Why?(Biggus Transformerus Gigantigus)

[iomegaman]

So I ended up picking up a sine wave generator and oscilloscope for $30 this weekend and it came with a huge transformer as part of the deal...guy was moving and needed to get rid of it...weighs a ton its huge...apparently for either 100 or 110 volts...
The company is Israeli and makes electro-optical test systems for things like lasers and missile detection/etc...
Is it just an extremely robust isolation transformer?

https://www.ci-systems.com/Home

 

[cyrano]

That's what it looks like. Nice trannie!

 

[sr1200]

we used to have something very similar in my old studio. I cant quite get the scale of it from the picture but, basically the power coming into the building would go thru that thing first and then to a panel which fed the outlets in the studio. Was supposed to isolate the studio's power from any crap on the mains voltage.

 

[ubxf]

something like this ?
https://equitech.com/equitech-products/

 

[Tubetec]

My guess to the original question about why a big iso transformer is fairly simple ,
it acts as a filter ,helping reduce the chances of noise from the equipment down stream getting back into the supply or noise on the supply itself getting into the equipment , there might also be particular grounding arrangements and galavanic isolation required with the machinery , feck only knows what their upto out in the desert , run a Gieger over it for giggles n shits

I do see a few Ebay adds for huge tube output transformers from the Holy Land ,
The same kind of C core as you have , it looks like they interleave the sections with PTFE tape
Maybe you could rewind it as a massive single ended output transformer and use a transmitter tube to drive it . Be easy to mount up a few tubes on the enclosure and box the psu up on a separate chassis .
The 400W KT88 amp might be another option with a more reasonable HT requirement .

In any case your standard 600v catIII bench meter is a bit marginal for poking around inside something like this ,a differential HT probe is probably the best bet , Ive been wanting one of those for a while .

 

[sr1200]

something like this ?
https://equitech.com/equitech-products/

REALLY close to the one on the right on that home page. Except we put the box together ourselves.

 

[iomegaman]

Holy crap some of those cabinets are 700 lbs...this thing is only 12"X 9" X 8"...still thats a lot of copper in the copper state.
I'm like a "usable junk" magnet...always finding this crap.

 

[cyrano]

We had a buzz problem on the announcement system in one of our venues. That problem had always been there and it seemed nobody could fix it. The system also has a number of Sony Mavica TVs on it, sitting in the lobby, besides the tiny power amp.

One day, I picked up a big iso transformer, just for the heck of it. It's 30 KVA, I seem to remember. As it was just sitting there, a colleague hooked it up to the announcement system and the buzz was gone. It's been replaced by a 1 KVA one, as the big one was kind of ridiculous on a 25 W audio power system. It's been fine for six years now.

 

[Tubetec]

Thats a surprisingly common problem in shop PA/music systems nowadays .

 

[PermO]

I would say that's a keeper.

High quality isolation transformers don't come cheap.

 

[iomegaman]

I would say that's a keeper.

High quality isolation transformers don't come cheap.

Yea this came with an older Tektronix analog oscilloscope and a RF function generator, it was SUPPOSED to have a multifunction generator in the deal but when I got there he had already sold it or given it away...all for $30...kid was moving and trying to make some quick cash on an old roommates junk left about...the advantage of living in an avionics college town and scanning facebook.