[sdiy] OT - xfmr voltage margin question

[Toby Paddock]

I have a couple 120V/8V xfmrs I'm going to use back to back (step down, low 
voltage over a longish wire, and step up) for an isolated 165VDC (or 
somewhere around there) power supply. BUT, I also have a nice 9VAC wallwart 
that I'd rather use for the input side. 

If I'm powering the output side step up xfmr from 9VAC instead of 8VAC would 
I be pushing my luck? I'm not picky about the output voltage, but I don't 
know what kind of margin xfmrs usually have. My current draw will be very low.

If I did want to drop the voltage, would it be crazy to use series diodes for 
their forward voltage drop? 

Also, the 120VAC side of the xfmr is 2 isolated windings so you can wire for 
120/240V. So I'll actually be using the 2 windings to make it +/- 165VDC.

I should wait a while and re-read this to see if it makes any sense... but I 
won't.

Thanks,
Toby Paddock

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