Guessing game...

[PBO]

I'm not certain myself although I do have an idea but what's this? (sorry for the crappy Blackberry photo)

[What's_nitro?]

That is a mercury arc rectifier. They are amazing pieces of equipment to look at, and even more amazing to watch!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGb-nUK41tc

[JERRY2KONE]

Originally Posted by What's_nitro?

That is a mercury arc rectifier. They are amazing pieces of equipment to look at, and even more amazing to watch!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGb-nUK41tc

What a scary looking piece of electrical equipment that is. I must assume with it being called a rectifier that it converts low DC voltage to 120 r 240volt A/C? Is this correct. I sure would not want one of those in my house.

[What's_nitro?]

Other way around- it converts AC into DC.

I would love to have one in my house! Maybe not during operation, as they are very loud.

Aside from that, they are perfectly safe so long as you don't do anything dumb...like touch ANY part of it.

[PBO]

Originally Posted by What's_nitro?

Other way around- it converts AC into DC.

Very good What's_nitro?, I'm impressed

It's about 5ft tall & although it's been decommissioned but if you squint your eyes, you can still see the blue/purple glow

[What's_nitro?]

Look at your avatar... That's what happens to you if you touch it!

[JERRY2KONE]

OK I am confused. I thought transformers stepped down voltage, and rectifiers stepped up voltage? Take me to school. It has been a while since I have worked around power plants so I am a little bit rusty. Of course I was a mechanic not a sparky.

well this is quite coincidental. ATM in yr 12 physics we are doing electronics which include rectifiers.

As i understand them they rectify AC current (really??). As we know AC current is like a sine wave. It goes up and down and continues. What a rectifier does is it converts the -ve voltage to +ve voltage.

have a look at this, hope it helps. And if i am completely wrong please do not hesitate to say so. I usually play games in physics.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rectifier

[What's_nitro?]

Originally Posted by JERRY2KONE

OK I am confused. I thought transformers stepped down voltage, and rectifiers stepped up voltage? Take me to school. It has been a while since I have worked around power plants so I am a little bit rusty. Of course I was a mechanic not a sparky.

Transformers can step-up or step-down voltage depending on the turns ratio between the primary and secondary (input and output) windings. Rectifiers only do one thing- convert oscillating AC power of any frequency to relatively consistent DC power for local use.

The big wall wart you charge your cellphone from has a transformer and a rectifier in it.

Now, who wants to help me build a Crossatron for my railgun?

wow, my explanation (or lack there of) is nothing but a random collection of words.

[JERRY2KONE]

OK guys I consider myself retrained. After being out of the industrial light for going on 20 years some of the stuff I only had partial experience with has faded somewhat. I can still tear down an engine and rebuild it with confidence and success. The electrical side has always been a bit confusing, because every time one would ask a question the answer would be "IT'S MAGIC". I know enough to be able to wire a house and change our light switches and resepticles without getting shocked, or at least only once. I always hated getting bit by 120-240 v, but it was always a good learning tool to be more careful, or just open the breaker. Working with R/C always seemed easy with 7-8 volts, but now we have 2s-12s Lipos with 4s-6s being the norm, so even R/C is getting tricky.