Source for toridial transformers

[arnach]

I need 8 1KV toroidial transformers with secondaries of around 48V for a VERY large Son of Zen project..

Does anyone know of an inexpensive, pref. surplus source -- NOT toroid.com?

Thanks in advance,

Aaron Finley
arnach5@hotmail.com

[paulb]

Not surplus, but you could try http://www.plitron.com

[haldor]

Hi Aaron,

I second the recommendation for plitron. They have the best pricing I have been able to find for low volume orders and happily do semi-custom for a very nominal charge. I bought two 750VA transformers from them last year (with built-in thermal cutout switches) and the quality and service were excellent. I was quoted a discount price for quantity 5 orders so you would get a better price than I did.

The only problem is that plintron doesn't have a 1000 VA transformer listed for their standard power transformers. The closest standard ratings are 750VA and 1500VA.

P.S. I don't know if you are interested, but All Electronics, http://www.allelectronics.com has dual secondary 44V, 400 VA surplus toroidal transformers for $20 each. At that price you could double up on the number of transformers and save about 1/3 the cost of using 750 VA units. Besides All Electronics would probably give you a quantity discount if you buy 16 of them.

[arnach]

Somehow I wonder about the practicality of 16 transformers in one chassis. See im using parallel son of zens and I was going to use 2X for each 50W unit... therefore 4 per channel, left and right channels stacked on top of each other.

I think I would have to take some pictures of it, at the very least.

[haldor]

Originally posted by arnach
Somehow I wonder about the practicality of 16 transformers in one chassis. See im using parallel son of zens and I was going to use 2X for each 50W unit... therefore 4 per channel, left and right channels stacked on top of each other.

I think I would have to take some pictures of it, at the very least.

Aaron, Aaron, Aaron,

Practical! Since when is practical a consideration? Are $500 power cords practical? Is spending enough money on cables to buy a decent used car practical? Are amps that cost $500 per watt practical? Of course not. Sometimes I think the more impractical an idea is the more likely we are to adopt it as the new "gotta have or it's totally crap" thing. If we limit ourselves to only doing what is easy or cheap or makes sense, then everyone would already be doing it and you could buy it at 'Best Buy'. Then were would we be? =8^0 Horrors!

Aaron here is your chance to start a new fashion trend. How many people do you think have a stereo amp in their home with 16 toroidal power transformers? Thats right, you can be first!!! Besides if the tube fans can elevate the tube to high art, why can't we solid state fans worship at a shrine to the magnificent Toroid? You could do something really artistic with this, think of the alien space ship from the movie Alien. Toroidals are actually kind of neat to look at, all those organic looking curves and glossy multicolored wire. Could be really cool. ;^)

Whatever you do, you are definitely going to need some serious inrush current limiting with 8 KVA of transformers. Just idle curiosity but how are you going to get power to this brute? The standard home AC outlet is only rated at 1500VA. Planning on running lots of extension cords from all over the house? That's going to have a high SAF (spouse acceptance factor).

P.S. I made a mistake in my previous post, Plitron does make 1000 VA transformers in their standard product line. Sorry for the brain f*rt. You might also want to take a look at their audio power transformers (they call them the LONO for low noise). These are quite a bit more expensive than the standard transformers, but have lower inrush current and are especially shielded to prevent interference.

Phil