[Physltest] [Phys-L] Re: ISOLATION TRANSFORMER

[John Denker <jsd@AV8N.COM>]

David Abineri wrote:
> I have heard that an Isolation Transformer can be a safety device when
> working with line voltage and also can act as a filter to clean up noisy
> power lines.
>
> Can someone explain, in High School terms if possible, the basic
> principles by which such a device operates?

Well, in high school the only sort of transformers that are
discussed are _ideal_ transformers.

An ideal transformer works just fine as an isolation transformer
(among other things).

In the real world, making an isolation transformer comes down
to getting rid of certain types of nonidealities.  This includes
getting rid of inter-winding capacitance among other things.
Details of how this is done are beyond high-school level, but
let me know if you're interested.

An isolation transformer is extremely effective at preventing
certain common types of accident, namely the scenario where
a live wire touches ground and starts a fire, or where a live
wire touches a grounded person.  You can still have accidents,
but they require a double fault.

See
   http://lists.nau.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0012&L=phys-l&P=R2410

I don't know what is meant by "cleaning up noisy power lines".
An isolation transformer is verrry effective at getting rid
of certain types of interference due to ground loops ... but
there are plenty of other types of noise that it can't touch.
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