[TheForge] Inverters

[Marc]

An inductive load is basically a coil of wire - any kind of coil.
Electrical motors are coils of wire, so they're all inductive loads. OK,
maybe there are some strange things like electrostatic motors that
aren't inductive, but I think you get the idea. And non-inverter
welders, like buzz-boxes, are also inductive, because they've got these
big transformers in them. 

Inverters also have transformers but I'm not sure if they look
inductive. There's some transistor circuitry in there that may change
the characteristics. Also, their transformers are much smaller, as they
work off a much higher frequency than the 60Hz line, so they will not be
as inductive as the bigger buzz-box transformers.

And - if you want to get reeeeeeeally technical, all loads have some
inductance, but things like light bulbs are so low as it doesn't really
affect anything we care about.

--Marc



On Sat, 2007-05-26 at 08:55 -0700, Ben Barrett wrote:
> Well certain [electric] motors are induction-run.... things like
> lights, most heaters, etc, are resistive... I'm pretty sure the
> standard arc welder is resistive.  Induction uses EMF from a coil, and
> often involves pulsation (some frequency, similar to AC [vs DC]) and
> sometimes higher voltage as well.