I've recently purchased an electronics surprise package at my retailer for about 5 dollars... well, it was like a little christmas, but I don't know what exactly this is:
Must be some kind of transformer, but what does it transform to what? There is written 230V 50Hz on top, but what does this tell me?
Don't be afraid, I have no intention of hooking this thing up soon (due to the high voltage warnings), but I would like to know what it is. The thing weighs about 5 to 6 kilos, dimensions can be seen in the pictures (it's a metric grid underneath, centimeters...).
Thanks for the first idea, I'm gonna look further into this...
It only has the two red wires which are visible in the picture. At the upper coil there is one cable connector (next to the solder ball) and at the lower coil there are two cable connectors (visible on picture number 2).
So what do you guess it transforms into what then?
230V, 50Hz in all likelihood means that the primary side is meant to be fed 230V @ 50Hz (although 60Hz won't do any damage). The two red wires are for the primary, and the three QC terminals are for a center-tapped secondary (which means the transformer will output 0V on one contact, +V on one, and -V on the other--whatever V happens to be).
If you're feeling adventurous*, wire up the two red wires to a 230VAC supply, and meter the three QC terminals to identify the output voltage.
Of course, you'll still have no idea what the rated current is, so the utility will still be rather limited--not to mention the fact that for any application that would require a transformer this beefy you'd be much better off with a lighter, more efficient switch mode power supply (like you'd find in a computer, for instance). So really, this thing isn't likely to be very useful for anything aside from keeping your work bench from blowing away.
*Obviously great care should be taken, and you do everything solely at your own risk. This entire post is based on conjecture and educated guesses, so it could be entirely wrong if the transformer turns out to be a real oddball.
Still think it's from a microwave. Here is something I found with a quick search of the web:
The first high voltage source I found was a microwave oven transformer. Generally, microwave oven transformers have 2kv outputs at 200-300 mA.
I also used the diode and capacitor from the same oven. The transformer is a PX771 from toshiba. The capacitor is 0.89uf, 2100 Volts and the Diode is a SR101-C. The capacitor and diode are connected in a way that forms a voltage doubler.
Searching for microwave transformers really brought up some pictures that look very similar to the one I have, so I think retrolefty should be right.
As I posted earlier, I don't really have the intention of zapping myself with a 2kV shock, I was just curious what this massive block of metal junk could possibly be...
I don't really have the intention of zapping myself with a 2kV shock
Jeez, you're no fun at all ;D
I thought maybe you could use it to make a small Jacob's Ladder, but it turns out you need a lot more Volts even for a tiny one than I thought. That link has some info on microwave oven transformers, though. And why it's a Really Bad Idea to mess with them casually.
If you see any really huge ham antennas in your neighborhood, you might offer it to the owner: he could be using old tube-powered rigs, and could use it for a power supply.
Failing that, if you have no friends with small boats, put some stick-on felt on the top, turn it upside down, and use it as a stabilizing base for mounting a camera or a POV display.
Also, a quick search shows that Dong Yang Power Systems is a Korean manufacturer of transformers for household appliances. Microwave oven is very likely; here's a thread from a Tesla Coil mailing list about using microwave oven transformers for tesla coils, where another Dong Yang transformer is mentioned: