Rotary phase converter

[BenO]

Well, with a lot of help form a friend I checked out my vintage Index model 55 mill with a 3hp three phase motor as an idler. He explained a "cheap&dirty" way to hook it up just to see if the motors worked. Used the old pull rope trick, mind you this was just to get an idea of the condition of the machine.
All the switches and drives worked as they should. The mill has a Hi and low speed 1hp head with a smaller motor to drive the table

I'm ready to build a 3hp rotary phase converter and saw a company on line called WNY Phase Converter Supply. Any one have any feed back about these folks?

Ben

 

[Old Iron]

They used to have a kit with every thing except the box, motor and wire. I think it was at a fair price.

Paul

 

[DaveD]

I bought one of their better boxes ( might have been their gold level?) to make a 10hp RPC. Both the start and run, particularly the start, capacitors were totally inadequate. Wouldn't even start the 10 HP idler. Emails went unanswered.
During my investigation i found all the components in the box were marginal for my horsepower size.

There is a very good forum over on that 'professional' site everyone seems to dislike. With its help and a bunch of capacitors, and a few resistors, from eBay I now have a very good, reliable, balanced setup.

I'd consider making my own but scrounging all the parts/pieces can be time consuming.

 

[Ken_Shea]

Here is a link to what looks to be a very nice build of an auto start converter.
Looks like one would need to be pretty electrical savvy to build though

My converter is in a separate room and while it is no big deal to go in there and start it up I always wish it wasn't necessary, when it was purchased there was a remote control starter option that I should have gotten.

http://www.metalwebnews.com/howto/phase-converter/phase-converter.html

 

[davidh]

i have a home made capacator/motor phase converter, i need to push the start button for the three phase motor to run and it starts to growl. then i momentarily press a car starter type button and the capacators kick in to get the three phase motor running. of course this happens in just about 2 seconds and has served me well for nearly 20 years, and i have my 3 hp lathe and full size bridgeport hooked to it. i have never tried to run both motors at the same time as its only me in the shop. for my pullmax i just bought a electronic converter that is speed controlled too, that works great and was around $150 for a 2 hp unit. . . . the rotarary converter is quite bothersome because of the constant whine of the motor. and im in a 8 by 28 fot shop so its twice as loud. . .