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instead of AC?
What Happens When the Primary of a Transformer is Connected to the DC
Supply?
1 Transformer Connected to the AC Supply
2 Transformer Connected to the DC Supply
3 Why a Transformer can’t be operated on DC instead of AC?
4 Under What Condition is DC Supply Applied Safely to the Primary of a Transformer?
A transformer is a device which step-up or step-down the level of AC current or voltage without
changing the primary (i.e. input source) frequency.
Transformer only works on AC and can’t be operated on DC i.e. it has been designed to be operated
only and only on alternating current and voltage. To know that what will happen if we connected a DC
source to the primary of a transformer, see the following examples where we connect a transformer to
the AC first and DC then.
Related Post: What Happens When an AC Line Touches a DC Line?
The above calculation shows that excessive current will flow in the primary of a transformer in case of
DC supply which will burn the primary coils of the transformer. This is not the only reason as the current
will be DC, now let’s see what happens in case of steady state current in the transformer.
If the primary of a transformer is connected to the DC supply, the primary will draw a steady current
and hence produce a constant flux. Consequently, no back EMF will be produced. They primary winding
will draw excessive current due to low resistance of the primary because we know that inductive
reactance (XL) is zero due to the inductive reactance formula (XL = 2πfL) where frequency of the DC
source is zero. Thus result is that the primary winding will overheat and burn out or the fuse and circuit
breaker will blow. Care must be taken not to connect the primary of a transformer across the DC Supply.
Pulsating DC in Transformer
In this method, a pulsating DC (which contains ripples and not a pure form of steady state current) to
the primary side of a transformer. In this case, the negative cycle reset the flux and time integral of
voltage is zero in one complete cycle which again helps to reset the flux in the winding. This concept is
used in SMPS (Switched-Mode Power Supply.