Purchasing a Dry-type Transformer

[FaradayFF]

Hey Guys,
How do you typically approach purchasing an transformer. I'm looking at 100-300kVA range.
Do you typically submit Specs out to bid, or go to a third party seller if the technical performance are not a top of the list.

Thanks,
EE

 

[petersonra]

Hey Guys,
How do you typically approach purchasing an transformer. I'm looking at 100-300kVA range.
Do you typically submit Specs out to bid, or go to a third party seller if the technical performance are not a top of the list.

Thanks,
EE

In my opinion putting stuff like this out for bid is counterproductive. Better to just negotiate the best deal you can. If you try to spec it out you won't inevitably make it hard for some manufacturer to compete so another manufacturer will get an unintentional advantage. And most of the time it just doesn't matter. Talk to a couple of different manufacturers and pick the unit that makes the most sense to you both cost and performance.

 

[FaradayFF]

In my opinion putting stuff like this out for bid is counterproductive. Better to just negotiate the best deal you can. If you try to spec it out you won't inevitably make it hard for some manufacturer to compete so another manufacturer will get an unintentional advantage. And most of the time it just doesn't matter. Talk to a couple of different manufacturers and pick the unit that makes the most sense to you both cost and performance.

You're saying contact the vendor directly and provide them the high level spec and have them provide the quote?

 

[jim dungar]

You're saying contact the vendor directly and provide them the high level spec and have them provide the quote?

In my opinion, the transformer sizes you are looking at are too small to bother specifying. General purpose units like this are normally just cataloged items available from manufacturers warehouses, they are rarely custom built. Look through the manufacturers website catalog specifications to find the ones that meet your needs.

 

[petersonra]

You're saying contact the vendor directly and provide them the high level spec and have them provide the quote?

That's what I would do. You are talking about a catalog item here that will be $5,000-10,000. Tell them what you need and let the various manufacturers tell you what they have that meets your needs.

 

[paulengr]

On those sizes a vendor like GE or Square D will just put out their bid spec for the catalog item and get quotes back for say a 24 month contract. They will buy transformers by the hundreds. Margins are terrible and then they bid against each other via distributors and that’s the price you pay. It’s a commodity item. You can jump into this if you want. The biggest advantage with a catalog transformer is availability and interchangeability. Usually you get an enclosure too, not just core and coil (naked).

Dry transformer shops are very common everywhere. Just in my area off the top of my head I can think of Acme, Franklin, Hammond, SOLA, Federal Pacific, PDP, MCI, probably others I missed. Instrument transformers, cast coil, and oil filled are more specialized and the number of sources quickly goes down.

The downside of this approach is that it takes longer but you can get exactly what you want. For instance I recently needed a 13.5 kV to 480’core and coil to retrofit in an existing spot, pre current DOE rules. That almost guarantees a custom build. So instead of getting it in two days it took several months.

There is also a huge rental, used and refurbished market especially in oil filled units. You can easily do internet searches on inventory and get quotes in hours, and delivery in a few hours to a couple days.