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Question:

Can anyone help me figure out this transformer?

Here's photos of the transformer in question. My dad pulled it put of some electronic he can't remember what and has had it sitting on the garage. Recently I've been working with high voltage and he pulled this out for me to work with just having trouble figuring it out

Answer:

First of all, never assume anything! There are some standard colour codes for transformer wiring, but not all transformers conform to the standards. In practice, a manufacturer can use any colour wire for any purpose, leaving you and me and a lot of other people wondering for all time, which wire is which? The measured DC resistance does not tell you anything about the AC voltage rating of any winding. With most power transformers, if there are two solid-black wires, they are the primary. If it is tapped, or there are two primaries (such as in dual-voltage units), there will be three or more primary wires (and possibly as many as 8!). I think the side with 115V on it is probably -- mind you, this is not for certain -- nothing more than the side on which that number happened to be stamped. So of course you want to know what to do next. Considering the number of wires and the ways in which they are connected, it would seem that an experimental method will be required. The 2006 ARRL Amateur Radio Handbook (and possibly other editions) tells how to figure out what's what with transformers. I strongly recommend using the procedures described therein.

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