Variac Recommendations?

[Gibsonman63]

I am contemplating purchasing a variac if the price isn't too exorbitant.

Any recommendations?

[alvarezh]

Not cheap, but this is the one I bought:

http://www.mcmelectronics.com/product/72-110

Perhaps eBay could make your day!

All the best.

[John_P_WI]

I have had the Tenma shown for at least 15 years. The only thing I will comment on is that the 10 amp meter is a little useless for our purposes and that the plastic ac outlet is a little cheesy.

There has to be used ones available for much less, in fact send Apexjr an email....

[Reeltarded]

My Chinese Tenma copies all died and cost $79. My used Tenma cost $79 and still works after years of service.

[John_P_WI]

Yeah I'm guessing I paid 89 bucks or so back in '95 for it new!!! Yes, it is still going strong.

[Milkmansound]

I found a little 5A one on ebay for under $50. The biggest amp I build pulls about 1.5A at most, so its perfect! And small. I recommend looking there to start.

[Phil_S]

Do you have a sense of adventure? You might save a few bucks and get a bargain or you might lose a few bucks? http://www.ebay.com/itm/Variac-ADJUST-A ... 35ba2649b8

[Gibsonman63]

Thanks guys. When I get home, and have unfettered access to the internet, I have some homework to do.

[rdjones]

Consider a variable isolation transformer with metering.
Such unit don't have the amperage capacity of the larger Variacs, but are more geared toward electronic service.
I have a Sencore PR57, B&K and Tenma had similar units.
Tenma has a current production model but I like the previous model with the single large meter that's switchable between line or load volts and amps.

[img:640:480]http://ampgarage.com/forum/files/tenma_70_1095_821.jpg[/img]

rd

[Prairie Dawg]

Do you have a sense of adventure? You might save a few bucks and get a bargain or you might lose a few bucks? http://www.ebay.com/itm/Variac-ADJUST-A ... 35ba2649b8

I've got a Superior Adjust-a-volt that came out of the detritus of a super 8 film lab and then sat on the floor of a shed for 15 years. It looked like it was dredged up from the bottom of a river. A little cleanup, some paint, a couple of binding posts and trimming the head of a screw were all it took to get it into tip top working condition. I've got a spare, too.

[Matt D]

I bet the Adjust-A-Volt has a pretty high build quality.

[Prairie Dawg]

They are. Mine's from when Superior was in St. Paul Minnesota which makes it pretty old, circa world war 2 or thereabouts. If you intend on using it regularly they're hard to beat. It's not worth getting a metered variac because the meters they put in them are more or less pathetic things. Add some binding posts to monitor voltage with a spare multimeter and you're there.