High School

A buck-boost transformer needs to have a rating equal to the maximum possible unbalanced load current on the neutral of a 4-wire system.

a. true
b. false

Answer :

Final answer:

It is false that a buck-boost transformer needs a rating equal to the unbalanced load current on a 4-wire system's neutral. Transform ratings are determined by required power delivery, and the transformer's turns ratio determines voltage transformation.

Explanation:

The statement that a buck-boost transformer needs to have a rating equal to the maximum possible unbalanced load current on the neutral of a 4-wire system is false. The rating of a transformer is typically determined by the power it needs to deliver to the load, not specifically by the unbalanced current in the neutral wire.

Transformers are designed to handle power in terms of voltage and current in the phases, not the neutral wire alone, which carries the unbalanced current resulting from the differences in the phase loads.

When dealing with transformers, such as buck-boost transformers and isolation transformers, one must consider their primary task which is to either step up or step down voltage while maintaining power balance.

The specifics, such as the number of turns in the primary and secondary coils or whether the primary or secondary voltage is higher, are determined by the intended application of the transformer and the required voltage transformation.

Furthermore, the notion of the transformer's necessary rating is correlated with principles from transformer's operation whereby the secondary to primary voltages ratio is the same as the ratio of the number of turns in their windings. Hence, buck-boost transformer ratings involve considerations of total power transfer, not merely the neutral wire's potential unbalanced load current.