I found this Allen Growler at an auction recently. Evidently it's for checking armitures.
Is this anything that I can use to charge magnets as it's pretty heavy and must have coils inside?
As you say, it's for testing armatures. I don't know about charging magnets, but if you don't want it I'll take it.
It's AC and will kill any magnet you get near it. Use it for testing armatures as intended.
I should point out that I think someone here tried to convert the open-core transformer to DC (batteries) but I don't know how long it lasted. The windings on these transformers aren't for high current and HIGH current is what's needed to charge magnets. You could let the "good smoke" out of it in a hurry and ruin a good armature tester.
You can wire in a bridge rectifier and recharge magnets. It has been posted here before. Do a keyword search for growler and you will find the thread. It's the poor-man's version, but it works.
Garnet
Check this thread out ...
http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/29/38427.html
Be_Zero_Be