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#1
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Variac Help. Trying to find the right one.
I'm trying to rebuild a thermal evaporator. We need a power supply to
heat the boats (only precious metals and aluminum). I've seen very high prices for power supplies at some vendors, and I read that a VARIAC can be a good, and cheap choice. Now, what is a variac? Can it be used to evaporate gold, silver, aluminum? Can I have a variac to control 3 boats? Not at the same time but one after the other? Any help is appreciated. A confused undergrad |
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#2
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A variac is a transformer which takes mains ie utility supply
power/voltage in and gives out any voltage from 0 up to the supply voltage. As for the amps what it will give will depend on its rating. you will need to do some serious paper work to get you design properly mapped out to ensure you have the right values for all the equipment you plan to use. If what you mean is a sputter in vacumn depositor your aiming rather high for an undergrad. Have you access to one that you can see working, has a manual and scematics, and can copy? Without that your on to a loser with a lot of your own money. To help you further you will need to give a detailed description of the kit you plan. If you havnt bothered to look up a technical dictionay for variac you wont really get very far. Havnt they taught you how to do research? in your college? |
#3
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Not sure what it is your using them for as I have no knowledge of the process
your describing. But, a variac is also called an autotransformer and is essentailly a variable output transformer. They look like a big potentiometer (volumn control) with a shaft that is used to turn a movable assembly across aa coil of wound wire. The voltage output is determined by where the tap of the movable assembly is on the coil of wire in relation to where the voltage inputs are. They come in different voltage and current ratings and are relatively inexpensive in the smaller sizes. Chechk on ebay or they are available from many places like Newark Electronics or maybe even Grainger as well as direct from several manufactures like Superior. Mike in Arkansas |
#4
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Andres wrote:
I'm trying to rebuild a thermal evaporator. We need a power supply to heat the boats (only precious metals and aluminum). I've seen very high prices for power supplies at some vendors, and I read that a VARIAC can be a good, and cheap choice. Now, what is a variac? Can it be used to evaporate gold, silver, aluminum? Can I have a variac to control 3 boats? Not at the same time but one after the other? Any help is appreciated. A confused undergrad Be very careful, an autotransformer gives no mains supply isolation, and can fault very easily to mains potentials on the coil. Be careful too that the load on the "secondary" is not so low that the current burns out the variac. Since evaporation usually requires high (but variable) current and low voltages, a better way is to use a variac to feed a transformer that THEN drives the evaporator coils. If you want some more details contact me off the group. Steve (Professional electronic engineer and r.c.j lurker) |
#5
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powerstat is another term. I bought mine on ebay.
fyi Carl 1 Lucky Texan Mike72903 wrote: Not sure what it is your using them for as I have no knowledge of the process your describing. But, a variac is also called an autotransformer and is essentailly a variable output transformer. They look like a big potentiometer (volumn control) with a shaft that is used to turn a movable assembly across aa coil of wound wire. The voltage output is determined by where the tap of the movable assembly is on the coil of wire in relation to where the voltage inputs are. They come in different voltage and current ratings and are relatively inexpensive in the smaller sizes. Chechk on ebay or they are available from many places like Newark Electronics or maybe even Grainger as well as direct from several manufactures like Superior. Mike in Arkansas -- to reply, change ( .not) to ( .net) |
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