I'm interested in operating a 36volt 400 watt bulb off of a 120vac household current source. Is a transformer necessary, or can the voltage reduction be made by a wire-wound rheostat (or pot?)? Is there a better way? In the end, I need about 11-12 amps of 36 volt power to the bulb. Any help or guidance would be appreciated. Thanks, Smoke Eater
If you don't mind wasting an enormous amount of power and generating kilowatts of heat, a resistor will work. A transformer might be a bit more sensible.
Thanks, SY, I just seem to have trouble finding a transformer that takes 120vac and outputs 36 with at least 11 amps. Either I'm not searching for it correctly or they don't make many. Is an 11 amp output asking a lot of a transformer? Or should I be looking for some other "factor" that would help me properly size it? 🙁
I don't think there should be much of a problem to find such
a transformer. A 400VA should do the job. Just as a sample
I cheked Plitron and they have a 400VA toroid with 35V
secondary. I suppose that would be close enough for your
purposes.
a transformer. A 400VA should do the job. Just as a sample
I cheked Plitron and they have a 400VA toroid with 35V
secondary. I suppose that would be close enough for your
purposes.
Thanks Christer, I'll start searching by "400va" and see if I can turn up any that have 35-36 volt secondary. I'm just looking for an inexpensive way to upgrade from a 24volt 275watt halogen bulb to a 36volt 400w bulb.
Question for SY (and anyone else), Is the heat generated by the resistance of the rheostat greater than what would be generated by a transformer? I guess what I'm asking is, are transformers more capable of dealing with the heat, or do they not create as much heat as a rheostat? (I always thought that a transformer worked similar to a rheostat, just using more windings and not adjustable 🙄 ) Thanks for you help, Smoke Eater
Question for SY (and anyone else), Is the heat generated by the resistance of the rheostat greater than what would be generated by a transformer? I guess what I'm asking is, are transformers more capable of dealing with the heat, or do they not create as much heat as a rheostat? (I always thought that a transformer worked similar to a rheostat, just using more windings and not adjustable 🙄 ) Thanks for you help, Smoke Eater
Enormously greater heat from the resistor. At 11-12 amps, you'll be radiating a kilowatt from that poor little thing. A transformer will only have a few percent loss, adding up to a few watts.
Thanks for all your help, I found the Plitron site and located the transformer that Christer had mentioned. Sounds like just what I need. (Also stumbled across a "wind your own transformers" website...egads!) Thanks again to both of you, Take Care, Smoke Eater
- Status
- Not open for further replies.