Refurbishing vintage 12V battery chargers.

Ijust got a big transformer from a scrapped 1000 watt microwave oven. I am examining the core to see if I can grind away enough of the weld to take it apart without destroying the secondary. If I rewind it for perhaps 18 volts I can build a serious DC supply good for 50 amps continuous duty, possibly even regulated. And probably put it inside an old 6-amp battery charger case, with a small fan to cool the diodes. I would wind it with three strands of #12 enameled wire because bigger wire is a pain to wind. Also, I have some of the #12 enameled wire.

Charging a 12 volt battery takes more than 12 volts, so the no-load volts will need to be a bit higher. Another interesting project, no doubt. The one concern is that microwave ovens are not constant duty appliances, so heating will still be a concern.