Re: variable transformer for dc power supply

Hi Troy,
If its a regular variac,NO! it would be very dangerous sinces it's
an auto-transformer who's secondary is not isolated from the
secondary, as a normal transformer's would be. By isolation I meant
that there is no electrical connection between the AC line input and
the output ie the output has its own winding separate from the
primary. The system would be potentially at line voltages and any
metal contact could cause shocks and exploding electronic parts.

I have seen some variable transformers that do have isolated
secondaries and they are usually marked as such. A variac can be
handy to lower the voltage going into a primary of another
transformer for testing at different voltages. So the answer is it
depends... on wether its an isolated unit or not.

Look on Ebay, there's good transformers to be found.

-Lee

--- In CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@y..., mmiami johnson <mmiami2002@y...> wrote:
>
> I am building an unregulated power supply to power my api stepper
motor drives.
>
> Does anyone know if it is ok to use a variable ac transformer as
the transformer for an unregulated dc power supply? I already own
the variac and it would save me some money and it would allow me to
play around with different voltages.
>
>
>
> Thanks in advance
>
> Troy
>
>
>
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