Hughes Autoformer

[palmeris]

From there site.....

How Does It Work?

At first we are tempted to say very ‘well’. But this may not be the answer you are looking for!

Autoformers are used in industries to stabilize voltage and lower the operating cost of equipment. The Autoformer has 5 windings: 2 primary and 3 secondary. All models have surge and spike protection. When the unit is in Automatic and the park or input voltage is 116 volts or below, the output is 10% over the input. When the input is over 118 volts, the output is 2% over the input.

The Autoformer DOES NOT take power from the park.

It does not affect the park or input voltage, or make electricity.

What it is doing is changing the voltage – amperage relationship, lowering the amperage and raising the voltage. Since appliances run better on higher voltage, lower amperage, less overall power is used from the park, and better service is enjoyed from your RV

An Autoformer running at full output (50amps) will use 1 amp, but will cause appliances to cycle more often and run cooler. This will use less total power from the park.

Enjoy Your Autoformer Knowing You Are Doing Your Part For The Environment.

[oldjohnt]

2 minutes ago, palmeris said:

How Does It Work?

Thank you very much palmeris..........It obviously doesn't produce energy or make electricity (well DUH) and is connected to the parks power source and then   "What it is doing is changing the voltage – amperage relationship"

Thanks for taking the time to look that up yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

John T

 

 

[palmeris]

So it would seem to me they are doing something other than just load balancing , such as a Victron 120/240-100A autotransformer is doing in a split phase configuration, based on their marketing hype but they arent showing any internal schematics 

 

[palmeris]

So it would seem some type of voltage sense cicruit to switch to different taps on the windings , gives 2% 10% or No change....by product is heat i would think?

[oldjohnt]

1 minute ago, palmeris said:

So it would seem some type of voltage sense cicruit to switch to different taps on the windings , gives 2% 10% or No change....by product is heat i would think?

As you know it can't create energy or make electricity, its a total PASSIVE device and there are indeed heat energy losses which equal I Squared R, but I didn't think it was a tap changer ?? While it can change the voltage and current relationship, REGARDLESS the electrical energy OUT is LESS THAN the electrical energy IN due to heat losses. Energy out = Energy in PLUS heat energy, the two are equal per the laws of physics..   IE to have more voltage out it looks like it would take more current in NOT less ??    Still a bit of mystery lol  IT HAS HEAT ENERGY LOSSES I dont know its efficiency but a good guess may be in the 85% to 95% range as they do produce heat

John T  Still curious  

[Chad Heiser]

The Hughes autoformer works by using some of the current from the pedestal to boost the voltage when it says in the park.  The autoformer can only boost the voltage so much, I want to say 5%, but that is strictly from long ago memory.  Regardless, the most current that can be used at the site is still limited by the breaker at the pedestal.  The current used to boost the voltage is current your RV would loose, not other RV’s elsewhere.

Say the autoformer uses 5 amps of the available current at your 30 amp site to boost the voltage to an acceptable level, that would mean you now only have 25 amps of available current for your RV to use.

[palmeris]

In the link is the you tube video where Chad from changing lanes  explains some of the math 

[oldjohnt]

  Good afternoon Chad, thanks for contributing to this interesting thread. The Hughes (cant create or destroy energy) has to loose some energy to heat. I agree there's a limit to how much it can boost the voltage and many such devices Im aware of were maybe 2 1/2% and less than 10%. REGARDLESS it cant create more energy than it draws from the park and the park supplies the power to operate it.  It's NOT a current source or a voltage source, the park supplies that. One needs the wiring diagrams and specs to dig deeper but this is fun in the meantime for us sparkies lol

Electrical Energy IN has to equal Electrical Energy PLUS Heat Energy OUT  !!!!!! It cant create or destroy energy UNLESS THE LAWS OF PHYSICS HAVE CHANGED !!! 

  Regardless exactly how it works, it's good for and helps the user but its fair amount of I Squared R heat energy loss (depends on efficiency, maybe 85% to 90% rest is wasted heat) comes from the park. There's just no free energy grrrrrrrr transformers produce heat WELL DRATS 

 This is NOT to say they aren't great for the user as maintaining proper voltage helps the user DUH same as surge protectors help the user, now if they could only create energy ?? and NOT produce wasted heat hmmmmmmmmmmmmm  I want one lol

 Nice sparky chatting with yall. Hey even if one doesn't know the in depth operation of an RV device (like the Hughes) that sure don't mean they aren't great devices GO FOR IT  Im looking into them myself

 John T 

Edited September 27, 2022 by oldjohnt

[oldjohnt]

8 minutes ago, palmeris said:

In the link is the you tube video where Chad from changing lanes  explains some of the math

Thanks, I will have to see what that Chad has to say

John T