MCR equipment with Battery or Transformer ?

Kurt Rhyner   

Most MCR equipments use a 12 Volt motor to vibrate the screed. In many workshops they connect them to the grid using a transformer. However, the deficient quality of the transformer is often the reason for bad vibration or worse, for overheating and damaging the motor. A transformer has to provide an output of at least 10 Amps in order to guarantee a reliable flow of electricity, and it has to have an equalizer to avoid fluctuations in the current it provides to the motor.

The transformer has to be in a place where natural ventilation is possible to avoid overheating and it has to be protected from being covered by debris. Tevi offers appropriate transformers for 110 and 220 Volts with 50 or 60 Hz cycles. That means, they can be used in all countries.
 

However, there are definite advantages to rely on a car battery. It is easier to guarantee a correct current and if using a large truck battery it can serve more than one machines at a time, and likely lasts a few weeks before it has to be reloaded. Of course it is better to recharge it more frequently. With even a simple (slow) battery charger you can keep it in good running condition, but it also pays to have a small solar cell unit if there is no access to the electricity grid. By the way, you consume much less electricity when using a battery.

The “tevi” motor uses 3 to 6 Amps during vibration, but at every start-up for a very short time it demands up to 10 Amps. When you connect two or more vibrating tables to one transformer, you do not need to multiply the necessary power, as it is very unlikely that both or all machines will be starting at the same second. A 15 Amps transformer for instance will well serve two “tevi” and a 20 Amps one even three.

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