Static phase converter question

[Norseman C.B.]

Hey guys, I am looking at a phase converter for my new to me mill and was wonderin if anyone has any experience wit the Mac 5
static converter on E-bay. American made and claims to have good customer service after sale.
Any input from Y'all...............???

 

[projectnut]

I have never dealt with that company. However I do have several machines with static converters. I have a mill with a 20+ year old Phase A Matic, a lathe and power hacksaw with American Rotary brand static converters, and a drill grinder with a North America static converter. All are made in the US and all have given good performance.

American Rotary bought out North America several years ago. Now all their static converters are made by the North America company out of New Berlin Wisconsin

 

[NCjeeper]

I will say this is an area of you get what you pay for. I have a Phase a Matic on my bandsaw and it has worked great. My mill had a cheap no name brand on it when I bought it and it was nothing but problems. Finally got rid of it and bough a RPC.

 

[Mini Cooper S]

I realize that money is always part of the decision making process. That said, I used to run my surface grinder and Bridgeport mill with static phase converters. The surface grinder was noisy and didn't run smoothly and the Bridgeport couldn't be instantly reversed for power tapping. (When I would reverse the switch, the spindle kept running in the same direction.)

When I got more 3 phase machines, I got rid of the static converters and bought a North America PL-5 rotary converter. I am running 5 machines off of it, often times, multiple machines at the same time. The Bridgeport has more power and can now be instantly reversed, and the surface grinder now runs smooth and quiet.

Richard

 

[MrWhoopee]

I've been using a Mac 5 for about three years now. My only complaint is that the switch settings are different for my 2hp Kent mill and my 1 hp SB Heavy 10. Instead of changing the settings, I just turn on the mill and let it run as an RPC when using the lathe. I do have a 7.5 hp RPC, but I got tired of the whines. I say "whines" because the RPC whines incessantly and so does my wife when she sees the electric bill. I've considered getting the 1-3 hp SPC, but using the mill as an RPC gives me closer to full power on the lathe.

 

[Norseman C.B.]

I will only needing the converter for one machine, my others are single phase.
Considering the need and the cost the Mac might be the choice ..................Unless I find a smokin deal on an RPC.....

 

[Ulma Doctor]

I will only needing the converter for one machine, my others are single phase.
Considering the need and the cost the Mac might be the choice ..................Unless I find a smokin deal on an RPC.....

if you want to find a used 3 phase motor and assemble the RPC, i could build the starter box very economically.
if you are interested, email
ulmadoc@gmail.com

 

[Norseman C.B.]

Another consideration, thank you..............

 

[projectnut]

I realize that money is always part of the decision making process. That said, I used to run my surface grinder and Bridgeport mill with static phase converters. The surface grinder was noisy and didn't run smoothly and the Bridgeport couldn't be instantly reversed for power tapping. (When I would reverse the switch, the spindle kept running in the same direction.)

When I got more 3 phase machines, I got rid of the static converters and bought a North America PL-5 rotary converter. I am running 5 machines off of it, often times, multiple machines at the same time. The Bridgeport has more power and can now be instantly reversed, and the surface grinder now runs smooth and quiet.

Richard

I'm not sure what brand or model static converter you used, but my experiences with them are far different. I use a Phase A Matic PAM 300HD on my Bridgeport mill. It does an instant reverse easily, and has been doing it for 20 years. The only possible downside of the static converters is that they only produce the third leg current for the amount of time it takes the motor to come up to speed. Then it drops out and the machine is essentially running on single phase. As such the motor will only produce about 2/3 of it's rated horsepower. In my case that isn't a problem. In 20 years I haven't had a lack of power for any job.

I have an American Rotary DSS 1-3 static converter on my 2 horsepower 13" Sheldon lathe. Again there has always been plenty of power. In this case the motor isn't capable of instant reversing. I chose a static converter as opposed to a VFD so I could retain all the original controls. In this case spindle speed and direction are changed using a push buttons on the control panel to control a gear motor and Worthington variable speed drive.

If you're looking for one for a Bridgeport I would recommend the Phase A Matic. They are a little more expensive than some other brands, but they will allow the mill to do anything t would do when powered by a 3 phase circuit, or rotary converter.

As a side note I have a 15 hp American Rotary brand rotary converter setting on the shelf. I was going to install it as part of a remodeling project but so far haven't gotten around to it. All the machines seem to run fine on the static converters so there's no rush

 

[MrWhoopee]

the Bridgeport couldn't be instantly reversed for power tapping. (When I would reverse the switch, the spindle kept running in the same direction.)

I have no problems with reversing using the Mac 5 on my Kent mill. Just guessing, the reversing issue may have been related to the wiring of the switch relative to the generated leg of the 3 phase. Since reversing involves switching two legs, if the generated leg is one of those two, I would think that some odd things might happen.