I seem to have acquired a lot of neglected tube stuff lately so I picked up a EICO 1078 variac. I undertand the process of hooking up to say an old tube amp to bring the amp up, but I don't' understand all the buttons and knobs on the Variac. Specifically:

It has a toggle switch for Range with 2.5 A and 7.5A. Which one should I set it to?

It has two displays: one for voltage which seems pretty obvious, but he other is called AC Amperes and has two sets of numbers the first being .1?DIV and the second being .3/DIV. What's that all about and what should I being watching for on this dial when bringing up some old tube gear?

One last question. Opened it up and all looks good inside, and the fuses are new ones. However, is it safe to run this without a load on it? I want to plug it in and make sure it works before I hook up anything to it.

As always, your continued efforts to keep the Thebes from frying himself are greatly appreciated.

You've got SAS bad boy!!

Use the lower range to limit current if the amp has a short. Many amps have a 2 amp fuse anyhow. Use the high current(.3) meter range at least innitially to allow the turn on surge. Plug it in with no load you are not going to damage it.

That sounds like a nice variac, better than mine. How much did you pay? Five bucks?

Rick

SAS= System Aqusition Syndrome

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On 2/7/2005 4:40:08 PM 3dzapper wrote:

You've got SAS bad boy!!


Use the lower range to limit current if the amp has a short. Many amps have a 2 amp fuse anyhow. Use the high current(.3) meter range at least innitially to allow the turn on surge. Plug it in with no load you are not going to damage it.


That sounds like a nice variac, better than mine. How much did you pay? Five bucks?


Rick


SAS= System Aqusition Syndrome
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Well, I have it also. I need to get one so I don't have to borrow a very good friends and leave him without.

One for sale - Cheap?

Win

SAS? No. CPIU (Can't Pass it UP)

Here's a pic of my $77 bad boy:



Boy I have to admit I love the heft of all this old stuff. It's like carrying around bricks, but you get the feeling it's built to last.

Thanks Rick, so I set the Range to 7.5 when powering up old equipment unless I suspect there is a short and then I use the lower setting. What else can I use a variac for? Wait a second, that's a little open ended.

What else can I use a variac for gear-wise?

"What else can I use a variac for gear-wise?"

It would look nice on a strap over your shoulder with your white painters jeans and a dark tee.

Start your Marantz and CJ with it and set it to 110V. It will provide, a nice gentle start to preserve your tubes, voltage regulation and isolation from line noise. Those meters are handy.

Rick

I keep using mine on my amps.

Can be used for lights, motors makes an easy start up, rather than full current all at once.

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On 2/7/2005 8:15:54 PM thebes wrote:

What else can I use a variac for? Wait a second, that's a little open ended.

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You're right, Marty. You'd have to open your end way up...

Thanks guys for all the info. I'm also thinking of tapping a microphone to it and walking around downtwon DC waving it in the air. Wonder how long I'd be able to keep it up until the Feds scooped me up and sent me off to Guantamino/

Did you get a manual for it? If not, agtannenbaum lists an operations manual for it for $14.

Eico 1078 Variac Manual

The range switch should set the range for the meter to measure accurately.

Marvel

Thanks for the "heads up" Marvel.

""Thanks guys for all the info. I'm also thinking of tapping a microphone to it and walking around downtwon DC waving it in the air. Wonder how long I'd be able to keep it up until the Feds scooped me up and sent me off to Guantamino""

Go for it. Bring a friend with a camera.