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Old 06-26-2011, 12:38 PM   #14 (permalink)
Varn
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Yes good point, of course AC would work as well. But I didn't have a convenient AC power transformer hooked up but did have a battery charger. The reason that I pointed out that mine was now full wave is because it improves the average current flow. You know hump hump hump vs hump space hump space.

Please consider that if you are using a dimmer, it would work fine except for safety, there is 120 volts available to shock you. The way that I understand dimmers is that they basically limit the duty cycle so that you are getting just part of the waveforms. I originally was going to use a dimmer but thought that I would try the battery charger first.

I used to have a battery charger that I made using a light bulb and a rectifier. I mounted them in series. It worked to charge my storage battery but there was always the potential for putting the hot side on the ground making it dangerous. You could lean against the car and if you were touch ground it would shock.

Quote:
Originally Posted by dcb View Post
In case it isn't obvious, rectification is not needed in this application. I've done the dimmer->xformer wire cutter too, works just fine for my purposes. Start on low power and work your way up so you don't fry your dimmer.
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Last edited by Varn; 06-26-2011 at 12:44 PM.. Reason: typo
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