The mains transformer saga continues…
Yep, finding a winder who will make the mains transformer I need is turning into something of a challenge. Earlier this week I received an email from Lennart at Bridgeport Magnetics saying that they find winding a transformer with more than five windings to be too cumbersome to wind. This was a disappointmet; Lennert was good to deal with when I bought the 30VA and 60VA transformers I used on for the SqueezeBox power supplies and I had really hoped Bridgeport could make the transformer. I would still contact them for simpler designs, but not for a complex mains transformer like this.
I also called John Snowden from Victoria Magnetics again on Friday. He’s a good person to deal with on the phone, but hasn’t gotten around to replying to my quote request. I have no doubt he could make the transformer I’ve requested but he doesn’t seem to have the time. He said he’ll try to look at my email, but he also said he’s been working until midnight so it sounds like he’s jammed up with pending orders.
Last, but not least, I did receive preliminary specs from CUI. They’re turning out to be something of a surprise. From their website, I was under the impression that they really dealt with OEM customers for large orders, so sending off my inital quote request was a long shot. But it turns out will make one-off prototype units as well. The design work seems to take a little while and sometimes it feels like I’m firing off emails into a vacuum, waiting a day or three for a reply but they came through with preliminary specs:
Only one problem… it’s a toroidal transformer and I asked for a quote on an R-core. Oh, it needs a static shield, too. But it’s a start. I’ve asked to see if the design can be converted to R-core. If not, at least I know they can build a toroidal that should work. That’s a big relieve, I was starting to think the mains transformer would be a major stumbling block for the whole amplifier.