Cash on collection
Buck-Boost Sizing: Correcting Voltage Without a New Service
A working guide for Ohio sellers: what decides the number and how the unit leaves.
What we buy
What we buy here
Buck-Boost Sizing: Correcting Voltage Without a New Service comes up on almost every site visit, and the answers are usually simpler than the question suggests. A buyer's first question is about the rating and the second is about the access, in that order. The best outcome is a unit that leaves the site and turns up somewhere useful, and that happens more often than people expect.
Start with the tag, then the oil, then the tank, then the paperwork, and do not skip ahead. A site that has been photographed properly can be quoted without a visit, and the visit is only a confirmation. A unit described honestly sells faster than one described optimistically, because the second one gets renegotiated.
Who we buy from
Six kinds of seller, one desk
- Recyclers
- Electrical contractors
- Equipment dealers
- End users
- Demo contractors
- Distributors
Fast offers
A nameplate photo is usually enough to price a unit the same day.
Dedicated logistics
We arrange the crane, the permits and the flatbed, not you.
No broker fees
You are dealing with the buyer, so nothing is shaved off the offer.
How it works
Six steps from your yard to the money
- 01
Take pictures
The nameplate, the cabinet interior and the tank in daylight. Three photographs are usually enough to place a unit in the right class and the right price band.
- 02
Send them to us
The form on this page, a text or an email all reach the same desk. Include the city, the access and any deadline the site is working to.
- 03
Review the offer
A buyer reads the photographs, asks one or two questions and sends a written offer with the assumptions stated, so nothing changes on the day.
- 04
We schedule freight
Crane, flatbed and permits are booked around your access. You get a date and a window, and we carry the cost of getting it right.
- 05
Testing on arrival
Winding resistance, megger and turns ratio, plus oil analysis where the unit is liquid filled. The results decide the final number, and you see them.
- 06
Get paid
Payment is released on the agreed terms once the unit is received and tested, by check or ACH. No retention, no sixty-day terms.
What we handle for you
The parts sellers dread, done for you
Rigging
Crane and forklift arranged around your access, not the other way round.
Oil containment
Bunds, absorbent and disposal handled before the unit moves.
Bill of sale
A clean title document for your records, signed on collection.
PCB paperwork
Pre-1979 units get the testing and the manifest they need.
Guide
What it can do
A buck-boost unit corrects voltage by a fixed percentage, usually five, ten or fifteen percent, in either direction. It is wired as an autotransformer, so the kVA it can deliver is larger than its nameplate rating suggests. It cannot create a neutral, change frequency or isolate a load.
A short drive within one county costs less than a long drive across three, and the number shows it. A mine-duty unit is designed to be dragged, and it looks it, which is not the same as being worn out.
Sizing the unit
Size on the load current and the voltage correction rather than on the load kVA, because the autotransformer connection divides the duty. A 5 kVA buck-boost can often correct the voltage for a 50 kVA load, which is why the ratings look confusing. The manufacturer's tables give the exact figure, and the table is more reliable than a rule of thumb.
A transformer is a boring asset until the day it fails, and then it is the only thing anyone discusses. A seller should keep the photographs after the sale, because the next buyer will ask for the same ones.
Where it goes wrong
A buck-boost installed to correct a twenty percent sag is a fire risk rather than a solution. A unit installed without overload protection is a liability, because the autotransformer connection passes fault current through. A buck-boost on a circuit with a neutral must be wired so the neutral is not switched.
When it is the right answer
Checklist for buck-boost sizing: correcting voltage without a new service
Questions about buck-boost sizing: correcting voltage without a new service
Related guides
Get started
Get an offer in minutes
Five fields and a phone number is all we need to start. We reply the same business day, and a firm number follows the nameplate photo.
(614) 715-3047or send the form and we will call you.
Questions
What sellers ask before they call
Equipment types
Does buck-boost sizing: correcting voltage without a new service change what a transformer is worth?
A buck-boost installed to correct a twenty percent sag is a fire risk rather than a solution. A buck-boost on a circuit with a neutral must be wired so the neutral is not switched.
Service area
Where does a seller start with buck-boost sizing: correcting voltage without a new service?
It is wired as an autotransformer, so the kVA it can deliver is larger than its nameplate rating suggests. A seller should never feel rushed into a decision, and a buyer should never need to rush one.
Payment
Is buck-boost sizing: correcting voltage without a new service part of what a buyer checks on site?
It is the right answer when the voltage is close, the load is modest and the alternative is a new service. It is the wrong answer when the voltage is far off, the load is large or the supply itself is inadequate.
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