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Registered Member #1185
Joined: Thu Dec 20 2007, 04:40PM
Location:
Posts: 17
It just seems funny to me that some of you guys get/use pole pigs. I'm pretty sure I don't want one I don't want to draw as much as a dryer draws. And to draw more you would need to have the power company put in a bigger box no? What about the extra power consumption don't your electricity bills get extreme?
But none the less my curiosity is killing me. I keep laughing at the idea of going to the pole pig sitting up on the pole that is connected to my neighbors houses and snip snip ...
Cops come to door "Honestly officers I don't know what happened I just found it in my back yard and figured no one else wanted it."
Why do they sell old pole pigs? Maybe because when they get too old they make too much noise? They(power plants) need a bigger one and they can't use used stuff anywhere else for liability issues? Who else would have a pole pig and why?
How did you get yours and isn't it expensive (acquiring one and power consumption).
Registered Member #341
Joined: Thu Mar 23 2006, 07:41PM
Location: Northern Illinois, USA
Posts: 69
Jeff,
It's just a fact of life that if you want really big arcs it's going to require big wattage.
I tried to purchase a pig from the local electric company, but they refused to sell me one. They (the electric company) then left a brand new, on the pallet, 25KW pig at the end of my driveway for several days until they installed it. It took all of my willpower to not take the truck in the middle of the night and grab it, but I didn't. As it turns out, it only had a 7600V primary so it wasn't what I wanted anyway.
It took some time, but I found a fellow coiler in Wisconsin and paid him $125.00US for my pig. It's used, but in very good condition and has a 14.4Kv primary. I found that you get some odd looks from people while driving home with a pig in the back of your pickup truck.
I have always wanted to build a good sized Magnifier. I have a 100A 240V service to the barn and plan to use most of it. And yes, I expect the electric meter will spin like a meat slicer. But the cost of electricity will be minor compared to the cost of the copper to build the coil.
Registered Member #477
Joined: Tue Jun 20 2006, 11:51PM
Location: Seattle, WA
Posts: 546
Jeff Sadowski wrote ...
Why do they sell old pole pigs? Maybe because when they get too old they make too much noise? They(power plants) need a bigger one and they can't use used stuff anywhere else for liability issues? Who else would have a pole pig and why?
Sometimes the transformers are being upgraded to more powerful units. Other times they fail in one way or another, or are taken out of service because of liability concerns such as PCB contamination (those usually aren't the ones you want to buy, of course). But more often than not, the transformers I've found in the salvage yard were simply older units that were replaced opportunistically because they happened to be in the same general vicinity as a failed unit. During the spring storm season in Seattle, transformers are occasionally destroyed by lightning impulses, too. When this happens, Seattle City Light or Puget Sound Energy will often take down an entire circuit's worth of pole transformers and replace the whole lot of them. The replaced transformers get sorted according to age, and the ones that are young enough to re-deploy are hi-pot tested to make sure they weren't damaged also. Some number of the ones that pass are retained as spares. The rest are junked. Most of the junked units, working or otherwise, are sold to recycling companies, or sometimes to transformer rebuilding companies.
Jeff Sadowski wrote ...
How did you get yours and isn't it expensive (acquiring one and power consumption).
I've bought about half a dozen pole pigs and another half dozen or so potential transformers and other odds and ends from the local power companies. Unlike many others, I'm fortunate to have power companies in my area who will work with me, and who I maintain a good relationship with by buying a few bits and pieces each year, even if only to keep the doors open. I've never paid more than $100 for any transformer, including some 25kVA units. Most of the transformers I've picked up have then been given/sold to other area coilers. So I'm sort of the local "pole pig guy".
A lot of people get pigs and potential transformers to use for coils and big Jacob's ladders and such. That was part of my interest in them as well, but the other part was just my general interest in power transmission and distribution, and so I find the devices themselves fascinating.
EDIT: Also, as others have mentioned, you'll never really notice the power consumption in your electric bill. Almost nobody would run their big TC or JL for long enough to put a noticeable dent in their power bill.
Registered Member #477
Joined: Tue Jun 20 2006, 11:51PM
Location: Seattle, WA
Posts: 546
Steve Conner wrote ...
The usual rule of thumb is that if you have to ask where to get a pole pig, you're enough of a newb that you'd just hurt yourself if you got one.
Fortunately, most newbs who ask and find out still can't get their parents to buy one for them So I think it mostly works out in the end. Also, big transformers tend to exude evil, and require enough nerve to just hook up that I'd hope most newbs who get them would be scared into shedding some newb-ness before actually using them. But maybe not!
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How do you get a pole pig?
So I think it mostly works out in the end. Also, big transformers tend to exude evil, and require enough nerve to just hook up that I'd hope most newbs who get them would be scared into shedding some newb-ness before actually using them. But maybe not!
