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RE: Tools

To: British cars list <british-cars@autox.team.net>
Subject: RE: Tools
From: Randall Young <ryoung@navcomtech.com>
Date: Thu, 13 Mar 2003 18:27:50 -0800
Mike Denman  wrote :
> While this is not exactly about British cars, it is about some of
> the tools
> you might like to use. Many, if not most, industrial tools use three phase
> motors. Some of these tools are real handy to own but how do you
> run them off
> of single phase power. (if by this point you are not interested in this
> discussion please delete this message and accept my apologies.)

There are a few more options that you may have missed, Mike :

Probably best (but also most $$$) is a Variable Frequency Drive (VFD) with a
3-phase output.  This is similar to the inverter you described (BTW the
output is not DC), but it adds capability by allowing variable speed
adjustment over nearly a 2:1 speed range (generally 20% to 200% of nominal).
Not all of these can be powered by single phase power, but most can.

There are also "static" phase converters that supply 3-phase power all the
time.  The third leg is somewhat reduced voltage, so motor output is not as
high as on 'real' 3-phase, but it's close enough that you can get nearly
full nameplate power out of most industrial 3-phase motors (which are
usually underrated for long life).  It's possible to build these yourself
using swap meet components for very little.

I don't know if your "rotophase" is the same thing as a rotary phase
converter or not; but I've never heard of a rotary phase converter being
noisy or putting out noisy power.  These can also be DIY, but you need an
'idler' motor of comparable size to your load motor.  These can usually be
had pretty cheap, some times free if you know where to ask.

I don't have all my links handy, but here's one that talks about DIY
converters:
http://www.metalwebnews.com/msc.html

Randall

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