| Electronics > Projects, Designs, and Technical Stuff |
| Designing a Burn Down Transformer |
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| james_s:
If the arc is AC it will make a buzzing noise, that on its own is likely going to be enough to get a pretty good idea of where the break is. |
| coppercone2:
--- Quote from: Marco on July 22, 2019, 11:58:25 am --- --- Quote from: MagicSmoker on July 22, 2019, 11:16:28 am ---Calling something a "burn down transformer" sounds like the marketing fail of the century --- End quote --- Since they actually burn the broken cable to create a more conductive path it seems accurate. It seems a bit foolhardy to me, but I don't do power electronics. That said, it's massively overdesigned for finding a short in a heating cable. Using an isolation transformer with a lightbulb (and possibly a variac for more control) seems the most straightforward method. --- End quote --- that belongs in a factory or with a trade professional. There is nothing overdesigned about it. You don't want to be wiring those things together incase you move a work bench etc. Think about this, at the point where you designed a chassis, you might as well put some features. I hate this line of thinking because you get assembly line **atrocities**. "it's just a....(looks like a bundle of organs)... its ok" (this machine ends up making/saving the company 10,000$ each time its used and may cost crazy amounts if a bad wire due to ad-hock assembly goes bad, also accumulates dust, dropped screws, etc) and it actually can save a factory or workplace money because its no longer 'that bench we use once in a while but its really important you can't move it incase something comes in'. Slapped together things turn into area denial VX nerve gas in a factory. Paralysis and movement denial! Then you get cardboard box men living under the bench because its seldom used. Like bridge trolls. And the bench is always built by 'that guy' that has untouchable stuff, so if that guy is not there the bench gets ARMED and you are not allowed within 10 feet because it might break and looks flimsy. Fully armed management battlegroup is deployed so it does not go off during cleaning or nearby work. Suddenly it makes its way into floor plans as a permanent structure. wheras with a nice cube, people think 1) we can send it to be fixed, 2) its a damn box with a dial and 2 knobs, I can do this (and the cash flow continues, management is undisturbed, then men in black are not there to neuralyze the tour groups, etc). |
| Marco:
It's overdesigned for finding an existing short, it's purpose designed for creating a short. |
| coppercone2:
The burn down transformer ATG 2 enables the user to change a high resistance fault into a low resistance fault. Thus allowing an impulse reflection test set to be used for low resistance fault pre-location. The portable burn down transformer is enclosed in a sturdy 19 "steel housing. The well-proven power electronics allows individual control of output voltage and current. A vital step to a practical burn down technique. It's still designed with RF reflectrometry in mind but still. I would imagine proper use means hooking it up to a LF Rmeter and messing with it till the short gets to some particular impedance to minimize risk of fires. What he is doing may get a fire department call if it turned out the wire got routed into a weird place. |
| NiHaoMike:
What about connect a micropower AM transmitter to it and then use an AM radio to track where the signal suddenly attenuates? Or connect a flyback transformer and find the point that's operating as a spark gap transmitter. |
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