Artful Owl wrote:Hi all I am in the process of building a hotwire foam cutter. I have two Toroidal transformers and I don't know what one to use. One is 50V 3.0A and the other is
55V 1.45A. Witch one will be powerful enough to power a welding wire at 1800mm long? I'm using a light dimmer switch to control the heat. Not to sure of the resistance of the welding wire. One more thing at what Volts/Amps dose electricity become dangeris or deadly?
Hi... re if your transformers are powerful enough, sorry I don't know... I've never been into it however it shouldn't be to hard to track down on the net.
re "Volts/Amps dose electricity become dangeris" is a complex question.
A few milliamps thru your heart I've read can kill you. That's (say) 0.002 amps, a very small amount. It's a complex question that requires a lot of definition in order to reply with any meaningful answer. E.G. AC or DC? What is the potential? How are you standing? What are you wearing? What is the humidity? What are all the voltages present and do they have a common point of reference? etc etc. It's a bit like asking 'how long are all the pieces of string in the world'?
For me if there is a lot of current potential ie. say a car/truck battery (100s of amps can flow) I'm 'very awake' at just 12 volts! Just a few amps at 12v I'm more mindful of destroying whatever I'm working on than my own safety. I've endured by accident some very powerful electric shocks... but then I don't have a heart condition and I was young. The next person could have been killed by 1/100th of the power that hit me.
About the only thing that all will agree is be VERY CAREFUL around mains... regardless of where you live.