The Shop > Tools
New toy.
Arbalist:
You may find this interesting.
Of course a cheaper option may be to fit a single phase motor to the Lathe. That's what I was going to do to my mill before I found out about running it on single phase with a capacitor, that only cost me £11.
DavidA:
It was actually my first intention to fit a single phase motor. I have a couple of motors that would do the job.
But looking through the tech data I came to the conclusion that this may lead to problems with the existing control gear. (see link in post Number 3 above) Also I have the original milling machine attachment for this lathe. I just need to bolt it back on. And, of course, the miller is also three phase.
So, the rotary converter, which will give me the ability to run my other (and future) three phase 415 volt machines, looks better every time I think about it.
Dave
DavidA:
Arbalist,
I'll have to look at that link later, I keep getting error messages when I try to view youtube videos on this machine.
But I do know the principle of creating another phase, If I remember correctly you have to adjust the value of the capacitor until all the phases have the same voltage across them.
It is useful for running small dedicated motors.
Dave.
Arbalist:
Dave, the YouTube link is a guy showing how he made his own Rotary three phase convertor. Could save you some money if you want to go that route. :beer:
I did read this on another site which gives me the impression that Rotary converters are old tech compared to modern methods:
"By the way, all the phase converter is doing is offsetting one of the phases so it is 120 degrees from the others. A rotary converter works by running a 3-phase motor and using the output of that motor to create the third phase. A standard motor can generate power if an external source is spinning it. A digital converter does not have moving parts; it electronically generates the third phase, and thus is much more power efficient. I found that my machines ran cooler and smoother starts after changing to the Phase Perfect."
vtsteam:
There are several ways to make a 3 phase converter.
One method of making a rotary converter uses a starting capacitor to start a separate 3 phase motor (called an idler) and get it up to speed until it self generates 3 phase power for your equipment. Additional capacitors can be used to tune the voltage of the 3 phases.
Another method of making a rotary converter uses a single phase motor to temporarily spin the 3 phase idler motor to get it up to generating speed. Then power to the single phase motor is shut off, and the 3 phase motor continues to run by itself, and generate 3 phase power for your other equipment. Again, additional capacitors can be used to tune the voltage of the 3 phases.
Then there are static 3 phase converters which do not use an idler motor, they use capacitors to run the actual equipment motor.
Here is a non U-tube link for information (mostly on making a static converter) it also has good information on tuning the phase capacitors for all three methods above.:
http://www.waterfront-woods.com/Articles/phaseconverter.htm
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