Из чего делают трансформаторы: режимы, схема, назначение, из чего состоит

Трансформатор своими руками: пошаговая инструкция

Несмотря на многообразие электрооборудования на рынке, далеко не во всех ситуациях можно найти подходящий преобразовательный агрегат для решения конкретной задачи. Поэтому многие обыватели пытаются изготовить  трансформатор своими руками для получения определенных параметров работы. Стоит отметить, что намотать трансформатор может каждый, даже без специализированного оборудования и особых навыков, но этот процесс довольно трудоемкий и кропотливый. Поэтому изначально вам придется определиться с типом и характеристиками прибора.

Что понадобится для сборки?

Все преобразователи подразделяются на две основные категории – повышающие и понижающие трансформаторы.

В зависимости от предназначения, конструктивных особенностей и места установки их можно разделить на такие категории:

Практически каждое из вышеперечисленных устройств вы можете воссоздать в домашних условиях. Наиболее простым вариантом является перемотка трансформатора из заводского изделия, так как он уже содержит необходимые элементы. Главное, чтобы первичная обмотка подходила по номиналу питающего напряжения и мощности. Куда хуже, если перематывать нужно обе обмотки, к примеру, если и первичная, и вторичная обмотка пробиты или получили механическое повреждение.

Для изготовления трансформатора своими руками вам понадобятся:

• Магнитопровод – служит в качестве проводника магнитного потока, лучше взять из старого трансформатора, так как он изготовлен из электротехнической стали и обеспечивает необходимые параметры работы, характеризуется малыми потерями в железе.
• Провода нужного вам сечения в лаковой, полимерной или стеклотканевой изоляции. Чем тоньше этот слой, тем плотнее прилягут витки к каркасу и друг к другу.
• Каркас – служит в качестве основания для обмоток трансформатора, устанавливает габариты по ширине. Можно взять из старого трансформатора, а можно изготовить своими руками. Материалом для каркаса может послужить электротехнический картон, гетинакс или текстолит, важно чтобы он не занимал много места в зазоре между сердечником и проводом.
• Изоляция – предназначена для электрического отделения токоведущих элементов друг от друга и от конструктивных элементов трансформатора. В промышленном производстве используется лакотканевая лента, фторопласт, парафиновая пропитка, но при самостоятельном изготовлении подойдет любой имеющийся у вас материал, главное, чтобы его диэлектрической прочности хватало для напряжения сети.
• Намоточный станок – позволяет упростить процесс и обеспечить постоянное натяжение. Можно изготовить своими руками из ручной дрели или по принципу вертела на двух шарнирах. Важно, чтобы изготовленный станок имел как можно меньший люфт.

Помимо этого вам могут пригодиться: молоток с деревянной пресс-планкой, паяльник для соединения проводов, ножницы, пассатижи. Но перед изготовлением, обязательно рассчитайте параметры трансформатора.

Расчеты

Рис. 1: принципиальная схема трансформатора

Наиболее сложный вариант, если вы будете изготавливать трансформатор своими руками с нуля. В таком случае расчет электрической машины производится в зависимости от выходной мощности. Исходя из этого параметра, рассчитывается мощность первичной обмотки. Если вы используете заводской сердечник, то можно считать эти величины одинаковыми, если вы соберете его самостоятельно, то P₂ = 0,9 * P₁

Это приблизительный расчет с учетом потерь в сердечнике. В зависимости от качества шихтовки своими руками, разница мощностей может находиться в пределах от 5 до 20%.

В зависимости от мощности первички определяется сечение магнитопровода, которое вычисляется по формуле: S = √P₁

Следует отметить, что мощность для вычислений берется в Ваттах, а размеры сердечника получаем в квадратных сантиметрах.

Далее определяется коэффициент передачи электромагнитной энергии: k = f/S, 

Где k – коэффициент передачи, f – частота сетевого напряжения переменного тока, S – площадь сечения магнитопровода.

Исходя из полученного коэффициента, определяется число витков в обмотках по величине входных и выходных напряжений: N1 = k*U₁, N2 = k*U₂

Это приблизительные вычисления, предназначенные для бытового применения радиолюбителями. Заводские трансформаторы имеют более сложную процедуру расчета, которая производится по справочникам и зависит от их типа и назначения (силовые, измерительные, трехобмоточные, тороидальные устройства и т.д.)

Далее рассчитывается сила тока в первичной обмотке трансформатора: I₁ = P₁ / U₁

Соответственно, ток, протекающий по вторичной обмотке трансформатора, вычисляется по  формуле: : I₂ = P₂ / U₂

Исходя из величины тока в каждой обмотке, выбирается сечение жилы. Но заметьте, что проводник в обмотке значительно хуже охлаждается, поэтому запас сечения делается на 20 – 30%. Проще выполнять данную работу медными проводами, но это требование не критично.

Таблица: выбор сечения, в зависимости от протекающего тока

Медный проводник		Алюминиевый проводник
Сечение жил, мм2	Ток, А	Сечение  жил. мм2	Ток, А
0,5	11	—	—
0,75	15	—	—
1	17	—	—
1.5	19	2,5	22
2.5	27	4	28
4	38	6	36
6	46	10	50
10	70	16	60
16	80	25	85
25	115	35	100
35	135	50	135
50	175	70	165
70	215	95	200
95	265	120	230
120	300

Сборка повышающего трансформатора

Особенностью повышающего трансформатора является большее сечение жил первичной обмотки трансформатора по отношению к вторичной. Ярким примером может служить любой агрегат, повышающий напряжение питания 220 Вольт до 400, 500, 1000 В и т.д., соответственно класс изоляции трансформатора выбирается по номиналу вторичной обмотки, как в сетевых трансформаторах.

Заметьте, что проводник большого сечения не получится намотать самодельным станком, поскольку вы не сможете выдать достаточное усилие. Определить это довольно просто – если первые витки свободно двигаются по каркасу катушки или хуже того, вы видите явный зазор между жилой и каркасом, переходите к ручной намотке.

Для сборки вам потребуется выполнить такую последовательность действий:

• Соберите основание из диэлектрического материала, для этого можно вырезать его по лекалу из картона. Сборка каркаса производится внахлест при помощи клея. Рис. 2: изготовьте каркас для трансформатора

Если у вас имеется готовый образец, можете переходить к следующему этапу.

• Сделайте отверстия в щеке катушки под выводы в электрическую сеть и к потребителю. Проденьте в них выводы. Рис. 3: проденьте вывод первичной обмотки
• Уложите первый слой изоляции под первичку. Рис. 4: нанесите слой изоляции на катушку
• Намотайте первичную обмотку трансформатора – если позволяет толщина, используйте станок, в противном случае, сделайте это руками. При намотке каждые 4 -5 витков проверяйте жесткость фиксации и плотность прилегания. Рис. 5: намотайте первичку

В случае наличия видимых зазоров рекомендуется придавливать витки деревянной пресс-плашкой или прибивать их через плашку молотком.

• Посчитайте количество витков, оно должно соответствовать расчетному, выводы проденьте в отверстия. Уложите слой изоляции на первичку.
• После слоя изоляции намотайте вторичку, так как здесь будет использоваться более тонкий провод, эту процедуру проще выполнять на станке. Рис. 6: намотайте вторичную обмотку

Периодически проверяйте плотность витков и их фиксацию на стержне. Хорошая фиксация не должна прогибаться и деформироваться при нажатии пальцами.

• Если все витки не помещаются в один слой, их выкладывают в несколько, тогда важно соблюдать одно и то же количество витков в каждом из них. Слои перекладываются диэлектрическим материалом, заметьте, что толщина изоляции не должна существенно влиять на общие габариты катушек. Рис. 7: заизолируйте первый слой
• Выведете концы вторичной обмотки на щечку каркаса.
• Поместите магнитопровод в окно каркаса, сборка сердечника выполняется поочередно с каждой стороны, иначе потери окажутся слишком большими. Затем сердечник распирается для плотности фиксации. Рис. 8: поместите катушки на сердечник

Мощные трансформаторы на большой номинал напряжения дополнительно пропитывается парафиновой изоляцией. Такая процедура приводит к повышению емкостных потерь, но создает дополнительную защиту от электрического тока.

Сборка понижающего трансформатора

Понижающий трансформатор будет отличаться большим количеством витков на первичке. В быту их можно часто встретить в блоках питания, сварочных аппаратах и прочем оборудовании. Правда, в импульсных блоках используется другая технология, поэтому ремонт таких устройств производится без трансформаторов.

Так как изготовление сварочного трансформатора своими руками довольно актуально для домашних самоделок, рассмотрим на примере этот вариант. Требования к процессу сборки соответствует предыдущему. Отличительной особенностью такого агрегата является большое сечение провода во вторичной обмотке, так как сварочный ток может достигать сотен ампер.

Процесс изготовления заключается в следующем:

1. Возьмите старое или изготовьте основание для катушки.
2. Зафиксируйте на трансформаторном каркасе слой изоляции.
3. Намотайте первичную обмотку с попеременной изоляцией слоев.
4. Заизолируйте первичку и намотайте вторичную обмотку, так как большой диаметр проводов не позволит сделать это вручную, используйте слесарный инструмент.
5. Зафиксируйте выводы обеих катушек.
6. Установите пластины сердечника.

Испытание

Для проверки работоспособности П-образных или тороидальных трансформаторов в домашних условиях можно воспользоваться обычным мультиметром. Для этого переведите измерительный прибор в режим прозвона и проверьте целостность каждой из обмоток. Затем  проверьте изоляцию между каждой из обмоток и магнитопроводом и сопротивление между обеими обмотками. Это наиболее простой комплекс испытаний, который даст общее представление об исправности самодельного агрегата.

Для проверки отсутствия короткозамкнутых витков используется лампа, включающаяся последовательно к первичной обмотке.

Помимо этого электрические машины испытываются в режиме холостого хода и короткого замыкания. Такие проверки показывают, насколько качественно собран преобразователь, но выполнять их в домашних условиях не обязательно.

Видео инструкции

Трансформатор | Устройство, виды, принцип работы

Слово “трансформатор” образуется от английского слова “transform”  – преобразовывать, изменяться. Но дело в том, что сам трансформатор не может как-либо измениться либо поменять форму и так далее. Он обладает еще более удивительный свойством – преобразует переменное напряжение одного значения в переменное напряжение другого значения. Ну разве это не чудо? В этой статье мы будем рассматривать именно трансформаторы напряжения.

Трансформатор напряжения

Трансформатор напряжения можно отнести больше к электротехнике, чем к электронике. Самый обыкновенный однофазный трансформатор напряжения выглядит вот так.

Если откинуть верхнюю защиту трансформатора, то мы можем четко увидеть, то он состоит из какого-то железного каркаса, который собран из металлических пластин, а также из двух катушек, которые намотаны на этот железный каркас. Здесь мы видим, что из одной катушки выходит два черных провода

а с другой катушки два красных провода

Эти обе катушки одеваются на сердечник трансформатора. То есть в результате мы получаем что-то типа этого

Ничего сложного, правда ведь?

Но дальше самое интересное. Если подать на одну из этих катушек переменное напряжение, то в другой катушке тоже появляется переменное напряжение. Но как же так возможно? Ведь эти обмотки абсолютно не касаются друг друга и они изолированы друг от друга. Во чудеса! Все дело, в так называемой электромагнитной индукции.

Если объяснить простым языком, то когда на первичную обмотку подают переменное напряжение, то в сердечнике возникнет переменное магнитное поле с такой же частой. Вторая катушка улавливает это переменное магнитное поле и уже выдает переменное напряжение на своих концах.

Обмотки трансформатора

Эти самые катушки с проводом в трансформаторе называются обмотками. В основном обмотки состоят из медного лакированного провода. Такой провод находится в лаковой изоляции, поэтому, провод в обмотке не коротит друг с другом. Выглядит такой обмоточный трансформаторный провод примерно вот так.

Он может быть разного диаметра. Все зависит от того, на какую нагрузку рассчитан тот или иной трансформатор.

У самого простого однофазного трансформатора можно увидеть две такие обмотки.

Обмотка, на которую подают напряжение называется первичной. В народе ее еще называют “первичка”. Обмотка, с которой уже снимают напряжение называется вторичной или “вторичка”.

Для того, чтобы узнать, где первичная обмотка, а где вторичная, достаточно посмотреть на шильдик трансформатора.

I/P: 220М50Hz (RED-RED) – это говорит нам о том, что два красных провода – это первичная обмотка трансформатора, на которую мы подаем сетевое напряжение 220 Вольт. Почему я думаю, что это первичка? I/P – значит InPut, что в переводе “входной”.

O/P: 12V 0,4A (BLACK, BLACK) – вторичная обмотка трансформатора с выходным напряжением в 12 Вольт (OutPut). Максимальная сила тока, которую может выдать в нагрузку этот трансформатор – это 0,4 Ампера или 400 мА.

 

Как работает трансформатор

Чтобы разобраться с принципом работы, давайте рассмотрим рисунок.

Здесь мы видим простую модель трансформатора. Подавая на вход переменное напряжение U₁ в первичной обмотке возникает ток I₁ . Так как первичная обмотка намотана на замкнутый магнитопровод, то в нем начинает возникать магнитный поток, который возбуждает во вторичной обмотке напряжение U₂ и ток I₂ . Как вы можете заметить, между первичной и вторичной обмотками трансформатора нет электрического контакта. В электронике это называется гальванически развязаны.

Формула трансформатора

Главная формула трансформатора выглядит так.

где

U₂  – напряжение на вторичной обмотке

U₁ – напряжение на первичной обмотке

N₁ – количество витков первичной обмотки

N₂ – количество витков вторичной обмотки

k – коэффициент трансформации

В трансформаторе соблюдается также закон сохранения энергии, то есть какая мощность заходит в трансформатор, такая мощность выходит из трансформатора:

Эта формула справедлива для идеального трансформатора. Реальный же трансформатор будет выдавать на выходе чуть меньше мощности, чем на его входе. КПД трансформаторов очень высок и порой составляет даже 98%.

Типы трансформаторов по конструкции

Однофазные трансформаторы

Это трансформаторы, которые преобразуют однофазное переменное напряжение одного значения в однофазное переменное напряжение другого значения.

В основном однофазные трансформаторы имеют две обмотки, первичную и вторичную. На первичную обмотку подают одно значение напряжения, а со вторичной снимают нужное нам напряжение. Чаще всего в повседневной жизни можно увидеть так называемые сетевые трансформаторы, у которых первичная обмотка рассчитана на сетевое напряжение, то есть 220 В.

На схемах однофазный трансформатор обозначается так:

Первичная обмотка слева, а вторичная – справа.

Иногда требуется множество различных напряжений для питания различных приборов. Зачем ставить на каждый прибор свой трансформатор, если можно с одного трансформатора получить сразу несколько напряжений? Поэтому, иногда вторичных обмоток бывает несколько пар, а иногда даже некоторые обмотки выводят прямо из имеющихся вторичных обмоток. Такой трансформатор называется трансформатором со множеством вторичных обмоток. На схемах можно увидеть что-то подобное:

Трехфазные трансформаторы

Эти трансформаторы в основном используются в промышленности и чаще всего превосходят по габаритам простые однофазные трансформаторы. Почти все трехфазные трансформаторы считаются силовыми. То есть они используются в цепях, где нужно питать мощные нагрузки. Это могут быть станки ЧПУ и другое промышленное оборудование.

На схемах трехфазные трансформаторы обозначаются вот так:

Первичные обмотки обозначаются заглавными буквами, а вторичные обмотки – маленькими буквами.

Здесь мы видим три типа соединения обмоток (слева-направо)

• звезда-звезда
• звезда-треугольник
• треугольник-звезда

В 90% случаев используется именно звезда-звезда.

Типы трансформаторов по напряжению

Понижающий трансформатор

Это трансформатор, которые понижает напряжение. Допустим, на первичную обмотку мы подаем 220 Вольт, а снимаем 12 Вольт. В этом случае коэффициент трансформации (k) будет больше 1.

Повышающий трансформатор

Это трансформатор, который  повышает напряжение. Допустим,  на первичную обмотку мы подаем 10 Вольт, а со вторичной снимаем уже 110 В. То есть мы повысили наше напряжение 11 раз. У повышающих трансформаторов коэффициент трансформации меньше 1.

Разделительный или развязывающий трансформатор

Такой трансформатор используется в целях электробезопасности. В основном это трансформатор с одинаковым числом обмоток на входе и выходе, то есть его напряжение на первичной обмотке будет равняться напряжению на вторичной обмотке. Нулевой вывод вторичной обмотки такого трансформатора не заземлен. Поэтому, при касании фазы на таком трансформаторе вас не ударит электрическим током. Про его использование можете прочесть в статье про ЛАТР. У развязывающих трансформаторов коэффициент трансформации равен 1.

Согласующий трансформатор

Такой трансформатор используется для согласования входного и выходного сопротивления между каскадами схем.

Работа понижающего трансформатора на практике

Понижающий трансформатор – это такой трансформатор, который выдает на выходе напряжение меньше, чем на входе. Коэффициент трансформации (k) у таких трансформаторов больше 1 . Понижающие трансформаторы – это самый распространенный класс трансформаторов в электротехнике и электронике. Давайте же рассмотрим, как он работает на примере трансформатора 220 В —> 12 В .

Итак, имеем простой однофазный понижающий трансформатор.

Именно на нем мы будем проводить различные опыты.

Подключаем красную первичную обмотку к сети 220 Вольт и замеряем напряжение на вторичной обмотке трансформатора без нагрузки. 13, 21 Вольт, хотя на трансформаторе написано, что он должен выдавать 12 Вольт.

Теперь подключаем нагрузку на вторичную обмотку и видим, что напряжение просело.

Интересно, какую силу тока кушает наша лампа накаливания? Вставляем мультиметр в разрыв цепи и замеряем.

Если судить по шильдику, то на нем написано, что он может выдать в нагрузку 400 мА и напряжение будет 12 Вольт, но как вы видите, при нагрузку близкой к 400 мА у нас напряжение просело почти до 11 Вольт. Вот тебе и китайский трансформатор. Нагружать более, чем 400 мА его не следует. В этом случае напряжение просядет еще больше, и трансформатор будет греться, как утюг.

Как проверить трансформатор

Как проверить на короткое замыкание обмоток

Хотя обмотки  прилегают очень плотно к друг другу, их разделяет лаковый диэлектрик, которым покрываются и первичная и вторичная обмотка. Если где-то возникло короткое замыкание между проводами, то трансформатор будет сильно греться или издавать сильный гул при работе. Также он будет пахнуть горелым лаком. В этом случае стоит замерить напряжение на вторичной обмотке и сравнить, чтобы оно совпадало с паспортным значением.

Проверка на обрыв обмоток

При  обрыве все намного проще. Для этого с помощью мультиметра мы проверяем целостность первичной и вторичной обмотки. Итак, сопротивление первичной обмотки нашего трансформатора чуть более 1 КОм. Значит обмотка целая.

Таким же образом проверяем и вторичную обмотку.

Отсюда делаем вывод, что наш трансформатор жив и здоров.

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90000 What is a Transformer, How they work & Different Types of Transformers 90001 90002 If you’ve been around electric appliances for any amount of time, you’d probably have heard of the transformer. Yes, they are those huge bulky things found in street corners, which make random scary noises and occasionally spit sparks. Your phone charger also has a kind of small transformer too, but much, much smaller and with a completely different mechanism. 90003 90002 90003 90006 90007 What is a Transformer? 90008 90009 90002 A 90007 transformer 90008 is a device that uses the principles of electromagnetism to convert one voltage or current to another.It consists of a pair of insulated wire wound around a magnetic core. The winding to which we connect the voltage or current to be converted is called the primary winding and the output winding is called the secondary winding. 90003 90002 Transformers come in two varieties — step up, which increase the voltage or current, and steps down, which decreases the voltage or current input. For example, the transformers in your microwave Oven is a secondary transformer that is used to supply around 2200Volts to the vacuum tube in the Microwave Oven.90003 90002 One thing to note is that transformers work only with changing or AC voltages and do not work with DC. We shall now learn why. 90003 90002 90003 90006 90007 How important are transformers in electrical system? 90008 90009 90002 It was around 1856 when two brilliant minds Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison were having a rivalry against each other. Those were the times when electricity and its applications of glowing a bulb and running a motor were just being noticed. It was Edison and his associates who first discovered DC (Direct Current) system, then some time after that Tesla came up with his AC (Alternating current) system.Since then, the both were trying to prove that their system is more advantageous than the other. 90003 90002 By then, the time has come for houses to get electricity. While Edison was busy demonstrating how dangerous AC is by electrocuting elephants, Tesla and his team came up with the transformers which made transmitting electricity a lot easier and efficient. Even, today Transformers play a vital role in the transmission system. Let’s know why. 90003 90002 Transmitting electricity with high voltages and low currents will help us reduce the thickness of the transmission wires and thus the cost, it also increase the efficiency of the system.For this reason a standard transmission system can be anywhere between 22KV to 66KV, while some generators in the power plant has an output voltage of only 11kV and the household AC appliance require only 220V / 110V. So where does this voltage conversion take place and who does it. 90003 90002 The answer to the question is transformers. From the power plant to your home there will be transformers in the system which will either step-up (increase voltage) or step-down (decrease voltage) the voltage to maintain the efficiency of the system.This is why the transformers are called as the heart of an electrical transmission system. We will learn more about them in this article. 90003 90002 90003 90006 90007 Transformer Symbols 90008 90009 90002 90039 90003 90002 The circuit symbol for a transformer is simply two inductors put together side by side sharing the same core. The nature of the line in between the two windings indicates the type of core used: A dashed line represents ferrite, two parallel lines represent laminated iron and no line represents air core.90003 90002 Sometimes the number of ‘bumps’ is used as a rough indicator of the transformer function — less bumps on one side and more on the other may mean that the first side has a smaller number of turns than the other. 90003 90002 90003 90006 90007 Working of a Transformer 90008 90009 90002 To 90007 understand the working of a transformer 90008, we need to go back in time, to Michael Faraday’s laboratory. 90003 90002 Michael Faraday can perhaps be called the father of the transformer, since it was his experiments that helped us understand electromagnetism and develop devices like motors and generators.90003 90002 In the late 1800s, when it was discovered that electricity and magnetism were related phenomena, there was a race to try and build a practical device that could harness the power of magnets to generate electricity. 90003 90002 Faraday found out that electricity could be generated by bringing a magnet close to a coil of wire. What he discovered was that voltage will be produced only when the magnetic field was changing, that is, if he moved either the coil or the magnet relative to the other.90003 90002 In DC, the current flow is steady and so is the magnetic field. Since the field is steady and not changing, there is no voltage induced on the secondary and the transformer just looks like a normal coil of resistive wire to the power supply. So transformers do not work with DC currents. 90003 90002 He also found that when two coils of wire were kept close to each other, a current flowing in one coil could induce current in the other coil. This principle is called mutual inductance, and governs the working of all modern transformers.90003 90002 90003 90002 As shown in the figure, the transformer consists of two windings wound on a magnetic core. 90003 90002 The purpose of having a core is because air is not a very good supporter of magnetic fields, so having a magnetic core increases the magnetic field for a given amount of current flowing through one winding, which in turn creates a stronger current in the other , increasing the overall efficiency of the device. 90003 90002 When a current passes through the primary, a magnetic field is set up in the core and is confined mostly to the core.90003 90002 This magnetic field passes through the middle of the secondary and hence induces a current in the other by the law of mutual induction. 90003 90002 The beauty of this system is that the ratio of the input voltage to the output voltage is simply the ratio of the primary and the secondary windings, summed up by this formula: 90003 90002 90007 Vout / Vin = Nsec / Npri 90008 90003 90002 Where Vout is the output voltage, Vin is the input voltage, Nsec is the number of turns in the secondary winding and Npri is the number of turns in the primary winding.90003 90002 So if you have two transformers, one with 100 turns on the primary and 1000 on the secondary and another with 10 turns on the primary and 100 turns on the secondary, you can calculate the turns ratio to be 1:10 for both, so they both step up voltage to the same level. 90003 90002 90003 90006 90007 Transformer Properties 90008 90009 90002 If we have a closer look at the example given above, the first transformer will have a greater winding resistance (since more wire is used) and in some cases that might limit the amount of current that can be drawn from the transformer.This property is called winding resistance, but in most cases it does not really matter since the copper wire used generally has a low resistance. 90003 90002 Another thing you notice is that there is no direct electrical connection between the primary and secondary windings. This is called galvanic isolation, and can be very useful, as we shall see. 90003 90002 Looking at each of the transformer windings, we can see that they are constructed just like inductors — a coil of wire wound around a magnetic core — and have an inductance too.90003 90002 This inductance is proportional to the square of the number of turns, given by this formula: 90003 90002 90007 Lpri / Lsec = Npri2 / Nsec2 90008 90003 90002 Where Lpri is the inductance of the primary winding, Lsec is the inductance of the secondary winding, Npri is the number of turns on the primary and Nsec is the number of turns on the secondary windings. 90003 90002 The proportionality constant for a given core can be found in the datasheet and is usually given in units of μH / turn2.The exact value depends on the type and size of core. 90003 90002 Supposing you have a transformer core with a specification of 1uH / turn2. If you wind one winding on that core, then the inductance will be the value of the constant multiplied by the number of turns squared, in this case 1. So the inductance of that one winding will be 1μH. If you wind another winding with 10 turns on the same core, then the inductance will be: 90003 90002 90007 (1μH / turn2) * (10 turns) 2 = 100μH 90008 90003 90002 Since the windings have inductance, they provide an impedance to AC signals, given by the formula: 90003 90002 90007 XL = 2π * f * L 90008 90003 90002 Where XL is the impedance in ohms, f is the frequency in ohms and L is the inductance in Henries.90003 90002 Say you want to design a transformer that draws 3A at 220V AC at 50Hz, which is standard power line frequency. Then the impedance of the primary would need to be 73.3 Ohms by Ohm’s law. Now that we know the impedance required and the frequency, we can rearrange the formula to find out the inductance necessary for the winding: 90003 90002 90007 L = (XL) / (2π * f) 90008 90003 90002 Substituting the values, we find that the inductance needed would be 233mH. 90003 90002 Using this information and the value of μH / turns2 from the datasheet, we can calculate the windings required to get the inductance required.90003 90002 Supposing that value is 50μH / turns2, then we can rearrange the formula to find out the inductance: 90003 90002 90134 90003 90002 Where N is the number of turns, L is the required inductance, and the t2 / μH term is just the inverse of the datasheet value. 90003 90002 Applying our values ​​in the formula, we get a required number of turns of 2158. So as you can see, one you get the hang of the formulas, you can design transformers for nearly any application! 90003 90002 90003 90006 90007 Transformer Construction 90008 90009 90002 For anyone who needs to wind their own transformers, a knowledge of 90007 transformer construction 90008 is essential.90003 90002 A transformer consists of a few basic components: 90003 90002 90007 1.BOBBIN: 90008 90003 90002 90157 90003 90002 The bobbin is the basic framework for any transformers. It provides a spool on which to wind the windings and also holds the core in place. It is usually made up of a heat resistant plastic. It also sometimes contains metal pins onto which you can solder the ends of the windings if you want to mount it to a PCB, for instance. 90003 90002 90007 2.CORE 90008 90003 90002 90166 90003 90002 This is probably the most important part of the transformer.As shown in the picture, the cores can come in many shapes and sizes. It is the magnetic properties of the core that determine the electrical properties of the transformer which is built around the core. 90003 90002 90007 3.WINDINGS 90008 90003 90002 90175 90003 90002 Thought it may seem like a trivial thing, the wire used in the construction is as important as any other aspect. Solid enameled copper wire is generally used, since the insulation is strong and thin, so no wasted space due to plastic insulating sheaths.90003 90002 90003 90006 90007 Application of Transformers 90008 90009 90002 90007 1.MAINS VOLTAGE CONVERSION 90008 90003 90002 90003 90002 This is probably the most common application for transformers — stepping down mains voltage for low voltage appliances. You might even find these inside things like microwaves and old TVs and wall brick power supplies. These transformers have iron cores which gives excellent permeability but makes them bulky and somewhat less powerful than other types.90003 90002 They are marked like 12-0-12 or 6-0-6 with three secondary wires. This means that the outer two wires have an output of 12V AC RMS if you make the center wire the ground reference. If you measure across both the 12v winding, you will get 24V AC RMS. This gives you flexibility on how you might want to use the transformer. 90003 90002 90003 90002 90007 2.SWITCH MODE POWER SUPPLIES 90008 90003 90002 90003 90002 These are a very special type of power supplies that take a DC input and produce a DC output.They are found all modern phone chargers. The transformers used in these PSUs are designed more like inductors with a small number of turns and ferrite cores with medium-to-high permeability. A DC voltage is applied across the ‘primary’ for a short time so that the current ramps up to a certain level and stores some magnetic energy in the core. This energy is then transferred to the secondary at a lower voltage because it has a smaller number of turns. They operate at high frequencies and achieve excellent efficiencies and are very small.90003 90002 90003 90002 90007 3. ELECTRICAL ISOLATION 90008 90003 90002 90212 90003 90002 These are special transformers with a 1: 1 turns ratio, so that the input and output voltages are the same. They are used to decouple appliances from mains earth. Since mains is earth referenced, touching even one wire can result in a shock since the return path is literally the ground. Using isolation transformers ‘disconnects’ the appliance from the mains earth, since transformers are galvanically isolated.90003 90002 90003 90002 90007 4.VOLTAGE CONVERSION TRANSFORMERS 90008 90003 90002 90003 90002 Most countries around the world use 220V AC as the standard supply voltage, but some countries like the US use 110V AC. This means that some devices like blenders can not be operated in all countries. For this purpose we can use transformers that convert 110V to 220V or vice versa to make sure that appliances can be used in any country. 90003 90002 90003 90002 90007 5. IMPEDANCE MATCHING 90008 90003 90002 90233 90003 90002 These are special kinds of transformers that are used to match the impedance of the source and the load.They see extensive use in RF and audio circuits. 90003 90002 The turns ratio is equal to the square root of the source and load impedances. 90003 90002 90003 90002 90007 6. AUTOTRANSFORMER 90008 90003 90002 90003 90002 This is a special type of transformer that has only one winding with a ‘tap’ output that forms the secondary. Usually this tap is variable, and so you can vary the output AC voltage, somewhat like a voltage divider. 90003 90002 90003 90006 90007 Conclusion 90008 90009 90002 Transformers are useful devices and learning how to design and work with them can come in very handy! While we have covered the basics here, designing a transformer right from scratch is something that can discussed in another entire article hence lets have that for some other time.So now, when you see a transformer again you will know why it is there and how it works. 90003.90000 How do electricity transformers work? 90001 90002 Advertisement 90003 90002 90003 90006 90007 90008 90009 90010 90002 by Chris Woodford. Last updated: May 27, 2020. 90003 90013 The mighty power lines that criss-cross our countryside or wiggle unseen beneath city streets carry electricity at enormously high voltages from power plants to our homes. It’s not unusual for a power line to be rated at 400,000 to 750,000 volts! But the appliances in our homes use voltages thousands of times smaller-typically just 110 to 250 volts.If you tried to power a toaster or a TV set from an electricity pylon, it would instantly explode! (Do not even think about trying, because the electricity in overhead lines will almost certainly kill you.) So there has to some way of reducing the high voltage electricity from power plants to the lower voltage electricity used by factories, offices, and homes. The piece of equipment that does this, humming with electromagnetic energy as it goes, is called a transformer. Let’s take a closer look at how it works! 90003 90002 Photo: Blast from the past: A strangely shaped transformer at the Chickamauga Dam near Chattanooga, Tenn.Photographed in 1942 by Alfred T. Palmer, Office of War Administration, courtesy of US Library of Congress. 90003 90017 Why do we use high voltages? 90018 90002 90003 90002 Photo: Coming down: This old substation (step-down electricity transformer) supplies power in the small English village where I live. It’s about 1.5m (5ft) high and its job is to convert several thousand volts of incoming electricity to the hundreds of volts we use in our homes. 90003 90002 Your first question is probably this: if our homes and offices are using photocopiers, computers, washing machines, and electric shavers rated at 110-250 volts, why do not power stations simply transmit electricity at that voltage? Why do they use such high voltages? To explain that, we need to know a little about how electricity travels.90003 90002 As electricity flows down a metal wire, the electrons that carry its energy jiggle through the metal structure, bashing and crashing about and generally wasting energy like unruly schoolchildren running down a corridor. That’s why wires get hot when electricity flows through them (something that’s very useful in electric toasters and other appliances that use heating elements). It turns out that the higher the voltage electricity you use, and the lower the current, the less energy is wasted in this way.So the electricity that comes from power plants is sent down the wires at extremely high voltages to save energy. 90003 90002 But there’s another reason too. Industrial plants have huge factory machines that are much bigger and more energy-hungry than anything you have at home. The energy an appliance uses is directly related (proportional) to the voltage it uses. So, instead of running on 110-250 volts, power-hungry machines might use 10,000-30,000 volts. Smaller factories and machine shops may need supplies of 400 volts or so.In other words, different electricity users need different voltages. It makes sense to ship high-voltage electricity from the power station and then transform it to lower voltages when it reaches its various destinations. (Even so, centralized power stations are still very inefficient. About two thirds of the energy that arrives at a power plant, in the form of raw fuel, is wasted in the plant itself and on the journey to your home.) 90003 90002 90003 90002 Photo: Making large electricity transformers at a Westinghouse factory during World War II.Photo by Alfred T. Palmer, Office of War Administration, courtesy of US Library of Congress. 90003 90017 How does a transformer work? 90018 90002 A transformer is based on a very simple fact about electricity: when a fluctuating electric current flows through a wire, it generates a magnetic field (an invisible pattern of magnetism) or «magnetic flux» all around it. The strength of the magnetism (which has the rather technical name of magnetic flux density) is directly related to the size of the electric current.So the bigger the current, the stronger the magnetic field. Now there’s another interesting fact about electricity too. When a magnetic field fluctuates around a piece of wire, it generates an electric current in the wire. So if we put a second coil of wire next to the first one, and send a fluctuating electric current into the first coil, we will create an electric current in the second wire. The current in the first coil is usually called the primary current and the current in the second wire is (surprise, surprise) the secondary current.What we’ve done here is pass an electric current through empty space from one coil of wire to another. This is called electromagnetic induction because the current in the first coil causes (or «induces») a current in the second coil. We can make electrical energy pass more efficiently from one coil to the other by wrapping them around a soft iron bar (sometimes called a core): 90003 90002 90003 90002 To make a coil of wire, we simply curl the wire round into loops or ( «Turns» as physicists like to call them).If the second coil has the same number of turns as the first coil, the electric current in the second coil will be virtually the same size as the one in the first coil. But (and here’s the clever part) if we have more or fewer turns in the second coil, we can make the secondary current and voltage bigger or smaller than the primary current and voltage. 90003 90002 One important thing to note is that this trick works only if the electric current is fluctuating in some way. In other words, you have to use a type of constantly reversing electricity called alternating current (AC) with a transformer.Transformers do not work with direct current (DC), where a steady current constantly flows in the same direction. 90003 90017 Step-down transformers 90018 90002 If the first coil has more turns that the second coil, the secondary voltage is smaller than the primary voltage: 90003 90002 90003 90002 This is called a step-down transformer. If the second coil has half as many turns as the first coil, the secondary voltage will be half the size of the primary voltage; if the second coil has one tenth as many turns, it has one tenth the voltage.In general: 90003 90002 Secondary voltage ÷ Primary voltage = Number of turns in secondary ÷ Number of turns in primary 90003 90002 The current is transformed the opposite way-increased in size-in a step-down transformer: 90003 90002 Secondary current ÷ Primary current = Number of turns in primary ÷ Number of turns in secondary 90003 90002 So a step-down transformer with 100 coils in the primary and 10 coils in the secondary will reduce the voltage by a factor of 10 but multiply the current by a factor of 10 at the same time.The power in an electric current is equal to the current times the voltage (watts = volts x amps is one way to remember this), so you can see the power in the secondary coil is theoretically the same as the power in the primary coil. (In reality, there is some loss of power between the primary and the secondary because some of the «magnetic flux» leaks out of the core, some energy is lost because the core heats up, and so on.) 90003 90017 Step-up transformers 90018 90002 Reversing the situation, we can make a step-up transformer that boosts a low voltage into a high one: 90003 90002 90003 90002 This time, we have more turns on the secondary coil than the primary.It’s still true that: 90003 90002 Secondary voltage ÷ Primary voltage = Number of turns in secondary ÷ Number of turns in primary 90003 90002 and 90003 90002 Secondary current ÷ Primary current = Number of turns in primary ÷ Number of turns in secondary 90003 90002 In a step-up transformer, we use more turns in the secondary than in the primary to get a bigger secondary voltage and a smaller secondary current. 90003 90002 Considering both step-down and step-up transformers, you can see it’s a general rule that the coil with the most turns has the highest voltage, while the coil with the fewest turns has the highest current.90003 90017 Transformers in your home 90018 90002 90003 90002 Photo: Typical home transformers. Anticlockwise from top left: A modem transformer, the white transformer in an iPod charger, and a cellphone charger. 90003 90002 As we’ve already seen, there are lots of huge transformers in towns and cities where the high-voltage electricity from incoming power lines is converted into lower-voltages. But there are lots of transformers in your home also. Big electric appliances such as washing machines and dishwashers use relatively high voltages of 110-240 volts, but electronic devices such as laptop computers and chargers for MP3 players and mobile cellphones use relatively tiny voltages: a laptop needs about 15 volts, an iPod charger needs 12 volts, and a cellphone typically needs less than 6 volts when you charge up its battery.So electronic appliances like these have small transformers built into them (often mounted at the end of the power lead) to convert the 110-240 volt domestic supply into a smaller voltage they can use. If you’ve ever wondered why things like cellphones have those big fat chunky power cords, it’s because they contain transformers! 90003 90002 90003 90002 Photos: An electric toothbrush standing on its charger. The battery in the brush charges by induction: there is no direct electrical contact between the plastic brush and the plastic charger unit in the base.An induction charger is a special kind of transformer split into two pieces, one in the base and one in the brush. An invisible magnetic field links the two parts of the transformer together. 90003 90089 Induction chargers 90090 90002 Many home transformers (like the ones used by iPods and cellphones) are designed to charge up rechargeable batteries. You can see exactly how they work: electricity flows into the transformer from the electricity outlet on your wall, gets transformed down to a lower voltage, and flows into the battery in your iPod or phone.But what happens with something like an electric toothbrush, which has no power lead? It charges up with a slightly different type of transformer, which has one of its coils in the base of the brush and the other in the charger that the brush stands on. You can find out how transformers like this work in our article about induction chargers. 90003 90017 Transformers in practice 90018 90002 If you’ve got some of these transformer chargers at home (normal ones or induction chargers), you’ll have noticed that they get warm after they’ve been on for a while.Because all transformers produce some waste heat, none of them are perfectly efficient: less electrical energy is produced by the secondary coil than we feed into the primary, and the waste heat accounts for most of the difference. On a small home cellphone charger, the heat loss is fairly minimal (less than that from an old-fashioned, incandescent light bulb) and not usually something to worry about. But the bigger the transformer, the bigger the current it carries and the more heat it produces.For a substation transformer like the one in our top photo, which is about as wide as a small car, the waste heat can be really significant: it can damage the transformer’s insulation, seriously shorten its life, and make it much less reliable (let’s not forget that hundreds or even thousands of people can depend on the power from a single transformer, which needs to operate reliably not just from day to day, but from year to year). That’s why the likely temperature rise of a transformer during operation is a very important factor in its design.The typical «load» (how heavily it’s used), the seasonal range of outdoor (ambient) temperatures, and even the altitude (which reduces the density of the air and therefore how effectively it cools something) all need to be taken into account to figure out how effectively an outdoor transformer will operate. 90003 90002 In practice, most large transformers have built-in cooling systems that use air, liquid (oil or water), or both to remove any waste heat. Typically, the main part of the transformer (the core, and the primary and secondary windings) is immersed in an oil tank with a heat exchanger, pump, and cooling fins attached.Hot oil is pumped from the top of the transformer through the heat exchanger (which cools it down) and back into the bottom, ready to repeat the cycle. Sometimes the oil moves around a cooling circuit by convection alone without the use of a separate pump. Some transformers have electric fans that blow air past the heat exchanger’s cooling fins to dissipate heat more effectively. 90003 90002 90003 90002 Artwork: Large transformers have built-in cooling systems. In this case, the transformer core and coil (red) sit inside a large oil tank (gray).Hot oil taken from the top of the tank circulates through one or more heat exchangers, which dissipate the waste heat using cooling fins (green), before returning the oil to the same tank at the bottom. Artwork from US Patent 4,413,674: Transformer Cooling Structure by Randall N. Avery et al, Westinghouse Electric Corp., courtesy of US Patent and Trademark Office. 90003 90017 What are solid-state transformers? 90018 90002 You will have gathered from reading what’s above that transformers can be very big, very clumsy, and sometimes very inefficient.Since the mid-20th century, all kinds of neat electric tricks that used to be carried out by large (and sometimes mechanical) components have been done electronically instead, using what’s called «solid-state» technology. So, for example, switching and amplifying relays have been swapped for transistors, while magnetic hard drives have increasingly been replaced by flash memory (In such things as solid-state drives, SSDs, and USB memory sticks). 90003 90002 Over the last few decades, electronic engineers have been working to develop what are called solid-state transformers (SST).These are essentially compact, high-power, high-frequency semiconductor circuits that increase or decrease voltages with better reliability and efficiency than traditional transformers; they’re also much more controllable, so more responsive to changes in supply and demand. «Smart grids» (future power-transmission systems, fed by intermittent sources of renewable energy, such as wind turbines and solar farms), are therefore going to be a major application. Despite huge interest, SST technology remains relatively little used so far, but it’s likely to be the most exciting area of ​​transformer design in the future.90003 90006 90007 90008 90009 90010 90017 Find out more 90018 90089 On this website 90090 90089 On other websites 90090 90089 Books 90090 90122 For older readers 90123 90006 90008 Transformers Design and Applications by Robert M. Del Vecchio et al. CRC Press, 2018. A detailed guide to power supply transformers. 90009 90008 Transformer and Inductor Design Handbook by Colonel William T. McLyman. CRC Press, 2011. A detailed, practical guide to designing electrical machines using inductance.90009 90008 Electrical Transformers and Power Equipment by Anthony J. Pansini. Fairmont Press, 1999. Explains the theory, construction, installation, and maintenance of transformers and the different types of transformers before going on to cover related power devices such as circuit breakers, fuses, and protective relays. 90009 90008 Transformers and Motors by George Patrick Schultz. Newnes, 1997. This book has a much more «hands-on,» practical feel than some of the other books listed here; it’s intended more for electricians and people who have to work with transformers than those who want to design them.90009 90008 Transformers & Induction Machines by M.V.Bakshi and U.A.Bakshi. Technical Publications, 2009. Explains different kinds of transformers and related electrical equipment that works by induction. 90009 90010 90122 More general books for younger readers 90123 90006 90008 DK Eyewitness: Electricity by Steve Parker. Dorling Kindersley, 2005. A historic look at electricity and how people have put it to practical use. 90009 90008 Power and Energy by Chris Woodford. Facts on File, 2004.One of my own books, this describes how humans have harnessed energy (including electricity) throughout history. 90009 90010 90089 Patents 90090 90002 There are hundreds of patents covering electricity transformers of different kinds. Here are a few particularly interesting (early) ones from the US Patent and Trademark Office database: 90003 90006 90008 US Patent 351,589: System of electric distribution by Lucien Gaulard and John Gibbs, October 26, 1886. Gaulard and Gibbs outline how transformers can be used to step up and step down voltages for efficient power distribution-the basis of the modern electricity supply system throughout the world.90009 90008 US Patent 433,702: Electrical transformer or induction device by Nikola Tesla, August 5, 1890. Tesla outlines a phase-shift transformer (one that can produce a phase difference between the primary and secondary currents). 90009 90008 US Patent 497,113: Transformer motor by Otto Titus Bláthy, May 9, 1893. A combined transformer and motor produced by one of the inventors of the transformer. 90009 90008 US Patent 1,422,653: Electrical transformer for regulating or varying the voltage of the current supplied therefrom by Edmund Berry, July 11, 1922.A transformer with a dial that allows you to adjust the output voltage. 90009 90010 90089 News articles 90090 90002 Please do NOT copy our articles onto blogs and other websites 90003 90002 Articles from this website are registered at the US Copyright Office. Copying or otherwise using registered works without permission, removing this or other copyright notices, and / or infringing related rights could make you liable to severe civil or criminal penalties. 90003 90002 Text copyright © Chris Woodford 2007, 2020.All rights reserved. Full copyright notice and terms of use. 90003 90017 Follow us 90018 90006 90008 90009 90008 90009 90010 90017 Share this page 90018 90002 Press CTRL + D to bookmark this page for later or tell your friends about it with: 90003 90017 Cite this page 90018 90002 Woodford, Chris. (2007/2020) Electricity transformers. Retrieved from https://www.explainthatstuff.com/transformers.html. [Accessed (Insert date here)] 90003 .90000 Transformers (2007) — Frequently Asked Questions 90001 90002 [Hr] Autobots (Logo wallpaper here) 90003 90002 Optimus Prime — The Altruistic leader of the Autobots who comes to Earth to destroy the AllSpark in order to end the war. He transforms into a Peterbilt 379 semi truck, blue with red flame decals and which is a modernized version of his G1 mode. His weapons include an energy rifle that unveils from his back, two retractable Energon blades that extend from both forearms, Ion cannons on both of his arms, as well as two retractable Energon hooks on both of his forearms.Optimus Prime arrives on Earth at the same time as Ironhide, Jazz and Ratchet as a protoform, landing in a field. He scans the new alternate mode of a semi-truck and quickly joins up with Bumblebee and his human companions and tells them of Megatron and his Decepticons. Later on, While evacuating the AllSpark from Hoover Dam, Optimus Prime attempts to thwart the Decepticon Bonecrusher’s pursuit. After a short battle, Prime beheads Bonecrusher with his retractable blade. Although Prime fights Megatron in a final battle, Sam kills Megatron ramming the AllSpark into his chest.Prime, who had planned to destroy the AllSpark by placing it into his own chest, is immensely grateful to Sam for saving him. Afterwards, Optimus then takes the remaining fragment of the AllSpark. Despite all that has happened, Prime deeply regrets Megatron’s death, evidenced by his parting words: «You left me no choice, brother.» The film ends with Optimus sending out a deep-space signal, inviting other Autobots to join them on Earth. Screen shot of Optimus as a protoform here. Concept art of Optimus here.90003 90002 Bumblebee — The youngest Autobot that befriends Sam that turns into a yellow-and-black 1976 Chevrolet Camaro as a disguise for Sam to buy him from Bobby Bolivia. They eventually purchase Bumblebee, due in no small part to Bumblebee damaging every other car at the dealership to ensure his purchase. Later, Bumblebee drives away from Sam’s home to summon the Autobots. Sam witnesses Bumblebee transforming into robot mode at a junk yard where he sends out a signal for his fellow Autobots.Bumblebee battles Barricade and defeats him in order to protect Sam and Mikaela. Later he upgrades as a Fifth Generation Chevrolet Camaro after Mikaela criticizes the poor condition of Bumblebee’s vehicle mode. It is revealed later on that his vocal processors were damaged and has to communicate by radio. He can transform his right arm into a plasma cannon and has missile launchers in his shoulders. Bumblebee survives the massive battle at the film’s climax, although he loses the use of his legs after helping Ironhide deflect missiles from Starscream.With Mikaela’s aid, he is able to rejoin the battle supported by a tow truck and destroys Brawl. After the battle, Bumblebee is fully repaired and asks to stay with Sam and is granted permission from both Sam and Optimus Prime. He is later seen alongside Ironhide, Ratchet, and Optimus watching the sunset while Sam and Mikaela recline on his hood at the end of the movie. Both of the cars he was seen as are original to the movie. Concept art of Bumblebee here. 90003 90002 Jazz — The Autobot lieutenant who develops a fondness for urban culture.His vehicle form is original to the movie modified hardtop Pontiac Solstice GXP. He is described as a happy-go-lucky Autobot. Good-natured and always able to take things in stride, he provides a decent contrast to the more serious demeanor of Ironhide or Prime himself. Jazz’s weapons include a shield and a shield-mounted machine gun. He also possesses a type of electromagnet in his right arm, which he uses to disarm humans of their guns without causing them injury, curiously leaving jewellery and electronics unaffected.One weapon considered for Jazz was a plasma cannon that combined with his shield, shown in concept art by Hasbro at BotCon 2007. Arriving on Earth at the same time as Optimus Prime, Ironhide and Ratchet, Jazz’s protoform lands in Dodger Stadium then re-appears near the Casa De Cadillac car dealership (Sherman Oaks, California). Jazz jumps off the roof of the car shop and quickly scans a modified Pontiac Solstice before meeting up with the other Autobots at Bumblebee’s location. In the final battle, when Bumblebee is unable to fight, Jazz provides cover despite being outnumbered three to one.He fights Brawl alongside Ironhide and Ratchet, and then takes on the Decepticon leader, Megatron. He orders Ironhide and Ratchet to fall back, deciding to stand his ground in order to protect the humans running away. Despite his efforts trying to injure Megatron, he is carried atop a building and torn in half by him. Despite Ironhide and Ratchet’s best efforts, Jazz does not survive. After Megatron’s death by Sam, Prime and the remaining Autobots mourn for Jazz. Concept art of Jazz here. He is the only Autobot killed in the movie.90003 90002 Ironhide — The Autobots trigger happy weapon specialist and Optimus’s friend that turns into a GMC Topkick pickup truck which is original to the movie. His weapons include an energy rocket launcher on his left arm, a plasma rocket launcher on his right arm, with a super Gatling gun connected around the outside of the right forearm plasma rocket launcher. Arriving on Earth at the same time as Optimus Prime, (in a pool, to which a young girl asks him if he’s the tooth fairy) Jazz and Ratchet.Ironhide quickly sneaks away to a driveway, scans a family’s GMC Topkick pickup truck and reconfigures his alternate mode to a new camouflaged form before meeting up with the other Autobots at Bumblebee’s location. Upon meeting Sam, Ironhide displays an eagerness to show off his cannons, and made a classic Harry Callahan impression to show it by saying «You feeling lucky, punk?». At one point, he becomes so frustrated with Sam’s parents that he asks Optimus if he can «take them out». He then gets a stern scolding from Optimus, who is frustrated at Ironhide’s overuse of cannons.He also ask Sam’s permission of exterminating his dog after urinating on his foot as he believes it is a rodent. He is also shown to be slightly contemptuous towards the humans; he questions Prime as to why they should protect the human race, describing them as «primitive» and «violent», only to be reminded that the Autobots were not so different from them once. Ironhide is, despite being easily the bulkiest of the Autobots, a tough warrior endowed with surprising agility, shown in the final battle when he transforms, flips forward, and dodges Brawl’s missiles while doing a helix twist at the same time.He was also able to maneuver through the city, and flip over a nearby human without injuring her, rocket jumping over her right after transforming. Ironhide plays a large role in the final battle: when Bumblebee is unable to fight, he provides cover despite being outnumbered three to one. He battles Brawl alongside Jazz and Ratchet in the movie, and engages in a battle with Starscream, with the aid of Ratchet. However, damage sustained in the brief brawl with Starscream leaves both him and Ratchet unable to further protect Sam.After the battle is over, Ironhide brings the remains of his destroyed Autobot brother Jazz to Optimus Prime. Ironhide then gives Captain William Lennox a ride home, and is seen alongside Ratchet, Bumblebee, and Optimus watching the sunset or watching Sam kiss Mikaela at the end of the film. Concept art of Ironhide here. 90003 90002 Ratchet — The Autobot Medic that transforms into a Search and Rescue Hummer h3. His weapons include a Cybertronian rotary saw that emerges from his left arm, and he can transform his right and left arm into a medigun.Ratchet also has an assortment of other tools at his disposal, he uses a red laser to scan and try to calibrate Bumblebee’s voicebox as they are introduced to Sam Witwicky and Mikaela Banes. He has an enhanced sense of smell. Arriving on Earth at the same time as Optimus Prime, Jazz and Ironhide, Ratchet’s protoform crash-lands outside a local diner. Ratchet quickly scans a yellow emergency Hummer h3 and reconfigures his protoform to a new camouflaged form before meeting up with the other Autobots at Bumblebee’s location.In the Autobots introductions, Ratchet unintentionally embarrasses Sam in front of Mikaela, as he does not fully understand human social norms yet, commenting, «The boy’s pheromone levels suggest he wants to mate with the female», after having used his enhanced senses. Ratchet also accidentally gets entangled in power lines, sending him spasming to the ground and causing a blackout in the neighborhood. Ratchet also appears to be a very wise Autobot in the film. After Bumblebee’s capture, when the Autobots are discussing about the location of the AllSpark and their war with the Decepticons for acquiring it first, Optimus states that he intends to unite the Cube with his spark.Ratchet warns him that the Cube’s raw power would destroy them both. Moreover, he also tells the Autobots, «I sense the Decepticons are getting ready to mobilize.» Ratchet plays a large role in the final battle, where he, Jazz and Ironhide first battle Brawl. Later, he and Ironhide provide cover for Sam against Blackout and Brawl as the latter tries to escape with the AllSpark and also engage in a battle with Starscream, who disables both of the Autobots, causing Sam to reach his destination building alone.Ratchet’s injuries at the hands of Starscream keep him from getting to Jazz in time before the small Autobot is torn in half by Megatron. Concept art of Ratchet somewhere. Ratchet was originally meant to look different but the producers wanted something else. Hasbro did not mind if the character was either an ambulance or a fire apparatus. 90003 90002 Note: Optimus, Jazz, Ironhide and Ratchet arrived on earth as protoforms using a Cybertronian meteorite. Also Five Dead Autobots are shown in Optimus Prime’s flashback to Sam and Mikaela, they were killed by Megatron.[Hr] Decepticons (Logo wallpaper here) 90003 90002 Megatron — The leader of the Decepticons and primary Antagonist who transforms into an alien / Cybertronian jet, a version that appears to be entirely unique for the character. He can transform his right hand into a gun, combine both of his arms to form his iconic fusion cannon, and can transform his right arm into a steel flail..Several years after being discovered by Captain Archibald Witwicky, Megatron’s frozen body is transported from the Arctic Circle to Hoover Dam to be guarded by Sector 7, a secret government organization that studies extraterrestrial activities.Agent Seymour Simmons explains that the Earth’s magnetic field may have interfered with Megatron’s telemetry, causing him to crash during the Ice Age. He also explains that his technology was reverse-engineered, producing the world’s modern technology. Megatron’s location, as well as the AllSpark’s, is located by a group of Decepticons led by Starscream. After sneaking into Hoover Dam Frenzy thaws out Megatron, who escapes outside and learns from Starscream that the humans and the Autobots have taken the AllSpark.Megatron pursues the Autobots and their allies to Mission City, where he quickly disposes of Jazz before battling Optimus Prime. He defeats Optimus and then pursues Sam Witwicky up a condemned building, attempting to taunt and threaten the human into giving him the AllSpark. Sam declines, prompting Megatron to knock the boy off the roof of the building with his flail. Optimus saves Sam and battles Megatron again. During the battle, Megatron attempts to seize the AllSpark once again, only to have it shoved into his exposed spark chamber by Sam, killing him.Megatron’s body is then dumped in the Laurentian Abyss with the other deceased Decepticons. Concept art of Megatron somewhere. 90003 90002 Starscream — The Decepticon Air Commander and Megatron’s second-in-command. Despite being a popular character, his role is limited because of the film’s running time. His Alt Form is a F-22 Raptor fighter jet, a modernized version of his G1 mode, which is the successor to his original form, the F-15 Eagle. This keeps the character’s role as the powerful and technologically advanced air commander.His arms store heavy weaponry, with a missile launcher carrying six missiles in both arms, a saw in his right arm, and a high caliber machine gun. He also has the ability to leap great heights into the air and take flight using the jet’s powerful main engines on his back. Starscream rallies the other Decepticons to battle when Frenzy alerts them to the AllSpark’s location. He destroys the electrical substation that powers Sector 7’s base, allowing Megatron to come out of his deep freeze. Upon being reunited with Megatron, however, he is scolded by his leader for letting the AllSpark escape in a manner reminiscent of his G1 counterpart: «You’ve failed me yet again, Starscream.»In the final battle between the Autobots and Decepticons, he is the first Decepticon to arrive on the scene thanks to his flight capability, which he also uses to ambush the Autobots when their human allies mistake him for a friendly Air Force pilot. He aids Brawl and Megatron by firing missiles in his Raptor form at Bumblebee and Ironhide, destroying the former’s legs and injuring the latter. Later, he stops Sam Witwicky from fleeing by land with the AllSpark, easily disabling both Ratchet and Ironhide in the process; however, he does not take the AllSpark with him.When Sam is about to hand off the AllSpark to a Black Hawk crewman, Starscream shoots down the helicopter. Later, when a full airstrike has been called in on Megatron and Blackout, Starscream conceals himself among the attacking jets in order to ambush them. He destroys three of the jets, but retreats from the battle after the F-22 pilots regroup and engage him, allowing the jets to complete their mission. An interlude during the end cre 90003.90000 Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia 90001 90002 90003 Transformers 90004 are make-believe robots that are made by a toy company named Hasbro. In the story, they come from a planet called Cybertron. There are two main types of Transformers. These are the Autobots, the good guys, and the Decepticons, the bad guys. The leader of the Autobots is named Optimus Prime, and the leader of the Decepticons is named Megatron. Transformers can transform into different things like cars, planes, guns, and animals.Transformers were first made in 1984. There have been many different Transformers toys and stories since then. 90005 90002 Some people call the first Transformers toys, shows, and comics «G1» or «Generation One». The first Transformers toys were made in Japan. In Japan, the toys were from different toy lines called Microman and Diaclone. Hasbro took some of the same toys, gave some of them different colors, and called them Transformers. They asked a comic book writer named Bob Budiansky to name the robots.Bob Budiansky also decided what the robots liked, what they disliked, and how they felt about things. In Japan, at first the robots did not have names and were not alive. They were just machines that were driven by people. Bob Budiansky also wrote the Transformers comic book that was made by Marvel Comics. Spider-Man was even in one of the early Transformers comics. 90005 90002 There was also a Transformers cartoon on TV. The TV show told a different story than the comic book. In the cartoon, the Autobots were looking for energy and the Decepticons chased them to Earth.In the comic book, the Autobots had to stop an asteroid (a big rock in space) from crashing into Cybertron. Another difference is that the story behind each character is different in the cartoon for a lot of robots, like the Dinobots, Jetfire (who is called Skyfire on TV), the Constructicons, and Omega Supreme. Even the way new robots were created was different. In the comic book, Optimus Prime uses the Creation Matrix to make new Transformers. In the cartoon, there is a computer called Vector Sigma that can make new robots.90005 90002 In 1986, a Transformers movie was made. It was called The Transformers: the Movie and was a story about the future. In the story, it is the year 2005. Optimus Prime is killed by Megatron, and a new Autobot called Ultra Magnus becomes the new Autobot leader. The Autobots have to stop a planet-eating monster called Unicron, who can also transform into a giant robot. Unicron also meets Megatron and gives him a new body and a new name, and he becomes Galvatron. At the end of the movie, Unicron is destroyed.90005 90002 The TV show also told the story of the year 2005. We learn that the Transformers were once robot slaves who had to work for aliens called Quintessons. The Autobots did not like being slaves, so they chased the Quintessons away from Cybertron. Kids liked Optimus Prime and were sad that he died, so the writers made a story in which he came back to life. In Japan, the TV show continued with new cartoons that were not seen in America. 90005 90002 The comic book was still being made after the TV show ended.Many robots who were not seen in the cartoon were in the comic book, like Darkwing and Skids. There was even a story about how the Transformers met G.I. Joe, another Hasbro toy line. 90005 90016 Beast Wars and Beast Machines (1996-2001) [change | change source] 90017 90002 Beast Wars was about Transformers who could turn into animals. They looked like real animals, but they were robots in disguise. The good guys were called Maximals, and their leader was Optimus Primal. The bad guys were called Predacons, and their leader’s name was Megatron.(He was a different Megatron from the Decepticon leader.) In the story, the Maximals and Predacons crashed on Earth a very long time ago, but they did not know where they were. Also, there was too much energy on the planet and it hurt their bodies. They turned into animals to protect themselves from the energy. They could only turn into robots for a short time before the energy started to hurt them. 90005 90002 Later in the story, many of the robots turn into Transmetals, which means they looked like robot animals instead of real animals.The Predacons find out they are on Earth, and Megatron tries to find the Autobots and Decepticons, who are on a space ship called the Ark. Megatron tries to kill Optimus Prime, who is still sleeping, so that he can change the future. 90005 90002 There was another show called Beast Machines that continues the story that started in Beast Wars. At the end of Beast Wars, the Maximals tried to catch Megatron. At the beginning of Beast Machines, he escapes and takes control over Cybertron. There are only four Maximals left and Megatron tries to stop them.Megatron creates new robots called Vehicons, who try to catch the Maximals. Later, we learn that the Vehicons are really Maximals or Predacons that Megatron caught and tried to control. In the story, we also learn that even though Cybertron is a dead, metal planet, it used to be a living planet like Earth. 90005 .