever else program, its damn sinple).

__________________________

# Calculates inductance of the choke w/o DC bias.
# Choke is connected in series with resistor (R), powered from generator.
# E_R - AC voltage across resistor R.
def Get_L_test_AC(E_R, R, E_L, R_coil, f):
# Current over the coil.
I = E_R / R
# Impedance of the coil.
Z = E_L / I
# Reactance of the coil.
X = math.sqrt(Z**2 - R_coil**2)

return X/(2*math.pi*f)

__________________________

From L, number of turns and core geometry you can get value of permeability (mu).
 
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popilin lives in Argentina, shipping from Europe will be hell expensive.
BTW, there are a lot of LCR meter schematics published in different magazines, so you can suggest poppilin something capable but not too complex.
I used toroidal variac, 50W wire-wound resistors and true RMS voltmeter to plot inductance/permeability curve. LCR meters usually use only fixed voltage, 0.6V or 1V.

This is Python function I use in conjunction with LibreOffice (you can convert it to whatever else program, its damn sinple).

__________________________

# Calculates inductance of the choke w/o DC bias.
# Choke is connected in series with resistor (R), powered from generator.
# E_R - AC voltage across resistor R.
def Get_L_test_AC(E_R, R, E_L, R_coil, f):
# Current over the coil.
I = E_R / R
# Impedance of the coil.
Z = E_L / I
# Reactance of the coil.
X = math.sqrt(Z**2 - R_coil**2)

return X/(2*math.pi*f)

__________________________

From L, number of turns and core geometry you can get value of permeability (mu).

Interesting program, normally I use a 5VAC transformer and can "measure" Lp and Ls (leakage), In extreme cases I have a friend in university and access to HP vector impedance meter, and a lot more instruments, bad news is I must travel 200Km. :D
 
Hi all

with so many specialists in transformers here, may i sugest something ? i have 2 irons wich i would like to make 2 transformers for EL 34 SE triode mode. what i have is M85 E and I made of M6 grain oriented, so i have a core of 13,5 sq cm. So can someone tell me how many turns and gauge of wire do i need for the primary ? secundary should be 8 ohms.
All the maths here is to much for me. If more details needed, please ask me. +B is 300 V.
Thanks
 
Hi all

with so many specialists in transformers here, may i sugest something ? i have 2 irons wich i would like to make 2 transformers for EL 34 SE triode mode. what i have is M85 E and I made of M6 grain oriented, so i have a core of 13,5 sq cm. So can someone tell me how many turns and gauge of wire do i need for the primary ? secundary should be 8 ohms.
All the maths here is to much for me. If more details needed, please ask me. +B is 300 V.
Thanks

Hi, I do not consider myself as a specialist in transformers, but if you can put more info, maybe for tomorrow I can post a complete design as an example of how equations work.

I need: Primary impedance, power, primary DC current, lowest frequency and more details about core and coil former (geometry)
 
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