Roatary Phase converter ??

[Sawyer Rob]

First of all, that $250 was for a complete converter as pictured, but I've had it a few years and I'm sorry to say I don't know his contact info any longer. He was an electrical engineer putting them together for side money..... Sorry, I wish I could hook you up...

My point is, look around and "maybe", like me, you will find something you had no idea was even in the area.

SR

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

Kenny, I think he was talking about static converters, where you lose 1/3 of your HP. The ultimate converter is a phase perfect, but very expensive.

The motor is half the money of a rotary usually. The box of capacitors for a 25hp motor costs about $500 last time I looked. If you do them right, they are not really noisy but kind of a white noise in the background. I need to buy just the box. I have the 25hp motor. It is just low on the totem pole of needs. I have a nice lathe I bought but can't use until I get some 3 phase.

Mudd, you need capacitors to balance your 3 legs.

 

[muddstopper]

Static converters are actually cheaper than $250, but that was not what I was talking about. I called a company that builds static converters and they flat out told me not to hook one to that old mill, or anything else 3phase that had a motor older than 1965. I dont understand it, but if the manufacturer doesnt think its a good ideal, I aint stepping out on my own and using one.

My $250 reference was if I could buy a complete rotary phase converter for that kind of money, it sort of made building my own seem kind of foolish. Now that I know I probably aint going to find a complete converter for $250, I'm back to trying to figure out how to do it myself, again. One thing to note is I have found several companies that will supply already assembled electronics (caps, switches, enclosures, etc,) for reasonable prices, almost as cheap as a static converter. I supply them the spec off my motor and they build the box ready to hookup. Definaty worth considering. Anyways, plenty of good reading on google and I guess I just need to research this subject a little more.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

My BIG drill press and lathe are 3 ph. (also a couple other motors) so, I was going to build a rotary phase converter, as I have several 3ph. motors laying around here... But, when I looked around, I found a guy not too far from here, building them and selling them with a war., so I bought this one,

I just push the button and it starts, then I start what ever 3 ph. motor I need to use...

I don't regret having spent the $$ to get one "properly made" at all...it works every time and has had zero problems with zero maintance...

SR

Sawyer Rob didn't get a deal, he got a Steal! Good luck finding one that cheap. You need to look up on one of the websites that tell you how big you need.

https://www.americanrotary.com/?gclid=CNvRpemlwMYCFYQ-aQodJOsGpA

 

[muddstopper]

Sawyer Rob didn't get a deal, he got a Steal! Good luck finding one that cheap. You need to look up on one of the websites that tell you how big you need.

https://www.americanrotary.com/?gclid=CNvRpemlwMYCFYQ-aQodJOsGpA

Yea, I thought it sounded a little to good to be true. Rob, you didnt pick that thing up at night did you??JK.

Kyle, I know I can get by with around 7.5hp. The mill is rated for 5hp and according to what I have read, 1.5 time bigger seems to work best. The kicker comes in if I decide to buy something else to pull 3 phase also. As long as i didnt go over 5hp on the new equipment and just ran one thing at a time. I would still be good with a 7.5hp converter. Now being as I know my unreasonable tendencies to either overdo or oversize everything, I would just feel better with around a 10hp converter simply because i would worry less about overloading anything. I think the only downside to getting to big a converter is just in the amount of electricity the converter consumes, but I dont run my equipment enough to run up a huge power bill with the equipment. If there is another down side, I havent read about it yet. With a freebie 25hp 3phase motor just begging me to come and get it, I cant decide just what I should do or how big to go.

 

[AGRIMAN]

I have a 35 HP rotary converter on my PC oven and it's works very good. I gave around $1,500 for it 6 years ago.

 

[muddstopper]

Well, I dot know what a pc oven is supposed to cook, but 35hp is pretty big.

In the past i have not even considered a lot of relativity cheap equipment simply because it was 3 phase. Building or buy a phase converter might just lead to a divorce. I spend enough on ebay already

 

[AGRIMAN]

Well, I dot know what a pc oven is supposed to cook, but 35hp is pretty big.

In the past i have not even considered a lot of relativity cheap equipment simply because it was 3 phase. Building or buy a phase converter might just lead to a divorce. I spend enough on ebay already

Power Coating oven 8'x8'x24. I would not be afraid of using a converter on 3 phase equipment.

 

[LD1]

Agreed that you dont want a static.

Nothing wrong with a rotary, especially if you have a shop full of equipment. Lots of ways to start it. Rope as mentioned, 110v pony motor, or capacitors to start (same way a static starts). And yes you need run capacitors to balance the third leg to better match the two legs that are getting power from your single phase.

VFD's are nice though, and not too terribly expensive unless you splurge for a name brand. Can vary speed nicely. But they are limited purpose. If you have a shop full, RPC is the way to go.

 

[newbury]

<snip>

My $250 reference was if I could buy a complete rotary phase converter for that kind of money, it sort of made building my own seem kind of foolish. Now that I know I probably aint going to find a complete converter for $250, I'm back to trying to figure out how to do it myself, again. One thing to note is I have found several companies that will supply already assembled electronics (caps, switches, enclosures, etc,) for reasonable prices, almost as cheap as a static converter. I supply them the spec off my motor and they build the box ready to hookup. Definaty worth considering. Anyways, plenty of good reading on google and I guess I just need to research this subject a little more.

As I wrote PhaseCraft sells the box for $220 for the 10HP I was looking at. For a 7.5HP it's $190. I just had problems finding the motor for MY price. Since then I've been following the Govt auctions and occasionally see 10 to 20 HP motors pop up, example Public Surplus: Auction #1047890 10hp for $75.

Well, I dot know what a pc oven is supposed to cook, but 35hp is pretty big.

In the past i have not even considered a lot of relativity cheap equipment simply because it was 3 phase. Building or buy a phase converter might just lead to a divorce. I spend enough on ebay already

There is a lot sold from school auctions also, relatively unused because many schools are phasing out industrial arts for computer labs. When I bought my stash in the picture one of the teachers of another area in the same school had been trying to get this bandsaw out of his shop


He just put it out on the trash when he saw I had room in my trailer for it (best dumpster dive I ever did). And virtually all of the stuff I get from the schools has been well maintained and stored well. A lot of DOD auctions they let good equipment set outside

/edit - I can't get into machinist stuff. I've only got about 5,000 sq feet and it's about full already.