Transformers

A transformer is two or more coils of wire sharing a magnetic core. Alternating current in one coil makes a voltage appear in the other, higher or lower depending on how many turns each coil has, with no wire joining them. Transformers carry power to your street, run doorbells and furnace controls, and sit inside chargers and audio gear. This final article explains how they work, how to read, choose and test them, and why some are among the most dangerous parts a hobbyist can pick up.

1. A short recap

• Voltage is electrical push, in volts (V); current is flow of charge, in amperes (A). Power in watts (W) is voltage times current. (Recap: current, voltage and resistance.)
• Alternating current (AC) reverses direction repeatedly; North American mains does so at 60 hertz (Hz), 60 cycles a second.^[1] AC is quoted as an RMS (root mean square) value, the DC value delivering the same power; the peak is about 1.414 times higher, so 117 V RMS peaks near 165 V.^[2]
• Current in a coil makes a magnetic field. A changing field induces a voltage in any coil it passes through (Faraday's law) that opposes the change (Lenz's law). An iron core concentrates the field but saturates if pushed too hard. (Recap: field, Faraday and Lenz; saturation.)
• Two coils sharing a changing field induce voltages in each other: mutual inductance. Article 5 promised it was "the principle behind transformers." (Recap: mutual inductance.) Iron cores use thin insulated laminations to block wasteful eddy currents. (Recap: core materials and laminations.)
• A diode rectifier turns AC into one-way pulses, and a large capacitor smooths them into DC. (Recap: rectifiers; smoothing capacitors.)

2. What a transformer is

A transformer transfers AC power from one circuit to another through a shared magnetic field. Its essential parts are the primary winding, fed by the AC source; the secondary winding, which delivers energy to the load; and the core, the path for the magnetic field.^[3] A step-up transformer raises voltage and a step-down transformer lowers it.^[4] The same part can often do either, depending on which winding you feed.^[5]

Cores suit the frequency: iron or laminated steel below about 20 kHz,^[3] air or powdered iron above it,^[1] and ferrite in switch-mode power supplies.^[6]

3. How it works

From changing flux to secondary voltage

AC in the primary makes a magnetic field that keeps growing, collapsing and reversing. The iron core concentrates it and carries it through the secondary, inducing an AC voltage there.^[4] This is mutual inductance: changing current in one coil induces an emf (electromotive force, a source voltage) in the other.^[7] The field shared by both windings is the mutual flux.^[8] (Flux, written Φ, measures the total magnetic field passing through a coil.)

With no load, the primary draws only a small exciting current to magnetize the core.^[9] It stays small because the primary's changing field induces a counter-voltage opposing the supply, the back-EMF of article 5.^[10] (Recap: back-EMF.) Connect a load and secondary current flows; by Lenz's law its field cancels some of the flux, the counter-voltage drops, and the primary draws more current. That is how the load's demand reaches the source.^[8]

Why steady DC does not work

Faraday's law needs a changing flux. Steady DC on the primary produces no change, so nothing is induced in the secondary.^[4] Worse, the counter-voltage that limits primary current disappears, leaving only the wire's resistance; NEETS warns that even below-rated frequency raises winding current enough to cause damage.^[1] (Recap: why a coil passes DC freely.) DC switched on and off does produce secondary pulses,^[4] which is what switch-mode supplies exploit.

The turns ratio

The same flux passes through every turn of both windings, inducing the same voltage per turn, so voltage scales with turns:^[4]

V_s / V_p = N_s / N_p

where V is voltage, N the number of turns, and the subscripts mean secondary and primary. A transformer cannot create energy, so, ignoring losses, V_pI_p = V_sI_s, and current scales the other way: I_s / I_p = N_p / N_s. In OpenStax's example, a charger with a 200-turn primary on 120 V needs a 25-turn secondary for 15 V, and a 16 A charging current draws only 2 A from the outlet.^[4]

Impedance transformation, briefly

Impedance is the AC version of resistance. Because a transformer changes voltage one way and current the other, a load on the secondary looks different from the primary side: it is reflected by the square of the turns ratio,^[11]​^[12] Z_p = (N_p / N_s)² × Z_s. An 8 Ω loudspeaker behind a 10:1 transformer looks like 10² × 8 = 800 Ω (calculated). Matching source to load this way maximizes power transfer.^[1] A tube amplifier's output transformer, typically about 30:1, makes 8 Ω look like several thousand ohms^[11] (30² × 8 = 7,200 Ω, calculated).

Losses and efficiency

Real transformers turn some power into heat in three ways:^[13]

• Copper loss, or I²R loss: current through the windings' resistance. Thicker wire reduces it.
• Eddy-current loss: stray currents induced inside the core itself. Thin, insulated laminations break up their paths; about 50 varnished laminations make a core an inch thick.^[3]
• Hysteresis loss: the core's tiny magnetic regions, or domains, flip twice per cycle, wasting a little energy each time. The right core steel keeps it small.

Efficiency is output power divided by input power. NEETS puts small equipment transformers at 80 to 90 percent and large utility units above 98 percent.^[13] OpenStax says efficiency "often exceeds 99%."^[4] U.S. rules require oil-filled single-phase distribution transformers of 10 to 833 kVA (kilovolt-amperes; see section 4) to reach 98.70 to 99.55 percent at half load.^[14]

Frequency and core size

Written for transformers, Faraday's law becomes E_RMS = 4.44 × N × A × f × B × 10⁻⁸ where A is the core's cross-section in cm², f the frequency, and B the peak flux density in gauss, which must stay below saturation.^[15] For a given voltage, higher frequency lets turns and core area shrink. West Coast Magnetics says higher frequency "permits fewer turns and a smaller core for the same power," until rising core and copper losses limit the gain.^[6] Even 50 versus 60 Hz matters: Bicron says a 60 Hz-only transformer is 20 percent smaller than a 50/60 Hz one.^[15]

4. Ratings and markings

A transformer's limits come from its construction: insulation sets the safe voltage of each winding, wire diameter sets the current, and power handling depends on how well heat escapes, which is why big ones use oil or cooling fins. The power rating is usually given in volt-amperes (VA), rated voltage times rated current, though it may be stated in watts.^[1]

• Primary voltage and frequency, such as "115 V 60 Hz" or "117 V 50/60 Hz."^[16]
• Secondary voltage and current, in RMS, at full rated load.^[16] With no load it runs higher: a Honeywell AT140A furnace-control transformer gives 24.0 V loaded, 27.0 V open-circuit.^[17]
• Center tap (C.T.), a connection at the middle of a winding giving half the voltage on each side.^[9]​^[1] Most of Hammond's small transformers have one.^[16]
• Insulation class and test voltage. Hammond's 166 series uses Class B insulation (130 °C) and is "hi-pot" (high-potential) tested at 2,000 V RMS.^[16]
• Lead colors, usually documented on the data sheet. Red often marks high-voltage leads, but makers vary.^[1]

A real example: Hammond's 166J12 is rated 12.6 VA, 115 V 60 Hz in, 12.6 V center-tapped at 1 A out. The 166J12B, for 117 V 50/60 Hz, is larger in every dimension.^[16] Check that 12.6 V × 1 A = 12.6 VA, and that the 6.3 V on each side of the tap is half of 12.6 V.

5. Kinds of transformer

Isolation and autotransformers. An isolation transformer has equal input and output voltages and exists only to separate them; Hammond's bench unit adds an electrostatic shield, a 3 A primary breaker and a 2 kV hi-pot test.^[18] An autotransformer uses one tapped coil, so input and output share conductors and there is no isolation.^[1] That is why OSHA forbids drawing welding current through one from an AC supply above 80 V.^[27]

E-I versus toroidal. NEETS calls the E-I "shell core" the most popular and efficient design.^[20] A toroid winds the copper around a ring. Noratel calls toroids smaller and lighter, with "very low magnetic strayfields";^[21] Bicron says they need about 10 percent of a laminated core's magnetizing current.^[15] The catch is a switch-on surge, or inrush current, of 30 to 90 times operating current, so they need slow-blow fuses.^[21]

High-frequency ferrite transformers. Switch-mode supplies chop rectified mains at high frequency so the core can shrink, and almost all use manganese-zinc ferrite, which has the lowest losses there.^[6] The common low-power design is the flyback transformer: coupled coils on a gapped core that store energy, then release it to the secondary. Coilcraft calls it the most popular choice for low-cost isolated supplies up to about 120 W, including battery chargers.^[22] (Recap: switching power supplies.)

Audio, RF and baluns. Audio transformers couple and match stages over 15 Hz to 20 kHz; RF transformers work above 20 kHz.^[1] A balun (balanced-unbalanced) connects a balanced line, two conductors carrying equal and opposite currents such as ribbon cable, to an unbalanced one with one side grounded, such as coaxial cable. A 4:1 balun matches a 300 Ω antenna lead to a 75 Ω receiver input.^[23]

Current transformers. A current transformer (CT) uses the measured conductor as its primary and feeds a meter a small proportional current, typically 1 or 5 A. Its secondary must never be open while current flows, or it develops dangerously high voltage; short its terminals before disconnecting the meter.^[24]

Distribution transformers. The green box on a lawn is a pad-mount transformer. A single-phase unit steps about 8,000 V down to 120/240 V for homes; three-phase units for businesses step about 13,800 V down to 120/208 or 277/480 V.^[26] Pole-mounted units do the same job overhead.^[12] A 240/120 marking means one 240 V winding with a center tap: 240 V across the ends and 120 V from either end to the tap, which becomes the neutral.^[19]

6. Transformer circuits

A turns-ratio worked example

Suppose you need 12 V AC from 120 V mains at up to 2 A. Using the equations above,^[4] the turns ratio is 120 ÷ 12 = 10:1, so a 600-turn primary needs a 60-turn secondary. The rating must be at least 12 V × 2 A = 24 VA. An ideal transformer would draw 24 ÷ 120 = 0.2 A from the outlet, a tenth of the secondary current. At 90 percent efficiency, the top of NEETS's range for small transformers,^[13] it draws 24 ÷ 0.9 ≈ 26.7 W, about 0.22 A. (All calculated.)

A classic linear power supply

The classic way to make DC from mains is a linear supply: transformer, bridge rectifier, filter capacitor and regulator (Figure 4). Here is one for 9 V DC at 0.5 A using the Hammond 166J12 from section 4 (all numbers calculated).

1. Fuse. The primary carries about 12.6 VA ÷ 115 V ≈ 0.11 A. Control-transformer codes allow a primary-only fuse up to 300 percent of that, about 0.33 A, and recommend a time-delay type so the switch-on surge does not blow it.^[28]
2. Transformer. 12.6 V RMS peaks at 12.6 × 1.41 ≈ 17.8 V.^[29] (On a 120 V outlet this 115 V part gives about 4 percent more.)
3. Bridge rectifier. Each half-cycle passes through two diodes of up to about 1 V each in a GBU4 bridge,^[30] leaving about 15.8 V peak. Hammond advises diodes rated above 1.4 × 12.6 ≈ 17.6 V reverse and twice the output current;^[29] 1N4001s (50 V, 1 A) qualify.^[31] (Recap: the bridge rectifier.)
4. Capacitor. With 2,200 µF, ripple is about 0.5 ÷ (2 × 60 × 0.0022) ≈ 1.9 V, so the voltage dips to about 13.9 V. (Recap: the ripple formula.)
5. Regulator. An LM7809 needs at least 2 V more at its input than its output, its dropout voltage:^[32] 11 V. The 13.9 V dips leave 2.9 V of margin, and about 1 V even if the mains sags 10 percent. Hammond says to allow for low line voltage.^[29]
6. Heat. The regulator burns off the rest: (14.9 V average in − 9 V) × 0.5 A ≈ 2.9 W. A bare TO-220 package rises 54 °C per watt,^[32] about 160 °C here, so it needs a heat sink.
7. Transformer current. The capacitor recharges in short, steep pulses, so the secondary's RMS current exceeds the DC. For a capacitor-input bridge, Hammond gives DC current = 0.62 × secondary AC current.^[29] So 0.5 A DC needs about 0.81 A AC, or 10.2 VA. The 1 A, 12.6 VA part covers it; a naive 9 V × 0.5 A = 4.5 W estimate would not.

Isolation, and why it matters for safety

One side of household mains, the neutral, is connected to earth, so touching the other, "hot," wire while standing on the ground sends current through you back to the source.^[33] An isolated secondary has no connection to earth, so touching one of its wires completes no circuit. Isolation plus low voltage is why the output of a doorbell or furnace transformer is far less hazardous than the mains feeding it; the AT140A is listed as meeting the National Electrical Code's Class 2 requirements.^[17] The insulation between windings is what protects you, and makers hi-pot test it; Hammond uses 2,000 V RMS.^[16]

A 1:1 isolation transformer on a mains bench is different. Rod Elliott of Elliott Sound Products explains that touching one output wire may not hurt you, but touching both is as lethal as ever, and a ground-fault breaker (GFCI) on the input cannot see it, so it will not trip.^[33] It is a tool for specific service jobs, not a safety blanket. An autotransformer gives no isolation at all.^[1]

Phasing and dot notation

Whether the secondary voltage rises with the primary or opposite to it depends on winding direction and connections. Schematics mark this with dots: dotted ends have the same instantaneous polarity.^[10] Polarity matters when connecting windings in series or parallel.^[11] A distribution transformer marked 120/240 has two 120 V windings for series (240 V) or parallel (120 V) connection.^[19] Phased wrongly in series, the voltages cancel; in parallel, each winding drives current into the other, limited only by the wire's resistance.

7. Testing transformers

Winding resistance, power off. Unplug and discharge the circuit first; filter capacitors can hold charge. (Recap: stored charge.) Each winding should show continuity and fairly low resistance; an open reading means a broken winding. The low-voltage winding, with thicker wire, reads lower than the high-voltage one, which helps identify unmarked leads.^[1] Compare with the data sheet or an identical part.

Insulation, power off. There should be no continuity between separate windings, or from any winding to the core or frame, but an ordinary meter tests only at low voltage. An insulation resistance tester (megohmmeter) applies hundreds or thousands of volts DC, often for about a minute. Fluke suggests at least 1 MΩ for equipment rated up to 1,000 V. These testers are themselves a shock hazard: use them only on de-energized equipment, and discharge the windings before and after.^[34]

Secondary voltage, power on. This is a live-mains job, so do it only with a proper setup: transformer mounted, primary connections enclosed and insulated, a fuse in the primary, and the meter clipped to the secondary before power goes on. Keep one hand in your pocket, the old electricians' trick Fluke recommends.^[34] Expect more than the rating with no load: the AT140A gives 27.0 V open-circuit.^[17] Never try this on a microwave-oven or other high-voltage transformer.

Signs of failure. Some hum is normal: it comes from magnetostriction, tiny changes in the core steel's shape as it magnetizes, and heavy charging pulses make it worse.^[15] Loud buzzing or unusual odors are warning signs; Tampa Electric asks people to report either from a pad-mount transformer.^[25] Excess current overheats windings until the insulation breaks down for good.^[1] A burnt smell, discolored wrapping, swelling or a primary fuse that keeps blowing means retire the part.

8. Everyday uses

• Wall adapters and phone chargers. Many plug-in adapters contain a mains-frequency step-down transformer.^[4] Switch-mode chargers instead rectify mains and switch it at high frequency through a small ferrite transformer, often a flyback design, which also provides isolation.^[22] (Recap: power MOSFETs in switching supplies.)
• The grid. Power is generated at over 10 kV, stepped up to over 200 kV (sometimes 700 kV) for long lines, then down to 5 to 13 kV locally and 120, 240 or 480 V for users,^[4] mostly by substation transformers (Figure 7).^[35] The reason is copper loss. In an OpenStax example, a pole transformer takes 2.0 A at 12 kV and delivers 100 A at 240 V. The 2.0 A loses 800 W in a 200 Ω line; sending the same power at 240 V would lose 2,000,000 W.^[12] Even so, about 5 percent of U.S. electricity is lost in transmission and distribution.^[36]
• Doorbells and HVAC. NuTone's C905, a 16 V, 10 VA transformer for most of its door chimes, includes a thermal cutoff.^[37] Furnace and thermostat controls use 24 V, such as the 40 VA Honeywell AT140A.^[17]
• Microwave ovens. A step-up transformer raises 120 to 240 V to around 2,000 V, and a doubler circuit with a high-voltage capacitor and diode roughly doubles that to feed the magnetron.^[38]
• Welding. Welding transformers step down to the 15 to 40 V most welding uses, at high current.^[39] OSHA caps the open-circuit voltage of AC machines for manual welding at 80 V.^[27]
• Audio. Transformers isolate microphone and line signals and match tube amplifiers to loudspeakers.^[11]
• Inverters. An inverter switches DC back and forth with transistors to make AC.^[40] Isolated designs add a high-frequency or a mains-frequency transformer.^[41] (Recap: a MOSFET as a switch.)

9. A note on solar and battery systems

Solar panels and batteries produce DC, and an inverter turns it into grid-compatible AC.^[40] Whether a transformer is involved depends on the design. A review in an IEEE journal explains that isolated grid-tied inverters use a high-frequency transformer on the DC side or a low-frequency one on the AC side. Transformerless inverters are cheaper, smaller and more efficient, and popular for homes, but must meet strict standards on ground leakage current.^[41] Microinverters, small inverters at each panel,^[40] are among the listed uses of flyback transformers,^[22] but only a model's documentation says what it contains. Large plants connect through step-up transformers; at NREL's Flatirons site, the solar plant and battery system feed a 13.2 kV bus through 480 V to 13.2 kV transformers.^[42] Closer to home, utility transformers work in both directions,^[5] and the standard for small grid-tied inverters is to disconnect when a grid disturbance is long or large. Battery systems run through outages only if designed to.^[40] For any particular system, the installer's documentation is the authority.

10. Safety

The primary side is mains, and mains kills. OSHA reports that 50 to 150 mA through the body can stop breathing and may kill, and 1,000 to 4,300 mA can stop the heart.^[43] NEETS adds that skin resistance cannot be relied on even at 115 V: deaths from 30 V have been recorded, and body resistance can fall to 300 Ω or less.^[44] At 120 V and 300 Ω that is 400 mA (calculated). Treat every primary terminal, fuse holder and switch as live until unplugged, and enclose them so they cannot be touched.

Microwave-oven transformers (MOTs) are extremely dangerous. Hobbyists salvage them for projects such as "fractal" wood burning, which drives high voltage across wet wood to burn branching patterns. A 2020 case report describes MOTs producing 1,000 to 15,000 V with a potentially fatal 500 to 2,000 mA, against a "let-go" limit of about 16 mA. It also counted 34 fractal-burning injuries in local news since 2016, 24 of them fatal, a death rate of about 71 percent.^[45] Western Australia's energy regulator prosecuted a man who built one from microwave parts and jumper leads after watching online videos; a man using it was killed when he touched live parts. The regulator notes that the American Association of Woodturners linked 31 U.S. deaths in five years to the practice and banned it at its events.^[46] Inside the oven, the high-voltage capacitor can also hold a lethal charge after unplugging. Technical Safety BC warns that such voltages "can easily bypass" ordinary insulated tools and meters, and that these parts "should not be used outside their intended application."^[38] Do not salvage, power or experiment with them. (Recap: microwave capacitors.)

A stepped-up secondary can be more dangerous than the input. A step-up transformer turns an ordinary outlet into about 2,000 V in a microwave oven^[38] or 100 kV in OpenStax's portable x-ray example,^[4] far more lethal than its input and able to defeat insulation and tools rated for mains.^[38]

Never back-feed. A transformer works in both directions. A generator plugged into house wiring without a transfer switch can feed the neighborhood transformer backward, and the transformer then steps the voltage up on the utility line.^[5] OSHA warns this can energize wiring "for great distances" and electrocute utility workers.^[47] After Hurricane Hugo hit Puerto Rico in 1989, an experienced lineman was electrocuted by a line believed dead that was being fed by portable generators nearby.^[48] Use only a transfer switch installed by a licensed electrician.^[5] The same physics applies on the bench: feed any winding of a transformer and every other winding becomes live, so never power a low-voltage winding from another source and assume the primary leads are dead.^[5]

Fuse it. North American codes require overcurrent protection on control transformers, in the primary or in both windings, sized from the rated current, with time-delay fuses recommended.^[28] Toroids need slow-blow fuses or an inrush limiter.^[21] Never replace a fuse with a larger one, and never bypass a built-in thermal cutoff like the C905's.^[37]

Isolation transformers protect equipment and test gear, not you. Touching both sides of the secondary is as lethal as touching mains, and a GFCI ahead of the transformer will not trip.^[33] Never power more than one appliance from one bench isolation transformer.^[33]

Other rules. Short a current transformer's secondary before opening it.^[24] Stay clear of pad-mount transformers, report any that are open or leaking oil, and call before digging nearby.^[25] If someone is being shocked, free them without endangering yourself: switch off the power, or push them clear with something dry and nonconducting.^[44]

The whole story in brief

• A transformer passes AC power from one winding to another through a shared changing magnetic flux; it does nothing with steady DC.
• Voltage follows the turns ratio and current goes the other way, so power in roughly equals power out; impedance follows the ratio squared.
• Copper and core losses cost from a few percent to well under one; higher frequencies shrink cores.
• Ratings give VA, primary voltage and frequency, and secondary voltage at full load.
• Test windings and insulation with the power off. Treat primaries as lethal, never play with microwave-oven transformers, never back-feed, and always fuse.

Wrapping up the series

That completes the eight-part Electronics path. Article 1 started inside the atom, with valence electrons, current, voltage and resistance. Article 2 explained why some materials conduct and how doping makes semiconductors. Article 3 controlled current with resistors. Article 4 stored charge in an electric field, and article 5 stored energy in a magnetic one. Article 6 joined p-type to n-type to make the one-way diode, and article 7 built switches and amplifiers from two junctions or an insulated gate. This article used article 5's magnetism to move power between circuits. Together they cover the parts inside almost every power supply and circuit board. A good next step is to put them to work with a microcontroller in the Microcontrollers pages.

Sources

All links were checked in October 2026. External links open in a new tab.

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2. U.S. Navy, NEETS Module 7: Introduction to Solid-State Devices and Power Supplies (PDF): https://legacy.maritime.org/doc/neets/mod07.pdf
3. U.S. Navy, NEETS Module 2: Introduction to Alternating Current and Transformers, chapter 5, "Basic Operation of a Transformer" (Integrated Publishing reprint): https://tpub.com/neets/book2/5a.htm
4. OpenStax, College Physics 2e, 23.7 "Transformers": https://openstax.org/books/college-physics-2e/pages/23-7-transformers
5. Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, "Generators": https://datcp.wi.gov/Pages/Publications/Generators231.aspx
6. West Coast Magnetics, "SMPS Transformer Design Guide": https://www.wcmagnetics.com/resource/switchmode-power-supply-transformer-design/
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10. U.S. Navy, NEETS Module 2, chapter 5, "Producing a Counter EMF" and phase-indicating dots (Integrated Publishing reprint): https://tpub.com/neets/book2/5e.htm
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14. U.S. Code of Federal Regulations, 10 CFR 431.196, energy conservation standards for distribution transformers (eCFR): https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-10/chapter-II/subchapter-D/part-431/subpart-K/section-431.196
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