Image Courtesy of: Pacific Transformer Corporation

While it may look like, and be in the shape of a donut, trust me, you don’t want to go eating this. While toroidal transformers may have many uses, being eaten is not one of them. This transformer model happens to be the smallest make of transformers. Being the smallest in both shape and volume allows them to be used in a variety of different applications as the power source. They are used for battery chargers, audio amplifiers, household appliances, motor drives, lighting, medical devices, induction loop equipment and cranes. They can be found in the music, security, aerospace, electronics, meteorology and transportation industries.

Without altering the electrical energy’s frequency, toroidal transformers are able to transfer electricity from one circuit to another. Their ring-shape provides an excellent use of space and helps to reduce electromagnetic interference. They also have no air gaps which allow for low stray magnetic fields and make the whole system quiet and efficient. Another advantage to these transformers is that they are able to achieve this with a relatively low amount of energy loss.

The toroidal transformer is centered on its core. To make this core, grain-oriented silicon-iron or permalloy is slit to form a steel strip. The next step is to form the strip into a coil. This structure allows for the capacity of the magnetic induction to increase because all of the molecules are able to be aligned across a given surface. The cores surface is covered by tightly wound and concentrated primary and secondary coils. These coils act as the conductors and are linked by a magnetic field. The primary coil is introduced to AC voltage which is able to create a magnetic field of voltage around the conductor which will then activate the secondary coil. In this way the toroidal transformer is able to transfer the electrical energy, and thereby change the voltage without losing much energy.