Are transformers bidirectional?

1st Official Post

    Are transformers bidirectionals (As in real life) or more like a form of DC-DC converter?
    I.e. if I have the following power system:


    Would this setup allow power to flow in two directions in the HV part? Say the right power plant (A) is in a city, and the other Power plant (B) is in another city. If P.P. A is overloaded will P.P B transmit energy through the HV cable? If the reverse happens? Is there a way to make this happen?
    Thanks!

    • Official Post

    Cable energy transfer is omnidirectional, however Transformers are not like that, (un)fortunately.
    Transformers can be used to revert energy flow if redstoned. [Just don't forget that redstoning converts it into a up transformer]


    Setup 1 ----> Transformer ----> Setup 2
    Setup 1 <--- Redstoned Transformer <---- Setup 2

    If you apply RS signal to a transformer it starts to up-convert instead of down-converting. Though as transformer can only transmit in one direction at a time you'll need to have some sort of separate system to transmit RS signals between two cities to see when one is out of power and the transformers need to change.


    Edit by SpwnX : hoho : Guess what i just wrote before you? :3

    Thanks for your reply. I was hoping to get going a sort of smart grid where customers could produce power that could go into the grid, but now it will be limited to the coverage of the LV or MV grid, and only big producers (coal, fuel and nuclear-fired plants) will be connected to the HV grid, just as IRL.
    BTW you can check out my server, it's a Tek***it classic @mc.rgbcraft.tk:25628.

    Transformers are bidirectional devices, transformers don't know nor care which way power flows through them. Transformer can pass real power from primary to secondary while simultaneously passing reactive power from secondary to primary.

    Quote from Vathirajan

    Transformers are bidirectional devices, transformers don't know nor care which way power flows through them. Transformer can pass real power from primary to secondary while simultaneously passing reactive power from secondary to primary.


    In real life, yes. In IC2, no.

    Quote from Aroma1997

    In real life things won't work very well, if you power BOTH sides of the transformer, either.


    Sure it does; how do you think the power grid has more than one generator attached to it? Or how do you think that home PV solar arrays manage to sell power back to the grid? They push the power right back out the line and through the same transformers that it can come down through.