Ground on old variac

[E biddy]

Just got a varaic (thanks Enzo) but it isn't grounded. Do I just need to replace the cord and the socket and ground both to the chassis?

[tedmich]

Thats what I did with mine!



I used a snap in outlet and nibbled the square hole into the front panel. Of course meter everything out to be sure its correct/safe.

[Enzo]

The one on my bench isn't grounded either. WHile we like equipment to be grounded, we use the variac only on the service bench. So I often have a ground strap to a chassis under repair anyway, aside from any variac use. And as a technician, I am aware of the ground situation on anything I open up. When I plugged that audio generator into an outlet, the first thing I did was check to see if the metal chassis was hot. A small induced voltage was there, but no direct connection to the mains. No death cap in other words.

You can wire the variac to a grounded outlet for convenience and safety if you prefer. Commercial units often come that way now. I use my variac sitting out bare, just like yours looks. But you could get fancy and bolt it into a housing, with meteres and outlets on the front panel.

In my case, I work on things like SMPS as well as old tube amps, and an SMPS I definitely do not ground when servicing. I use an iso. The variac does not provide ANY isolation. So there are times I don't want a ground,