[Amps] Neon xfmr for HiPot

[k9muf at comcast.net]

Mike,

Yes, a neon transformer can work very well to make a hi-pot tester provided you take a few precautions and I mean besides the safety ones.

A neon transformer is designed to be operated with a load on it's secondary which will hold down the output voltage to about 60% of it's rated open circuit voltage. If operated with no load or a very light load, eventually the insulation will break down.

I had to learn this the hard way. I built a hi-pot tester using a neon transformer and had two of them fail after some time.
 I am now in the process of installing the third one and plan to put in a spark gap or some other means to clamp the voltage
 at about the 60% level. 

If 60% of the transformers rated voltage is not high enough, you can always use a voltage doubling circuit.
Take a look at Rich Measures design,  http://www.somis.org/BVT.html for some ideas.

Don   k9muf




----- Original Message -----
From: Mike <k4gmh at arrl.net>
To: amps at contesting.com
Sent: Mon, 16 Jul 2012 03:28:49 -0000 (UTC)
Subject: [Amps] Neon xfmr for HiPot

Hello,

Can a 10 KV, 30 mA., xfmr used for a neon light be used in a hipot tester?
Seems like a natural with just a small variac used to vary the primary
voltage (120 VAC) for adjusting the output voltage.

  73,
  Mike, K4GMH
_______________________________________________
Amps mailing list
Amps at contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/amps