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IndustryArena Forum > MetalWorking Machines > HURCO > DO YOU HAVE TO USE AN ISOLATION TRANSFORMER
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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Posts
    1

    DO YOU HAVE TO USE AN ISOLATION TRANSFORMER

    I AM HOOKING UP AND HURCO VM1 AND IN THE GETTING STARTED MANUAL IT SAYS THAT AN ISOLATION TRANSFORMER SHOULD BE USED . I HAVE AN DELTA WYE TRANSFORMER THAT WILL GIVE ME MY CORRECT VOLTAGE BUT ITS NOT AN ACTUAL ISOLATION TRANSFORMER WOULD THIS STILL WORK?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Dec 2003
    Posts
    24216
    If there is no electrical connection between the secondary you intend to use and the primary of the transformer , then it is classed as isolated.
    Al.
    CNC, Mechatronics Integration and Custom Machine Design

    “Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.”
    Albert E.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jun 2007
    Posts
    31
    racer652,

    just complementing the above reply. If you want electrical isolation, which is what I think the machine needs (because of the electronics), then you need a transformer and NOT an AUTOTRANSFORMER. The difference between them is that the Transformer provides galvaic isolation because of the core, the autotransformer has other winding configuration which does not provide electrical isolation.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jun 2007
    Posts
    31
    just to expand the above reply. What you need is a transformer and NOT an AUTOTRANSFORMER. The difference is that the autotransformer does not provide electrical isolation and the transformer gives galvaic isolation (this is required when you supply electronic circuits). The way you can check if you have an autotransformer is by checking continuity using a multimeter. Take any line in the primary side and check continuity in al lines, the multimeter should "beep" only when you touch the other primary line, if you touch any secundary line and it "beeps" then you have an autotransformer.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Posts
    124
    Actually, I have installed some Hurco mills using an autotransformer, because the customer was too cheap to pay a few bucks more for an isolation transformer. I never ran into any problems with the machine not working. But here lies the real DANGER with autotransformers, if the unit ever fails, and shorts out, the primary voltage WILL appear at the machine input terminals, and the result will be that ALL electrical and electronic components can be potentially destroyed, from the much higher mains voltage. My advise, don't skimp out on the transformer, you may end up with a useless pile of iron.

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