Newbie- Transformer design

[RonL]

A question about building a variac transformer.

I have a quite large quantity of electrical wiring, it is 10 Gage, multi strand for the most part. The insulation is colored plastic with a clear shell over that. There are 250+ wires about 65' long.

My question, is it possible to use this wire to wind a transformer of considerable size, or will the heat go beyond the thermal limit of the insulation ? The plan i have in mind would involve using two of these heavy units, and let them serve as flywheels in a system i am working on. The voltage and amps can be modified to some extent in order to keep heat down.

If needs be i can strip the wire, and run an insulating cover (of proper material) as i wind each layer.

I did not see anything here in my search, that covers this thermal topic. Thanks for any info, or websites.

RonL

[Al_The_Man]

I think you need to study the construction of a Variac, One, you cannot use multi-strand wire.
Or are you thinking of a Toroidal style?
You also do not state the VA (power rating) you intend designing for?
There is no real formula's for designing to a certain VA, most manuf. have their own rating figures for their product.
Also for the cost of picking up a used one on ebay or? I would not think it is worth it.
Al.

[RonL]

After some searching on the net and in this forum, I find that reference to a variable autotransformer might have been more accurate for my question. The VA of around 12,000 (240v X 50a) ea. would be OK, but more might be better. If i understand correctly, heat build-up can be reduced by having more wire to carry the current.

The only thing i have found so far is the text book drawing of a single coil with tap or slide contactors.

As i mentioned this idea is to let the massive weight of one or more transformers serve a mechanical function of flywheel units, my thoughts are to wind the wire on a thick wall pipe core of some dia. suitable to system design.

To find this already on the market would be a big surprise, and the fact that i already own the wire, is the biggest reason to even consider building my own unit. It seems to me that "mass in motion would almost always be better than lugging dead weight".

One last thing is to keep the amp load down, when recharging the flywheels, the use of one or more air motors can be brought into play.

Thanks for your time.

RonL

[RonL]

Guess I'll try this

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flywheel

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autotransformer

If the flywheel needs to be about 24" in dia. and have a weight of about 150 pounds, as stated in the above post, I have much more than 200 pounds of copper wire that can be wrapped to produce a high voltage of 240, and i think the amps would be determined by how much wire is needed to make the weight come out right, as for temperature it seems that if it is too hot to hold a bare hand on the surface, then it is running too hot.

So now my question is, based on the two references above, is there any reason the two cannot be combined into one mechanical unit??

RonL

[boatlover]

????????

What are you trying to do with this flywheel / transformer combo?

Are you saying you need a transformer to power your machine and you also want to use the weight of the transformer to serve as a mechanical flywheel?
If so you would need one heck of a good rotor to transfer the power from the rotating coil of wire.

Dale P.

[RonL]

Originally Posted by boatlover ???????? What are you trying to do with this flywheel / transformer combo? Are you saying you need a transformer to power your machine and you also want to use the weight of the transformer to serve as a mechanical flywheel? If so you would need one heck of a good rotor to transfer the power from the rotating coil of wire. Dale P.

I have most of the parts and pieces for a system that uses 12 volt batteries (1200 amp hrs ) I'm using a 5000 watt inverter(10,000 peak), a stepup/dn 5,000watt transformer, which produces a final voltage of 240v X 21amps. This setup gives me the power to flip a switch and drive a 2hp Delta planer motor which drives a 10kw generator head at 3500 rpm.

The flywheels come into play to extend the power taken from the 10kw generator, at present i can tack weld with a Lincoln 225 amp arc welder, but the amp draw of the two hp motor, as the speed slows down will cause the inverter to shut down. The air motor (4.8 hp ) will be activated by a switch that responds to a certain amp draw, as it powers the flywheel the amp load is taken away from the electrical system. The use of clutch bearings lets the air motor be engaged as needed.

I have not used the air motor portion at this time, but do have two on hand.
The building of a portable unit is at present being designed around a 250 gallon air tank that is mounted on a f-350 rear Axel. I do have another generator (7kw) and plenty of extra motors, DC, AC, and a few three phase units, 5 to 25 hp, so the need of increased transformer capacity will be something to address in the near future.

This is a labor of love, and learning, NOT LOGIC

Having used the system as described, without air motors, the need for power beyond 2hp does not present itself but just a few times a day, not enough to justify a fair sized ICE.

Now back to the transformer/flywheel, I have the wire, the steel, and the bearings, and the ability to build something, what i need now is information in some form to study or learn from. If worst come to worst I guess i could bolt 5 or six square transformers to a steel pipe and spin them like an old radial airplane engine

Well if anyone has read this far, THANKs

RonL