What the hell happened to transformer prices

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Transformers tend to be very reliable and so unless buying for a new project etc it's not something one often needs to buy as a replacement for a faulty unit.... But today I needed one for a customers amp.
To say I was shocked at the price rise since about a year and a half ago would be putting it mildly!!
I was expecting the 35 0 35 120VA toroid to be around £16 - £22 but found them to be actually £32 - £41 :eek::eek:
I tried a few suppliers and found the same thing.....
I've heard of inflation but that's ridiculous.
Any one have any inside info on this? Is it the global rise in metal prices?
 
In the UK the favoured items for metal theft seem to be:
lead from church roofs, railway power and signalling cables, telecomms cables, copper gas pipes (yes, they will saw off a live gas pipe - someone will get a Darwin award eventually). After several years of hand-wringing our government have now insisted that scrap metal cannot be bought for cash - hopefully that will at least make disposing of it slightly harder.
 
In the UK the favoured items for metal theft seem to be:
lead from church roofs, railway power and signalling cables, telecomms cables, copper gas pipes (yes, they will saw off a live gas pipe - someone will get a Darwin award eventually). After several years of hand-wringing our government have now insisted that scrap metal cannot be bought for cash - hopefully that will at least make disposing of it slightly harder.

The same is the case here. At least the railway power lines. Some of the wires carry 1650 V dc, and others 25 KV 50Hz.:eek:
I wonder who makes the first cut, i'd rather play Russian roulette.
Best regards Ebbe
 
There was actually a scum bag who was fried to death whilst trying to steal cable just a few months ago :D:D Good riddance I say!

So it is indeed due to metal prices eh? That was my guess....
The range of available voltage and VA ratings seems to have lessened somewhat also :mad: Maybe due to the increased use of SMPSU..?

I have all sorts of transformers laying around the place but non suitable for this job unfortunately...
 
Copper was $.85 a pound a year ago in the quantities that I buy it. Today it is $3.55. Steel was $.12 a pound today $.50 to $1.00!

One is that China is building infrastructure and adding to the cost.

Two is that the cost of mining and transportation is up due to fuel price increases.

Three is that metals are being sold to speculators (A.K.A, fools) as an investment.

When I first notice it was cheaper for me to buy loudspeaker inductors from distributors inventory than to wind my own from newly purchased copper wire!

BTY the old patio furniture we had outside the shop for lunch etc. got stolen for scrap!
 
Apart from copper they're stealing manhole covers too. The other day a teenager died because of an uncovered sewer hole.

That ain't easy! They are heavy and often quite well mucked in. Being the nasty sort I would wonder if a utility worker wasn't trying to escape blame.

Although around here we did have a utility tunnel explosion that did hurl a cover into an unfortunate woman. That settled quickly as there was no denial of responsibility.
 
Copper was $.85 a pound a year ago in the quantities that I buy it. Today it is $3.55. Steel was $.12 a pound today $.50 to $1.00!

One is that China is building infrastructure and adding to the cost.

Two is that the cost of mining and transportation is up due to fuel price increases.

Three is that metals are being sold to speculators (A.K.A, fools) as an investment.

When I first notice it was cheaper for me to buy loudspeaker inductors from distributors inventory than to wind my own from newly purchased copper wire!

BTY the old patio furniture we had outside the shop for lunch etc. got stolen for scrap!

The dollar keeps devaluing , hence the apparent increase, every time gold moves, the dollar devalues, since oil is priced in US/dollars, this affects the prices on everything ...
 
The dollar keeps devaluing , hence the apparent increase, every time gold moves, the dollar devalues, since oil is priced in US/dollars, this affects the prices on everything ...

No. Gold is going up in price because of marketing. Gold use is down in dentistry, due to plastics, down in electronics due to changes in design and selective plating techniques and most importantly negative use in jewelery as more people are selling than buying. Gold production is up due to the investment demand. As with any financial bubble it will collapse.

Steel prices jumped up when China bought all of the scrap the same weekend. It hasn't dropped since then. Copper went up because of the increase in power distribution in China.

Fuel went up because of increased demand and greater risk of production.
 
In the UK the favoured items for metal theft seem to be:
lead from church roofs, railway power and signalling cables, telecomms cables, copper gas pipes (yes, they will saw off a live gas pipe - someone will get a Darwin award eventually). After several years of hand-wringing our government have now insisted that scrap metal cannot be bought for cash - hopefully that will at least make disposing of it slightly harder.
Wow, I thought that only happens in Mexico.
:mad:PEMO
 
No. Gold is going up in price because of marketing. Gold use is down in dentistry, due to plastics, down in electronics due to changes in design and selective plating techniques and most importantly negative use in jewelery as more people are selling than buying. Gold production is up due to the investment demand. As with any financial bubble it will collapse.

Steel prices jumped up when China bought all of the scrap the same weekend. It hasn't dropped since then. Copper went up because of the increase in power distribution in China.

Fuel went up because of increased demand and greater risk of production.

aha , wishfull thinking like all those trilions of new printed dollars just dissapeared in thin air .There is nothing speculative about the fear that over printed paper money will loose its value which push the price of gold and metals. It is called inflation and fuel went up from 90 cents 10 years ago because of sinking dollar value. Remember that all fuel is traded in dollars since US promised to keep status quo and defend OPEC from any interior /exterior threat for agreement on exclusive dollar /fuel trade worldwide. That's where our cheap credit comes from . I do hope that gold will go suddenly down to $1k for an ounce. What an interesting times are coming
 
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aha , wishfull thinking like all those trilions of new printed dollars just dissapeared in thin air .There is nothing speculative about the fear that over printed paper money will loose its value which push the price of gold and metals. It is called inflation and fuel went up from 90 cents 10 years ago because of sinking dollar value. Remember that all fuel is traded in dollars since US promised to keep status quo and defend OPEC from any interior /exterior threat for agreement on exclusive dollar /fuel trade worldwide. That's where our cheap credit comes from . I do hope that gold will go suddenly down to $1k for an ounce. What an interesting times are coming

Feel free to invest in gold. I'll stick to real estate new land production is really down and likely to stay that way.
 
Hi , I won't invest in gold untill it gets down to $1k :) because fooled fools will be parted with their money once more I guess. Land is good if you looking for long term and I think for a long term gold is equally good.
But whenever there is talk about speculants driving the prices of rough materials and basic products up I know the craks in the system are starting to show up. I lived trough it in Poland before communism collapse. Goverment started to blaim and prosecute publicly speculants for shortages , black market and price rise to steam out public outrage on sinking economy. I don't think it's going to happen here but that the really "recovered" are only the banksters it's pretty clear to everybody by now:)
 
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