A year or so ago when the pulse charger discusion was going on I had built several types.
My favorite is the capacitor, fullwave bridge, AC line type. This unit can be concidered very dangorus.
I first saw it here on the board. The problem was its connected directly to the AC mains with no line isolation and with no battery load open voltage will go very high.
Thats not a safe combonation. For my own use I had no prblem using it this way. As a matter of fack I use it this was on my golf cart and 85 Ford ranger E-truck. Never been shocked off of either one.
However a freind with a 60 volt battery bank wanted one. This made me nervus. I deducted I'll atleast need a large isolation transformer with this charger perminet hard wired and conected to the AC mains through a GFI unit.
I had no high powered line isolation transformers and new unit were way to pricey.
An idea hit me about modifieng microwave oven transformers. I took to of the same phisical size remove there primary and secondary coils. Then I place the 2 primary coils back on one of the laminations.
WAL-LA, A high powered 120v to 120v isolation transformer made from 2 throughaway microwave ovens.
The problem was however they run very hot. I just figured out the heat problem.
I'm not sure what you call a transformet when the primary and the secondary coils are seperated by a stack of lamination between.
When I reasemled the 2 coils I would push them close together and fill in the gap at one end with lamination stacks.
This week I've built 2 identical transformers, however I left the filler lamination segments out of one transformer. That transformer runs very cool and has about 1.5 amp higher out put.
I've posted this story because if I remember correctly several of you tryed the same conversion and had extream heat problems. I've had the heat to but I've been using very agresive fans directly on the transformers. It was seeming that the laminations were getting hot but not the coils?
I've asumed it must be heavy Eddy currents, the space, and gap dosen't hurt preformance, the heat goes away and the transformers is way more eficient.
I'll be building a few more in the future to confirm my findings.
MeanwhileI like how these pulse charger/desulphaters work.
JK TAS Jerry
