Not really no, sorry. If you look in the video description there are some links to 3 other videos. There are 2 by Galvinzedsankey that go into a lot of detail where he shows some diagrams and explains the system in detail. This is where I got most of my design ideas from. I hope one day he will make the third video in the series as I think that is a valuable resource for anyone who is interested in Rotary Converter design. Hope this helps. 👍👍 And thank you for commenting.
Thank you, glad you enjoyed it. There is a Schneider GV2ME motor thermal overload protecting idler. I probably should have mentioned that in the video (oops). Furthest item to the right on the DIN rail. Cheers. 👍👍
Ah RUclips you've supplied me with another brilliant channel where I can watch videos on things I don't understand nor will have to ever make, and yet I leave satisfied and happy especially with that cabling
Nice! At first, I was thinking it was a single phase motor and a three-phase generator sharing the same shaft, but that approach is much more efficient. Thumbs up!
This is the only rotary phase converter I have seen where you show the voltage and current balance over the three phases. Although you show for about a 1 second, if you could show the balancing with various loads that would be great. We could also see the efficiency, assuming the displays are accurate. Excellent job well done.
I like him using hand tools & not a ton of I/C machines most simply don't have. His layout & wiring is superb, like out of mid 20th C & I mean that in a good way. Will watch other videos. Thank you.
I have watched several of your videos. You do some really nice TIG welding, and now I see you doing some professional looking electrical projects. I have liked and subscribed. Keep up the great videos.
Brilliant build. I converted a couple of 3 phase motors about 25 years ago for a friend and it’s so satisfying when it works. Not as well done as your converter but a much more Heath Robinson job with a bit of trial and error with various capacitors and a home made current operated relay.
Nice, the main thing is that it works at the end of the day. Id be interested to see the relay you made. I presume you used some sort of bi metal strip and a limit switch?? 👍
Handmade Extreme if I remember correctly, I obtained a current relay from a domestic fridge compressor and I removed the current coil. I obtained a few feet of heavy motor winding wire and rewound with just a few turns. The coil carried the main load and I wired the switch part to a heavy contactor as a relay I first fitted failed fairly soon. The contactor was just switching the start capacitor. It really was trial and error as there was no google back then but it worked for years after that. Thanks for your video. I would hate to be critical of your video but my only complaint is the music in the background. Just my preference.
I took a 3 phase induction motor and put rear erth magnets in the Armature and that was chain driven by another Motor on one side and a small engine on the other also you can take the rectifier out of car alternators and run them like induction motors plus if you take out the rectifier and run it through a transformer you can get 110 or 220 and so on.
Hi there! Yet have to watch the video but I can already tell I'll save it on my to do list just from the thumbnail. Ahah! Let's see what you got here! Sent here by Darek ;)
Hi there, I just checked out your channel. I know what i'm doing tomorrow evening 😀 there are some awesome looking projects on there! Hope you enjoy my videos. Darek has been very helpful to me, very nice guy!! 👍😀👍
I have never seen so many armchair commandos on one subject,its just brilliant workmanship the mans workshop is like at best 6 mtr x 6 mtr so it built to suit his situation the ones saying why not just get a VFD dont know what a rotary can do compared to a static and electrical codes do vary country to country
6m x 6m...... I wish haha. You are right though, I did it this way because it best fit my requirements. I could have used VFDs but this was cheaper and less hassle. Cheers, glad you enjoyed it. 👍
I thought I was watching This Old Tony to start. Great idea on the hinge pins. Great RPC build. Mine was a little simpler to build here in the states. Your cabinet puts mine to shame, so I will never show mine. LOL Now I have to start rebuilding mine. LOL Great video!! Subscribed.
What a complement, thank you!! I absolutely Love his channel. I was so excited when I saw he had done the two piece vice vice video this week. When I first found his channel I binge watched the lot.... Which took quite a while since most of his videos are around 20 mins long haha. I must confess I'm more of a form follows function guy as well but since I am making these things for RUclips as well as for myself then I put a bit more effort into making look nice than perhaps I normally would. That said, I think It will be good in the long term once the shop is all fully equipt to have everything matching, same colour etc. Should make it a nice place to work. Cheers
Thanks for the vid I'm also find Tony's videos addictive. Lol I bought 2 Tos Trenkin . 40+a 50cm lathes and need to build a rotary phase converter. Yours is a very nice build. I'm neither a machinist nor an electrician, some would say a masochist for challenges lol. Thanks also for the links, keep up the good works.
@@Handmadeextreme I have always heard from everyone who was in England that extension cords were super thin because they use 230 volts ??? Just one leg is hot or two hot legs and a ground ??? Thanks VF
Really awesome project! Just subscribed, love these sorts of videos, being an electronic engineer myself i can appreciate how much effort goes into making something like that function properly. Really helps me learn more about useful higher voltage devices, looking forward to watching more in the future :)
Wow :D That cable management is pure pornography, you wouldn't believe some of the cable management jobs I have to suffer through when I open a clients network cabinet :( I have been a computer guy and programmer for almost 15 years now and I just got into electronics and Arduino last year. To learn myself the basics I made a remote dimmer and relay box for my lamps which can be controlled by my smartphone via WiFi. Last week I finished the modifications to my mobile airconditioner to give it WiFi and some smarthome features. Programming and electronics are a match made in heaven, I hope that one day I will be as proficient at electronics as you are :D I must say I am very impressed with the amount of craftsmanship and skill that went into your phase converter. It's a real beauty. Cheers mate!
Thanks very much. It sounds like you have some cool projects on the go. I'm really not that great at electronics to be honest. I have a good understanding of power circuits / motors drives and PLC control systems but my knowledge of component level electronics leaves a lot to be desired. Glad you enjoyed it, cheers. 👍
In fairness, three phase means a bit more than simply three lives. Three phase means three lives each of which has its phase angle, that is where along a sinewave each live’s voltage lies, separated by 120° from either of its two neighboring phases.
my dad simply replaced the three phase motors on his lathe and mill for single phase over 40 years ago - I inherited them and they are still going strong
Nice work man. I’m building a portable phase converter right now. I’m gonna steel some ideas you have. Like the voltage and amperage readout screens. 👍.
It's odd, I always thought rotary convertors needed a motor and generator coupled with a belt or similar. I'm guessing yours had two set of windings, so the motor and generator sides just share a common armature?
I'm not too hot on motor internals but here is my understanding. I think the motor has 1 set of 3 coils, 1 coil per phase, therefore 6 wires in the terminal box. Conventionally if you are running the motor in a star delta configuration then you configure the coils in star to start the motor. This applies 230v and X amps to each coil to give you lots of starting torque. once up to speed the coils are reconfigured to delta to apply 415v to each coil with ~X/2 amps per coil. What I am doing is starting the motor in Delta with 230v across one coil and some caps across another coil to give it some extra excitation to get it spinning. I then switch to Star and apply the single phase live to one end of a coil and take the neural to the star point. At this point the other two coils are generating a voltage via induction. There are then a set of balancing capacitors across these two coils to match the output voltages. In the Star configuration I'm putting in 230v across one coil (how it should be in star) but then I get 415v phase to phase. There are couple of links in the video to a channel by a guy called galvinzedgary who knows a lot more about the technical side than me. Might be worth checking them if you are interested. He shows some diagrams and goes into a good level of detail. Hope this helps, cheers 👍👍
Oooh that's very clever! Power into one coil, then the three phase output out of that coil, and the other two. That's genius :D Does the large pulley on the motor play a role? A flywheel to balance the speed/vibrations? Given you a sub, you've piqued my interest :P
Cheers, you are right the pulley is acting as a flywheel. It helps to prevent the volt drop when you are starting up a machine connected to the converter. I have actually added more mass to the flywheel by attaching a brake disc to it since this video was made. It certainly helps when you are starting things that need a high starting torque. Thanks again. 👍👍
Very nice wiring job. I have been toying around with building something similar to this. A friend of mine has one with a single and 3 phase motor coupled with a belt. He uses it to start his 3 phase equipment then switches them back over to single to maintain operations. You dont get full rated power out of the motor of course but for what he needs it is more than adequate.
Thanks glad you enjoyed it. Having it has opened up a lot of opportunities. I would recommend building one. If it works for his application then its perfect .👍👍
Excellent explanation, nice tidy construction methods and final result. I did build 2.2kW rotary phase converter in delta only, and used a timer controlled relay for start capacitors. Best regards from Wombourne.
I actually did exactly this a few days ago. There is a fan at the other end of the motor anyway but I added a much heaver flywheel and it does help a lot with inrush as you correctly pointed out. Cheers, great comment. 👍👍
@@Handmadeextreme Any gyroscopic incidents? Like turning the worktop 90 degrees and the whole thing falling on its side? Generally flywheels are bolted to extremely heavy things like cars, locomotives or the Earth.
Your Video did show quite clearly how one can build a rotary converter, that is the problem most have with single phase supply and 3 phase machines a next vid or info the with the wiring diagrams would be the icing on the cake nice one,,!
I'm both inspired and bewildered..! Great video. I have a 440v star only 2-speed 3ph motor (lathe) and I'm desperately trying to get it running using the original motor! I think this kind of thing can work.. but the 2-speed part adds an extra level of complexity that most people seem to be stumped by. Cheers from the South West UK
Sounds interesting. I assume the machine does all the speed control itself and just needs a 415 supply? If that is the case then a rotary converter should work. I don't I have any real experience with that kind of motor.
@@Handmadeextreme Theres different windings, so 3 wires connect to the low rpm and 3 to the high rpm. But they both use 440v The control switch just redirects the 440v to either or set of 3 wires (Thats how I understand it) So in my head a rotary phase converter like yours should work.. (?) Thanks for the reply btw!
That's what I had imagined. I'd say a RPC is a plausible solution as switching the winding downstream won't bother it. A VFD is another option. Just choose one set of windings then use the VFD to control speed. I have to say I'm a fan of the RPC as it allows for other 3 phase machines to be added to the shop in future without the need to but more VFDs. I have my lathe and mills both running on the RPC at the moment and also have a surface grinder that I need to get up and going in the near future. I'm planning a follow up to this video in the very near future (next few weeks probably) were I will go into a lot more technical information if you are interested. Might be a bit dry and 'schoolroom' but will hopefully answer a lot of the questions you see in the comments. No problem at all it's nice to help out fellow wokshopers.
@@Handmadeextreme Im just watching on of the links you posted, and what do you know.. The chap explains his own Lathe is a two speed ''pole-change'' motor and his rotary converter setup works perfectly for it!
@@Handmadeextreme I tested with a VFD with 220v output, which worked but the torque was barely enough to keep the motor going. It was a good test, and I was going to stick to one winding and use teh VFD pot control for speed. The RPC like you say had those added benefits. I already run a lathe and mill on 3 VFDs and like them, but this seems a bit better. Definitely interested in seeing that! I'll sub.
It is very application dependant, for my workshop I would need need 7 VFDs therefore the rotary converter was a more cost effective solution. If I was just using it to power one machine then I completely agree then a VFD would be the way to go. Hope you enjoyed the video, cheers. 👍
Just moved a Bridgeport mill and chop saw in this morning. Might be off the get a surface grinder tomorrow. The workshop might look a bit fuller in the next video haha 👍👍
This little converter isn't big enough to power 7 pieces of equipment. He'd been better off with a phase perfect, but he's a cheap bastard full of bad ideas. Typical in the euro market.
Awesome sir very nice. I need one on this side the pond here in Texas! Very nice, neat and Tidy work. All you need is a schematic on the inside of the door and a price tag sir! Thank you again!
Thank you very much, glad you enjoyed it. I never got round to doing a drawing to be honest. If you do want to see some more technical content inc some drawings there are some links in the video description to some systems that work the same as this one. Cheers. 👍👍👍
Nice build, but... :-) 1. Cable management. Please don't get into the habit of using too many cable ties. They impact the cooling of the individual wires. There are lots of very cheap cable management solutions. Also that little pig tail going to the CEE-Con is a little death-trappish. (And no, an RCBO does not grant you absolution ;-) 2. One more relay/contactor that turns the outlet on as soon as a stable voltage/rpm is reached could be useful. 3. Reverse contactor. Since you are cooking your own 3 phases, you have the right to decide in which direction they turn. Srsly it is super handy to free tools that have biten into more material that they can chew. Drills etc. Regards Roland, former automation technician and general purpose electron tormentor
Hi Roland, 1)Some great input there thanks. Good point re cable ties, I was originally going to use finger trunking but could not get any at a sensible price in the time frame. Could you be more specific regarding the pig tail I don't quite follow, sorry. 2) Was part of the original plan but for some reason I left it out.. not sure why... 3) Great idea, I might add that! Some great input there thanks very much, I really appreciate comments like that. Cheers👍👍
1) with piggy tail i mean the cable going to your CEE (3 phase outlet) It is not protected against tear, stress and impact. In the enviroment you deployed it we're actually even considering protecting it with a steel tube. 2) Arduino C is easy but when you got a leftover PLC that just wants a hug and purpose it'll do fine 3) Doo da reverse! Besides the what i already mentioned: Tap left screwholes, do that inthinkable thing with your drillpress holding the chuck to releas the drill... stuff like that
Ah i'm with you now! My protection philosophy for the CEE is not quite so obvious but does exist. Certainly not as good as a bit of conduit though. You might be able to see that the table top extends quite far back over the top of the converter, this is so that I cant crash the socket into walls and machines etc, It is still a possible snag risk but since I am the only one using my workshop, its just a hobby shop, then I am quite careful and tend to look after my tools etc. Oooh what i could do if i had a couple of micrologix lying around...... I used to work with PLCs but fancied a chance. cheers.👍👍
I have seen some arduino based mini PLCs. I would so like to get my hand on one of these. But then again what would i do with it in my 60m² flat. On the other hand, building one myself might be an attractive project. A simplified IL interpreter should not exceed my programming skills ^^
Well done! That's the definitive lemonade from lemons situation right there! Question though, wouldn't replacing the pulley on the motor with say a heavier flywheel result in a more stable power output overall to compensate for start up loads?
It is always nice to watch someone work that takes their time and do it correctly. Your channel was in my suggested channel tab and I'm glad I took a gander. Get video and great execution, very clean work. Will be watching more of your videos.
Ooh interesting, I'm appearing in suggested videos.. fantastic! Glad you came for a gander and enjoyed what you found. Welcome on board and thank you. 👍
Thanks. it's worked fairly well. There if a bit of vibration which is a paint. doing it again i'd put the motor on rubber engine mounts. Iv'e actually moved the motor out of the box now and got it bolted to the floor as I have a permanent home for it having moved the workshop round a bit.
@@Handmadeextreme The vibration comes from the phase voltages being unbalanced. I balanced my idle motor with run capacitors on it's own. The load motor has it's own contactor. I balance the load motor while both motors are idling Each motor should have it's own tuning capacitors so when it hooks up to the RPC it does not throw it out of balance. When balanced the system runs smooth and quiet. It will probably be less stressful on your motor bearings as well.
Not by choice haha. Here in the UK the houses only get single phase. So if you want to run industrial machines in your home shop then you either use VFDs, A rotary converter or have 3 phase connected. For me the most cost effective solution was the rotary converter. cheers.👍
Same here in North America. I think it's cheaper to run single phase but long term they would have benefited in the additional cost by running 3 phase.
Nobody wants single phase, but it's more expensive to run more wire. or maybe they didn't want the common man to be able to have that power, for with three phase AC you can power a revolution against the capitalist state
Yes, it appends on wich country one lives in, in my country the single phase lines where scrapped out after the 70s too, but not in UK as i understood, and in the US there is a system with 110V and centerzero, wich give as i guess, 220V in a similar line, 220V (wich gave 3x 220V in 3 phase; 380V in scandinavia, except Norway, wich hawe their own 230V 3x independent phase system)) was the old standard in my country for single phase before the EU (and 240V in the UK) today it's 230V (wich gives 400V in 3 phase) in most countries here for some reason...
They do run all 3 phases. I can see the 3 wires at the top of the pole. I get one phase, my neighbour to the left gets another phase, and my neighbour to the right gets the 3rd phase, so the 3 phases stay balanced. I could ask the utility company to get me all 3 phases, for a fee. Sometimes also 1 street gets one phase . Some apartment buildings get 2 or even 3 phases to distribute so if you live in an apartment and check the live from 2 different outlets you'll sometimes see 208 Volts across them.
I was a little confused at the output voltage reading. it is around 415 volts on each of the 3 monitors but that is the voltage between two phases, not each phase to neutral. each phase to neutral should read around 230 volts. if you had 415 volts between each phase and neutral you wold have about 720 volts between phases. you have a 230 volt single phase to a 230/400 volt 3 phase converter. really nice and clean build!!
You are absolutely right.The input voltage is phase to neutral and measures 230v. The output phases on the displays are phase to phase 415v which is the same as 230v phase to neutral. But now with three distinct phases at the correct 120 degree phase angles. Glad you enjoyed it. Cheers. 👍👍
i liked the vid. too much time spent on cutting, welding but not much time spent on the electrical side. i would suggest putting a wiring diagram and specified values for each component give it a pause time so people can take in the info and slowly go through the system. most people who make these video just showing how great they are but actually not teaching any thing. this is not a point of criticism but a point of observation.
Thanks for the feedback its very much appreciated. Unfortunately there is no wiring diagram, I just did it on the fly. Noted for future reference though, cheers. glad you enjoyed it and thanks for watching.
I agree, when I saw the thumbnail for this vid, I expected to get some insights into building a Rotary Converter, but the build was more about the cabinet it went in. One positive though was the link to Galvanizedsankey, which gave all the info that this one did not. The cabinet was a nice piece of work, and the electrical work looked very workmanlike, I just wish there had been discussion on the design decisions and the components used. I must be in the minority though, as most here are full of praise about build quality etc, but obviously have little knowledge about electrickery, especially when they want to know how you can get 415V out if you are only putting 240V in and not using a transformer.
3 points/questions: 1. Have you got this on a separate radial from your consumer unit? If so you could have it on a type C breaker to cope with the inrush without needing a high fault current to break it. 2. You should (ideally) put the caps as close to the motor as possible as these could be sinking or sourcing huge current, so voltage losses in the wire will be going against their purpose. It would also help reduce some of the radiated EM radiation. 3. What sort of current can you get out of this setup in 3 phase? And, what's the efficiency; simple input power vs output power. Would be really interesting to know. Great video btw.
Great questions / comments. 1) The workshop is on some creative wiring left by a previous owner fed from the house. Has it's own dis broad though with RCD, socket ring main, lighting circuit and 16a wall socket on a type C breaker. Breakers in the rotary converter are also type C and there is a thermal overload in there too. 2) Everyday is a school day, I will drop a clamp meter on the cap wiring and see what is going on there next time it is running. 3) Running with no load draws about 3.8A off the single phase supply. Would need to take some detailed measurements to get an accurate efficiency but I don't expect it to be more than 75%. Thanks, glad you enjoyed it. 👍👍👍
Cheers, I might do a follow up at some point as I am already making some modifications to make it better haha. I just cant leave anything alone to "just work" Cheers. 👍👍
You forget one importing thing. Grounding (earth) your contolpanel. It is made of metal and insulated mounted and there is life voltage on the components. Very dangerous.
Well spotted. I didn't show it in the video but the cabinet is fully bonded and earthed back through the supply cable. Absolutely right about how dangerous that can be. Cheers.
Nice Fire-Bomb you have created there mounting the profile rail and those cheap-ass screw terminals directly on wood.... as a qualified electrician my toe-nails bend inward....
It should be fine, a lot of mains switchgear in old factories was mounted to wooden back plates, and yes i'l admit a few of them did burn down....😊.. However, the converter will always be next to what ever machine I am using it to power and I never leave machines running when I leave the workshop, so if anything does go wrong I know about it straight away and should be able to react accordingly. All that said it should be fine anyway, all the parts were sized according to their ratings etc. Those "cheap ass terminals" (great choice of words, love it 👍) are rated for 20A and the system is limited to 16A. 👍👍
I think I could install a few sheets of aluminum roof flashing, to shield the wiring from the wood, faster than I could extinguish a fire. I doubt, even than would meet code here in the U.S. but it would address the most likely path. I have seen too many crispy crittered barrier strips to let one get that close to flammables. Would hate to see your very professional layout and wire management in a heap of ashes.
It looks like you would be only using one device at a time anyway with your rotary converter, so one cheap Chinese VFD (on a portable system like you made) with a single 3 phase plug could have been viable. But I guess you recycled parts you already had, and I have seen such converters on 40 years old ship accessories.
You are correct, I do just use one machine at a time. The problem with using a VFD as a plug in converter is that a VFD should be connected directly to the motor. You should not have any switching after the VFD as it can damage the IGBT components. Therefore you need one VFD per motor. So I would need at least 3 as my milling machine has 3 motors. I would then have to rewire all of my machines. Then to use a the milling machine I would have to plug in 3 VFDs, I'm sure you can see where i'm going with this. Basically the rotary converter is just a simpler solution when you have more than one motor to run. Plug it in, plug in the machine, switch it on and off you go.. Cheers, hope that gives you a bit of clarity on my thought process. Thanks for commenting. 👍
That makes sense, they are indeed designed to be permanently attached and tuned to one motor. Manufacturers indeed don't recommend a disconnect on the output side, but it is acceptable with an interlock circuit (a signal to the VFD that activates it only if a motor is in circuit). I know that at the very least the VFD will trip on alarm after a load imbalance (i had some related problems). In the end, you indeed made it simpler on an electronic point of view.
If enough people are interested i will draw a schematic of this rotary converter for you guys. Just like if you need one Edit: Yeah so i got kinda bored recently so i made one... make sure you know what you do when you use it. GDrive: drive.google.com/open?id=1UBFFyoiuMZ1-P4wPLLpUK5ZaZ7VNJlsv Yeah and if you find a mistake in it just notify me.
Why is this video dominated by so much cutting, drilling, welding, sanding and so on? Why not just address the phase converter? After ten minutes the boredom overtook me.
My apologies, I'm quite new to this and am still trying to find the right balance of technical content vs the more visual building content. I hope you found what you were looking for once the technical bit did start. Thanks for the feedback. 👍👍👍
I enjoyed the construction aspect of the video. Maybe for future videos you could add just a "if you just want to see it working" link/button etc. which would suit both camps?
Interesting idea, I might try and incorporate something like that in future. The next couple of projects wont really be things that you can see working; more workshop infrastructure type things. But, I have a few projects down the line that could work well for. Thanks for the idea and i'm glad you enjoyed the video. 👍👍
Nice work, I came to your video after the galvanizedsankmonkey video. This method seems to be contridicting a people peoples opinions on the idea of running 240v star when in running - it's somewhat reassuring to see more than one video with this method. I'm struggling a bit with my own but this video's helpful - particularly the parts list as my own motor is a similar kw rating.
2 months since I first saw this, and commented. I'm having a lot of trouble getting started on one of these. I bought some plans on ebay and watched as many videos on the topic as possible but I'm not much wiser really. I can't afford a commercial RPC right now and with a 'dead' lathe sat in the workshop (that I need for my work) I really need to work it out somehow. If you fancy building another give me a shout... ;-)
What is it that you are actually struggling with? I assume the plans you have are Les's? Regarding me building one for you; it would be much cheaper for you to buy a commercial one than have me make a one off for you. The companies that make them every day are set up for it and have all the bits on hand. They will also give you a warranty. If it is just one machine (ie 1 motor only) that you want to power have you considered an inverter? The reason I built the RPC is because I have multiple machine with multiple motors that I want to power. If it's just one an inverter might be a better solution. I'm planning a follow up video at some point which will be more more technical detail focused if you are still interested in building a RPC.
@@Handmadeextreme I'm not well versed in elctronics by any means. Yes Les' plans, and he's given me some advice via email which is helpful but It's quite daunting for me. It's for one machine currently, which uses 2 motors (one coolant motor feeds off the main supply) and would be useful for future machines. It's my day job and likely I'll be gaining more 3-phase machines in the future. I have seen some cheap 220v single to 380v 3phase inverters but the main reason Im hesitent is due to my duel-winding/duel speed motor. It'd work, but It would mean stopping the vfd between speed changes and as its a capstan/turret lathe the quick change/stop/rev is quite important. Hence a RPC would be the most suitable option. At the moment the RPC build will cost pretty much the same amount I paid for the lathe, Which wouldn't be too bad if I was confident in the wiring and components. Thanks for the reply.
it works really well i tried as you said in the video and its absolutely amazing ive heard about rotary converters but i didn´t imagine that they would be so simple now i just need to get some contactors to finish the project because i dont have none laying around (and yeah im starting the motor by hand)
Id be temped to look at that again. You generally find the starting capacitance is much higher than the running capacitance. I think I put the values of my caps in the video description for reference. Sounds like you are getting on with it, good luck and be careful, make sure you always discharge your caps before touching them!!
Handmade Extreme yes you are absolutely right about starting caps, the motor i have needs around 150uF to start and have a decent ammount of torque, but the fact the motor is running in idle makes possible to decrease the capacitance but of course that exist some minimum values, ive tried and the motor starts fairly well just with the running caps (that are the same used to balance the voltage)
Hi there, I was watching my channel stats as I hit 100 subs and was wondering "who is that" so nice it nice to meet you. Thank you, glad you are enjoying it.👍
As Adil said below, I don’t have to know by what arcane magick you used. To produce 3 phase, But it was a pleasure to behold. Your build was “neat “. Even tho many comments from experts are critical, you are aiming at a totally different demographic. I for one will will follow future vids and view your back catalogue
Thanks very much, really glad you enjoyed it. You are correct, this system is for my home shop. It is not designed to run a factory where multiple machine are running at once with multiple people working. It's just me in my shed.. Cheers. 👍👍👍
Have absolutely no idea what you have just done but it looks impressive. If I was to hazard a guess I would say that you took a single phase motor, and through some tricky wiring turned it into a three phase generator. Or maybe it was three phase motor that you started on a single phase.
Your on the right lines with your second guess. Its a three phase multi voltage motor. You start the motor in delta then switch it over to star (opposite way round to how you normally run three phase motors) so you can generate the missing two phases and step up the voltage. I'm going to do a detailed video on how it works in a few weeks time.
Super neat build, love the tidy wiring, but after watching such a lot of fabrication it would be great to see a wiring schematic for it all. I off to build my one now, just need to find that wiring diagram...☺ Thanks
Cheers, glad you enjoyed it. There are some useful links in the video description that contain some more technical information about the circuitry. Cheers.
Me again, 10 months since I bought the plans from Les and started collecting parts and putting things together. Tried starting the circuit for the first time last night and... nothing! Well, the first relay clicked but that's about it. Troubleshooting is no fun when you don't really understand what's going on ha-ha. I did notice that your timer has a little light on it, whereas mine is the same part but doesn't illuminate. That's something for me to look at in detail among a sea of possible problems. Les has been guiding me via email with some of my questions but I'm at that point in which I don't think anyone else can really assist without being here poking around in the rats nest of wires I've created.
Nice job and something i have wanted to make for sometime as i have a workshop full of vfd's. It would be nice if you shared your wiring diagram and this may explain some of the thumbs down. It should also be noted that vfd's in your defence do not like shock loads and require you use their own start/stop which is not always convenient. What you have created leaves the machine/controls untouched and gives the workshop at near true 3 phase supply which can be tapped into as a ring and yes vfd's give more control but can not easily and quickly switched between machines. To have both drives and rotary phase would be ideal. All the best with your channel.
Thanks very much, glad you enjoyed it and you have summed up nicely some of the pros and cons of VFDs. If you have a look in the description there are links to a couple of other videos that do include some diagrams. The ones by Galvinizedgary are quite good. Sadly I don't think he has done part 3 in his series but if you take your time you can get all of the information from parts 1 and 2. The main reason I didn't include any schematics is purely because I don't have any. Cheers. 👍👍👍
@@Handmadeextreme He has now. Both parts 3 and 4 are up and well worth looking at. He has a circuit diagram as well as good explanations for anyone wishing to build a RPC.
That's one elegant phase converter. Since I don't have the parts around I'd go with a VFD for that lathe, but they're plastic and ugly. This is electrical art.
Thanks very much, glad you enjoyed it. Main reason for the RPC was that I have a couple of machines and buying VFDs for all of them would be very expensive. Cheers. 👍
What an excellent project build, I liked the hinge pin idea. Very simple but clever. If you don't mind me asking what is your profession as nothing seems to phase you, having found your channel via your workshop build video. Bricklaying, metalwork, woodwork, electrical and automotive you're a one stop shop. Keep up the excellent work.
Thanks very much. I'm a self employed engineer. I do a bit of all sorts really. Started out in fabrication and machining for aero then went into factory automation and control. Did a bit of time as an automotive design engineer. Thanks for the support. Much appreciated. 👍
I hope you enjoy my latest video. Let me know what you think.
Is there anything I could do better?
Do you have a elec. diagram by chance?
Not really no, sorry. If you look in the video description there are some links to 3 other videos. There are 2 by Galvinzedsankey that go into a lot of detail where he shows some diagrams and explains the system in detail. This is where I got most of my design ideas from. I hope one day he will make the third video in the series as I think that is a valuable resource for anyone who is interested in Rotary Converter design. Hope this helps. 👍👍 And thank you for commenting.
Awesome vid. My only suggestion is give the people what they love. .. more bow tie! Subbed
Really enjoyed watching this as it took me back 40 years when my father constructed the same thing for his workshop.
Glad you enjoyed it.👍
As an electro technician, I appreciate your cable management job. I would recommend getting some thermal protection on the idler.
Thank you, glad you enjoyed it. There is a Schneider GV2ME motor thermal overload protecting idler. I probably should have mentioned that in the video (oops). Furthest item to the right on the DIN rail. Cheers. 👍👍
Ah RUclips you've supplied me with another brilliant channel where I can watch videos on things I don't understand nor will have to ever make, and yet I leave satisfied and happy especially with that cabling
Cheers, glad you enjoyed it. 👍👍
Aaaah, the Colin Furze of Electrical Engineering! Subscribed!
Hahaha. Quality!! Thank you very much, glad you are enjoying it.👍👍👍
I was thinking the same thing! Subscribed!
Thanks. 👍
This found it's way over here to Canada! Subscribed! Love this stuff.
Nice! At first, I was thinking it was a single phase motor and a three-phase generator sharing the same shaft, but that approach is much more efficient. Thumbs up!
Cheers, glad you liked it. 👍
I do love when people tidy up their wiring! Nice job
Cheers, glad you liked it. 👍
This is the only rotary phase converter I have seen where you show the voltage and current balance over the three phases.
Although you show for about a 1 second, if you could show the balancing with various loads that would be great.
We could also see the efficiency, assuming the displays are accurate.
Excellent job well done.
Thanks very much, I have not had chance to try it at different loads yet but I may do a follow up in future. Cheers 👍
You made a really good rotary converter. Great job!
Thanks for end screen! :)
I will tray to get some views for you :)
Thanks, really appreciate it and glad you enjoyed the video. 👍😀
Ty jestes wszedzie
I like him using hand tools & not a ton of I/C machines most simply don't have. His layout & wiring is superb, like out of mid 20th C & I mean that in a good way. Will watch other videos. Thank you.
I have watched several of your videos. You do some really nice TIG welding, and now I see you doing some professional looking electrical projects. I have liked and subscribed. Keep up the great videos.
Thank you very much, I'm glad you are enjoying the videos. 👍
Brilliant build. I converted a couple of 3 phase motors about 25 years ago for a friend and it’s so satisfying when it works. Not as well done as your converter but a much more Heath Robinson job with a bit of trial and error with various capacitors and a home made current operated relay.
Nice, the main thing is that it works at the end of the day. Id be interested to see the relay you made. I presume you used some sort of bi metal strip and a limit switch?? 👍
Handmade Extreme if I remember correctly, I obtained a current relay from a domestic fridge compressor and I removed the current coil. I obtained a few feet of heavy motor winding wire and rewound with just a few turns. The coil carried the main load and I wired the switch part to a heavy contactor as a relay I first fitted failed fairly soon. The contactor was just switching the start capacitor. It really was trial and error as there was no google back then but it worked for years after that. Thanks for your video.
I would hate to be critical of your video but my only complaint is the music in the background. Just my preference.
I took a 3 phase induction motor and put rear erth magnets in the Armature and that was chain driven by another Motor on one side and a small engine on the other also you can take the rectifier out of car alternators and run them like induction motors plus if you take out the rectifier and run it through a transformer you can get 110 or 220 and so on.
That sounds like a clever idea, do you still have to provide some excitation to the motor in the rare earth magnet system? 👍
As an apprentice electrician - this was extremely satisfying to watch!
Cheers, glad you enjoyed it. 👍
Hi there! Yet have to watch the video but I can already tell I'll save it on my to do list just from the thumbnail. Ahah! Let's see what you got here! Sent here by Darek ;)
Alright, killer job man. So neat and clean! Keep up the great work
Hi there, I just checked out your channel. I know what i'm doing tomorrow evening 😀 there are some awesome looking projects on there! Hope you enjoy my videos. Darek has been very helpful to me, very nice guy!! 👍😀👍
Thanks very much, glad you enjoyed it! 😀
I have never seen so many armchair commandos on one subject,its just brilliant workmanship the mans workshop is like at best 6 mtr x 6 mtr so it built to suit his situation the ones saying why not just get a VFD dont know what a rotary can do compared to a static and electrical codes do vary country to country
6m x 6m...... I wish haha. You are right though, I did it this way because it best fit my requirements. I could have used VFDs but this was cheaper and less hassle. Cheers, glad you enjoyed it. 👍
Tape measure confirmation please lol
I thought I was watching This Old Tony to start. Great idea on the hinge pins. Great RPC build. Mine was a little simpler to build here in the states. Your cabinet puts mine to shame, so I will never show mine. LOL Now I have to start rebuilding mine. LOL Great video!! Subscribed.
What a complement, thank you!! I absolutely Love his channel. I was so excited when I saw he had done the two piece vice vice video this week. When I first found his channel I binge watched the lot.... Which took quite a while since most of his videos are around 20 mins long haha.
I must confess I'm more of a form follows function guy as well but since I am making these things for RUclips as well as for myself then I put a bit more effort into making look nice than perhaps I normally would. That said, I think It will be good in the long term once the shop is all fully equipt to have everything matching, same colour etc. Should make it a nice place to work.
Cheers
I liked that 2 piece vise myself. I plan on making one. Have a great day.
Thanks for the vid
I'm also find Tony's videos addictive. Lol I bought 2 Tos Trenkin . 40+a 50cm lathes and need to build a rotary phase converter. Yours is a very nice build. I'm neither a machinist nor an electrician, some would say a masochist for challenges lol. Thanks also for the links, keep up the good works.
Very well done fella. I have to transport you to the other side of the pond for sure. Keep on making great videos for us all on RUclips to see. VF
Thank you, it's very kind of you to say so. Glad you are enjoying the channel.
@@Handmadeextreme I have always heard from everyone who was in England that extension cords were super thin because they use 230 volts ??? Just one leg is hot or two hot legs and a ground ??? Thanks VF
Really awesome project! Just subscribed, love these sorts of videos, being an electronic engineer myself i can appreciate how much effort goes into making something like that function properly. Really helps me learn more about useful higher voltage devices, looking forward to watching more in the future :)
Thanks very much, glad you enjoyed it. 👍👍
Wow :D That cable management is pure pornography, you wouldn't believe some of the cable management jobs I have to suffer through when I open a clients network cabinet :( I have been a computer guy and programmer for almost 15 years now and I just got into electronics and Arduino last year. To learn myself the basics I made a remote dimmer and relay box for my lamps which can be controlled by my smartphone via WiFi. Last week I finished the modifications to my mobile airconditioner to give it WiFi and some smarthome features. Programming and electronics are a match made in heaven, I hope that one day I will be as proficient at electronics as you are :D I must say I am very impressed with the amount of craftsmanship and skill that went into your phase converter. It's a real beauty. Cheers mate!
Thanks very much. It sounds like you have some cool projects on the go. I'm really not that great at electronics to be honest. I have a good understanding of power circuits / motors drives and PLC control systems but my knowledge of component level electronics leaves a lot to be desired. Glad you enjoyed it, cheers. 👍
First time watching your channel, fantastic work! I'm thoroughly impressed with how professional it looks. You just earned a new subscriber :)
Thank you very much and welcome.
The hinge pins tip was great ! Thanks, and I am looking foward to more of your ideas !
My pleasure, and thank you. I like to try and give out little tips that make peoples life easier. Glad you enjoyed it. 😀
In fairness, three phase means a bit more than simply three lives. Three phase means three lives each of which has its phase angle, that is where along a sinewave each live’s voltage lies, separated by 120° from either of its two neighboring phases.
You are absolutely right, thank you. 👍👍👍
my dad simply replaced the three phase motors on his lathe and mill for single phase over 40 years ago - I inherited them and they are still going strong
That thing is a work of art! Lots of love went into building this rotary phase converter.
Really like the wiring, looks so damn professioal!
Thank you. Its very nice of you to say so. 👍
Nice work man. I’m building a portable phase converter right now. I’m gonna steel some ideas you have. Like the voltage and amperage readout screens. 👍.
LOVED that hinge pin idea :D very smart!
Thanks very much, glad you got something out of it. 😀😀
It's odd, I always thought rotary convertors needed a motor and generator coupled with a belt or similar. I'm guessing yours had two set of windings, so the motor and generator sides just share a common armature?
I'm not too hot on motor internals but here is my understanding. I think the motor has 1 set of 3 coils, 1 coil per phase, therefore 6 wires in the terminal box.
Conventionally if you are running the motor in a star delta configuration then you configure the coils in star to start the motor. This applies 230v and X amps to each coil to give you lots of starting torque. once up to speed the coils are reconfigured to delta to apply 415v to each coil with ~X/2 amps per coil.
What I am doing is starting the motor in Delta with 230v across one coil and some caps across another coil to give it some extra excitation to get it spinning. I then switch to Star and apply the single phase live to one end of a coil and take the neural to the star point. At this point the other two coils are generating a voltage via induction. There are then a set of balancing capacitors across these two coils to match the output voltages. In the Star configuration I'm putting in 230v across one coil (how it should be in star) but then I get 415v phase to phase. There are couple of links in the video to a channel by a guy called galvinzedgary who knows a lot more about the technical side than me. Might be worth checking them if you are interested. He shows some diagrams and goes into a good level of detail.
Hope this helps, cheers 👍👍
Oooh that's very clever! Power into one coil, then the three phase output out of that coil, and the other two. That's genius :D
Does the large pulley on the motor play a role? A flywheel to balance the speed/vibrations?
Given you a sub, you've piqued my interest :P
Cheers, you are right the pulley is acting as a flywheel. It helps to prevent the volt drop when you are starting up a machine connected to the converter. I have actually added more mass to the flywheel by attaching a brake disc to it since this video was made. It certainly helps when you are starting things that need a high starting torque. Thanks again. 👍👍
Very nice wiring job. I have been toying around with building something similar to this. A friend of mine has one with a single and 3 phase motor coupled with a belt. He uses it to start his 3 phase equipment then switches them back over to single to maintain operations. You dont get full rated power out of the motor of course but for what he needs it is more than adequate.
Thanks glad you enjoyed it. Having it has opened up a lot of opportunities. I would recommend building one.
If it works for his application then its perfect .👍👍
Hinges thing - priceless!
Thank you, I like to try and give little tips like that when I can. I think knowledge should be shared. 👍
Handmade Extreme Amen to that
This is simply awesome. Hopefully I can rewatch it enough times to get my 3 phase machine to run on 1 phase
Glad it was helpful.
Excellent explanation, nice tidy construction methods and final result. I did build 2.2kW rotary phase converter in delta only, and used a timer controlled relay for start capacitors. Best regards from Wombourne.
Cheers very much, glad you liked it and congratulations on building your own RPC. 👍👍👍
Could you replace that useless pulley with a fan for cooling, or with a flywheel to store some energy for the inrush when you start the lathe?
I actually did exactly this a few days ago. There is a fan at the other end of the motor anyway but I added a much heaver flywheel and it does help a lot with inrush as you correctly pointed out. Cheers, great comment. 👍👍
@@Handmadeextreme Hi.
Excuse my my ignorance but what do you mean by inrush?
the energy the lathe motor uses to start up is higher than the energy it consumes whilst running
@@Handmadeextreme Any gyroscopic incidents? Like turning the worktop 90 degrees and the whole thing falling on its side? Generally flywheels are bolted to extremely heavy things like cars, locomotives or the Earth.
Your Video did show quite clearly how one can build a rotary converter, that is the problem most have with single phase supply and 3 phase machines a next vid or info the with the wiring diagrams would be the icing on the cake nice one,,!
Great feedback thank you. Glad you enjoyed the video.
If Mcguyver was a real person... Man I wish you were my best friend next door neighbour.
Thanks you very much. Iv'e never seen it but a get the idea. Thanks for watching.
I'm both inspired and bewildered..! Great video. I have a 440v star only 2-speed 3ph motor (lathe) and I'm desperately trying to get it running using the original motor! I think this kind of thing can work.. but the 2-speed part adds an extra level of complexity that most people seem to be stumped by. Cheers from the South West UK
Sounds interesting. I assume the machine does all the speed control itself and just needs a 415 supply? If that is the case then a rotary converter should work. I don't I have any real experience with that kind of motor.
@@Handmadeextreme Theres different windings, so 3 wires connect to the low rpm and 3 to the high rpm. But they both use 440v The control switch just redirects the 440v to either or set of 3 wires (Thats how I understand it) So in my head a rotary phase converter like yours should work.. (?) Thanks for the reply btw!
That's what I had imagined. I'd say a RPC is a plausible solution as switching the winding downstream won't bother it. A VFD is another option. Just choose one set of windings then use the VFD to control speed. I have to say I'm a fan of the RPC as it allows for other 3 phase machines to be added to the shop in future without the need to but more VFDs. I have my lathe and mills both running on the RPC at the moment and also have a surface grinder that I need to get up and going in the near future.
I'm planning a follow up to this video in the very near future (next few weeks probably) were I will go into a lot more technical information if you are interested. Might be a bit dry and 'schoolroom' but will hopefully answer a lot of the questions you see in the comments.
No problem at all it's nice to help out fellow wokshopers.
@@Handmadeextreme Im just watching on of the links you posted, and what do you know.. The chap explains his own Lathe is a two speed ''pole-change'' motor and his rotary converter setup works perfectly for it!
@@Handmadeextreme I tested with a VFD with 220v output, which worked but the torque was barely enough to keep the motor going. It was a good test, and I was going to stick to one winding and use teh VFD pot control for speed. The RPC like you say had those added benefits. I already run a lathe and mill on 3 VFDs and like them, but this seems a bit better. Definitely interested in seeing that! I'll sub.
With how cheap vfds and features that they include i wonder if this is a worthwhile thing anymore.
It is very application dependant, for my workshop I would need need 7 VFDs therefore the rotary converter was a more cost effective solution. If I was just using it to power one machine then I completely agree then a VFD would be the way to go. Hope you enjoyed the video, cheers. 👍
Handmade Extreme ohhh. I didn't know you had a bunch of 3 phase stuff you needed to power. Makes sense now.
Just moved a Bridgeport mill and chop saw in this morning. Might be off the get a surface grinder tomorrow. The workshop might look a bit fuller in the next video haha 👍👍
Handmade Extreme nice!
This little converter isn't big enough to power 7 pieces of equipment. He'd been better off with a phase perfect, but he's a cheap bastard full of bad ideas. Typical in the euro market.
Awesome sir very nice. I need one on this side the pond here in Texas! Very nice, neat and Tidy work. All you need is a schematic on the inside of the door and a price tag sir! Thank you again!
Thank you very much, glad you enjoyed it. I never got round to doing a drawing to be honest. If you do want to see some more technical content inc some drawings there are some links in the video description to some systems that work the same as this one. Cheers. 👍👍👍
Nice build, but... :-)
1. Cable management. Please don't get into the habit of using too many cable ties. They impact the cooling of the individual wires. There are lots of very cheap cable management solutions. Also that little pig tail going to the CEE-Con is a little death-trappish. (And no, an RCBO does not grant you absolution ;-)
2. One more relay/contactor that turns the outlet on as soon as a stable voltage/rpm is reached could be useful.
3. Reverse contactor. Since you are cooking your own 3 phases, you have the right to decide in which direction they turn. Srsly it is super handy to free tools that have biten into more material that they can chew. Drills etc.
Regards
Roland, former automation technician and general purpose electron tormentor
Hi Roland,
1)Some great input there thanks. Good point re cable ties, I was originally going to use finger trunking but could not get any at a sensible price in the time frame.
Could you be more specific regarding the pig tail I don't quite follow, sorry.
2) Was part of the original plan but for some reason I left it out.. not sure why...
3) Great idea, I might add that!
Some great input there thanks very much, I really appreciate comments like that.
Cheers👍👍
1) with piggy tail i mean the cable going to your CEE (3 phase outlet) It is not protected against tear, stress and impact. In the enviroment you deployed it we're actually even considering protecting it with a steel tube.
2) Arduino C is easy but when you got a leftover PLC that just wants a hug and purpose it'll do fine
3) Doo da reverse! Besides the what i already mentioned: Tap left screwholes, do that inthinkable thing with your drillpress holding the chuck to releas the drill... stuff like that
Ah i'm with you now! My protection philosophy for the CEE is not quite so obvious but does exist. Certainly not as good as a bit of conduit though. You might be able to see that the table top extends quite far back over the top of the converter, this is so that I cant crash the socket into walls and machines etc, It is still a possible snag risk but since I am the only one using my workshop, its just a hobby shop, then I am quite careful and tend to look after my tools etc.
Oooh what i could do if i had a couple of micrologix lying around...... I used to work with PLCs but fancied a chance.
cheers.👍👍
I have seen some arduino based mini PLCs. I would so like to get my hand on one of these. But then again what would i do with it in my 60m² flat.
On the other hand, building one myself might be an attractive project. A simplified IL interpreter should not exceed my programming skills ^^
That would be a pretty cool project. I always fancied having a PLC to control the house. 👍
I came for the video recommendation. I stayed for the electrical cable management. : )
Subscribed!!
Great, glad you enjoyed it. 👍👍
Well done! That's the definitive lemonade from lemons situation right there!
Question though, wouldn't replacing the pulley on the motor with say a heavier flywheel result in a more stable power output overall to compensate for start up loads?
Thank you very much. 👍
I did exactly that a few days ago and you are absolutly right it does dramatically help with startup loads. 👍👍 Cheers 😀
It is always nice to watch someone work that takes their time and do it correctly. Your channel was in my suggested channel tab and I'm glad I took a gander. Get video and great execution, very clean work. Will be watching more of your videos.
Ooh interesting, I'm appearing in suggested videos.. fantastic! Glad you came for a gander and enjoyed what you found. Welcome on board and thank you. 👍
Inverters are available at a quite resonable price nowadays 😉 but I like your work.
They are indeed. It was a consideration but for my application this solution was more cost effective and convenient. Cheers.
Great video, really glad Made in Poland shared your crane video I’ve been looking forward to your next video since I binged them all 👍🏻
So glad you enjoyed it and I am very grateful to Made in Poland for helping me to promote this channel. He is a top man! 👍
You forgot to mention energy losses and that's it's not automagically creating more power- a 2kW lathe should work, but some are 4-6kW or more.
You are absolutely right. You cant get more out than you put in....if only we could..👍
clever idea to make the tool cart be your power source. Also, having it in the box helps cut done the idle noise. Very nice - 👍😎👍
Thanks. it's worked fairly well. There if a bit of vibration which is a paint. doing it again i'd put the motor on rubber engine mounts. Iv'e actually moved the motor out of the box now and got it bolted to the floor as I have a permanent home for it having moved the workshop round a bit.
@@Handmadeextreme The vibration comes from the phase voltages being unbalanced. I balanced my idle motor with run capacitors on it's own. The load motor has it's own contactor. I balance the load motor while both motors are idling Each motor should have it's own tuning capacitors so when it hooks up to the RPC it does not throw it out of balance. When balanced the system runs smooth and quiet. It will probably be less stressful on your motor bearings as well.
I don't get it. Why would you want single phase in the first place. In Austria we have three phase running to every house.
Not by choice haha. Here in the UK the houses only get single phase. So if you want to run industrial machines in your home shop then you either use VFDs, A rotary converter or have 3 phase connected. For me the most cost effective solution was the rotary converter. cheers.👍
Same here in North America. I think it's cheaper to run single phase but long term they would have benefited in the additional cost by running 3 phase.
Nobody wants single phase, but it's more expensive to run more wire. or maybe they didn't want the common man to be able to have that power, for with three phase AC you can power a revolution against the capitalist state
Yes, it appends on wich country one lives in, in my country the single phase lines where scrapped out after the 70s too, but not in UK as i understood, and in the US there is a system with 110V and centerzero, wich give as i guess, 220V in a similar line, 220V (wich gave 3x 220V in 3 phase; 380V in scandinavia, except Norway, wich hawe their own 230V 3x independent phase system)) was the old standard in my country for single phase before the EU (and 240V in the UK) today it's 230V (wich gives 400V in 3 phase) in most countries here for some reason...
They do run all 3 phases. I can see the 3 wires at the top of the pole. I get one phase, my neighbour to the left gets another phase, and my neighbour to the right gets the 3rd phase, so the 3 phases stay balanced. I could ask the utility company to get me all 3 phases, for a fee. Sometimes also 1 street gets one phase .
Some apartment buildings get 2 or even 3 phases to distribute so if you live in an apartment and check the live from 2 different outlets you'll sometimes see 208 Volts across them.
I was a little confused at the output voltage reading. it is around 415 volts on each of the 3 monitors but that is the voltage between two phases, not each phase to neutral. each phase to neutral should read around 230 volts. if you had 415 volts between each phase and neutral you wold have about 720 volts between phases. you have a 230 volt single phase to a 230/400 volt 3 phase converter.
really nice and clean build!!
You are absolutely right.The input voltage is phase to neutral and measures 230v. The output phases on the displays are phase to phase 415v which is the same as 230v phase to neutral. But now with three distinct phases at the correct 120 degree phase angles. Glad you enjoyed it. Cheers. 👍👍
i liked the vid. too much time spent on cutting, welding but not much time spent on the electrical side. i would suggest putting a wiring diagram and specified values for each component give it a pause time so people can take in the info and slowly go through the system. most people who make these video just showing how great they are but actually not teaching any thing. this is not a point of criticism but a point of observation.
Thanks for the feedback its very much appreciated. Unfortunately there is no wiring diagram, I just did it on the fly. Noted for future reference though, cheers. glad you enjoyed it and thanks for watching.
I agree, when I saw the thumbnail for this vid, I expected to get some insights into building a Rotary Converter, but the build was more about the cabinet it went in. One positive though was the link to Galvanizedsankey, which gave all the info that this one did not. The cabinet was a nice piece of work, and the electrical work looked very workmanlike, I just wish there had been discussion on the design decisions and the components used.
I must be in the minority though, as most here are full of praise about build quality etc, but obviously have little knowledge about electrickery, especially when they want to know how you can get 415V out if you are only putting 240V in and not using a transformer.
3 points/questions:
1. Have you got this on a separate radial from your consumer unit? If so you could have it on a type C breaker to cope with the inrush without needing a high fault current to break it.
2. You should (ideally) put the caps as close to the motor as possible as these could be sinking or sourcing huge current, so voltage losses in the wire will be going against their purpose. It would also help reduce some of the radiated EM radiation.
3. What sort of current can you get out of this setup in 3 phase? And, what's the efficiency; simple input power vs output power. Would be really interesting to know.
Great video btw.
Great questions / comments.
1) The workshop is on some creative wiring left by a previous owner fed from the house. Has it's own dis broad though with RCD, socket ring main, lighting circuit and 16a wall socket on a type C breaker. Breakers in the rotary converter are also type C and there is a thermal overload in there too.
2) Everyday is a school day, I will drop a clamp meter on the cap wiring and see what is going on there next time it is running.
3) Running with no load draws about 3.8A off the single phase supply. Would need to take some detailed measurements to get an accurate efficiency but I don't expect it to be more than 75%.
Thanks, glad you enjoyed it. 👍👍👍
What's the efficiency on this? How many watts in vs watts out? I assume the efficiency changes depending on the load.
With the lathe running (no cuts being taken, just spinning) it worked out at 89%. Have not had chance to to try any other load cases yet. Cheers. 👍👍
Wonderfully Done Brother! and Yeah you can milk a series of videos on this thing for a while! We will watch it all!
Cheers, I might do a follow up at some point as I am already making some modifications to make it better haha. I just cant leave anything alone to "just work" Cheers. 👍👍
Really amazing work done here. I appreciate how professionally you set up this converter.
You forget one importing thing. Grounding (earth) your contolpanel. It is made of metal and insulated mounted and there is life voltage on the components. Very dangerous.
Well spotted. I didn't show it in the video but the cabinet is fully bonded and earthed back through the supply cable. Absolutely right about how dangerous that can be. Cheers.
I like the way the wiring looks, very professional and tidy. Nice work!
Thank you, glad you enjoyed it.👍
Nice Fire-Bomb you have created there mounting the profile rail and those cheap-ass screw terminals directly on wood.... as a qualified electrician my toe-nails bend inward....
It should be fine, a lot of mains switchgear in old factories was mounted to wooden back plates, and yes i'l admit a few of them did burn down....😊.. However, the converter will always be next to what ever machine I am using it to power and I never leave machines running when I leave the workshop, so if anything does go wrong I know about it straight away and should be able to react accordingly. All that said it should be fine anyway, all the parts were sized according to their ratings etc. Those "cheap ass terminals" (great choice of words, love it 👍) are rated for 20A and the system is limited to 16A. 👍👍
'Fire-bomb'. What a tit.
I think I could install a few sheets of aluminum roof flashing, to shield the wiring from the wood, faster than I could extinguish a fire. I doubt, even than would meet code here in the U.S. but it would address the most likely path. I have seen too many crispy crittered barrier strips to let one get that close to flammables. Would hate to see your very professional layout and wire management in a heap of ashes.
Man am I glad I have 3 phases in my workshop ;-).
Nice job by the way :-)!
Thanks, glad you enjoyed it. Having it wired in would be lovely, I'm a tad jealous. Thanks for watching.
Why would you bother. Just buy a VFD.
For my application the rotary converter is more financially viable. Doing it with VFDs I would need about 7 of them in various sizes. Cheers. 👍
It looks like you would be only using one device at a time anyway with your rotary converter, so one cheap Chinese VFD (on a portable system like you made) with a single 3 phase plug could have been viable. But I guess you recycled parts you already had, and I have seen such converters on 40 years old ship accessories.
You are correct, I do just use one machine at a time.
The problem with using a VFD as a plug in converter is that a VFD should be connected directly to the motor. You should not have any switching after the VFD as it can damage the IGBT components. Therefore you need one VFD per motor. So I would need at least 3 as my milling machine has 3 motors. I would then have to rewire all of my machines. Then to use a the milling machine I would have to plug in 3 VFDs, I'm sure you can see where i'm going with this. Basically the rotary converter is just a simpler solution when you have more than one motor to run. Plug it in, plug in the machine, switch it on and off you go.. Cheers, hope that gives you a bit of clarity on my thought process. Thanks for commenting. 👍
That makes sense, they are indeed designed to be permanently attached and tuned to one motor. Manufacturers indeed don't recommend a disconnect on the output side, but it is acceptable with an interlock circuit (a signal to the VFD that activates it only if a motor is in circuit). I know that at the very least the VFD will trip on alarm after a load imbalance (i had some related problems). In the end, you indeed made it simpler on an electronic point of view.
If enough people are interested i will draw a schematic of this rotary converter for you guys. Just like if you need one
Edit:
Yeah so i got kinda bored recently so i made one... make sure you know what you do when you use it.
GDrive:
drive.google.com/open?id=1UBFFyoiuMZ1-P4wPLLpUK5ZaZ7VNJlsv
Yeah and if you find a mistake in it just notify me.
Alternate solution - move to Sweden where almost every house has 3-phase.
Haha, that does sound tempting...👍👍
yea. this video would have never come to happen in Germany or Austria as everybody has 3PN wiring at home
Amazing Just Amazing. Your wiring job would make any sparky proud
Thank you very much, I'm glad you enjoyed it. 👍👍
Why is this video dominated by so much cutting, drilling, welding, sanding and so on? Why not just address the phase converter? After ten minutes the boredom overtook me.
My apologies, I'm quite new to this and am still trying to find the right balance of technical content vs the more visual building content. I hope you found what you were looking for once the technical bit did start. Thanks for the feedback. 👍👍👍
I enjoyed the construction aspect of the video. Maybe for future videos you could add just a "if you just want to see it working" link/button etc. which would suit both camps?
Interesting idea, I might try and incorporate something like that in future. The next couple of projects wont really be things that you can see working; more workshop infrastructure type things. But, I have a few projects down the line that could work well for. Thanks for the idea and i'm glad you enjoyed the video. 👍👍
Some people just get bored very easily, not capable of concentrating on any one video for more than a few minuets.
Dude you did an awesome work with this device! Congratulations!
Thank you very much, glad yo enjoyed it. 👍
Wow, it's like the motor is asking to come out of the cabinet when the contactor rewires it on the go. Quite the kick.
My god that wiring job alone makes the whole video. Amazing work you should do a tutorial on this I want to make one.
I may do a follow up video in the future, not sure at the moment.
Glad you liked it. Cheers. 👍👍
Nice work, I came to your video after the galvanizedsankmonkey video.
This method seems to be contridicting a people peoples opinions on the idea of running 240v star when in running - it's somewhat reassuring to see more than one video with this method.
I'm struggling a bit with my own but this video's helpful - particularly the parts list as my own motor is a similar kw rating.
Lovely build. I'm inspired.
Also I'm very envious of your welding table.
Ooooof! That cable management is noice 😎👍
hahaha, thanks.👍😀
I will ignore all the 3 phase magic - the trick with the hinges on its own is worth a sub!
Haha, thanks very much. Glad you got something out of it.
2 months since I first saw this, and commented. I'm having a lot of trouble getting started on one of these. I bought some plans on ebay and watched as many videos on the topic as possible but I'm not much wiser really. I can't afford a commercial RPC right now and with a 'dead' lathe sat in the workshop (that I need for my work) I really need to work it out somehow. If you fancy building another give me a shout... ;-)
What is it that you are actually struggling with?
I assume the plans you have are Les's?
Regarding me building one for you; it would be much cheaper for you to buy a commercial one than have me make a one off for you. The companies that make them every day are set up for it and have all the bits on hand. They will also give you a warranty. If it is just one machine (ie 1 motor only) that you want to power have you considered an inverter? The reason I built the RPC is because I have multiple machine with multiple motors that I want to power. If it's just one an inverter might be a better solution.
I'm planning a follow up video at some point which will be more more technical detail focused if you are still interested in building a RPC.
@@Handmadeextreme I'm not well versed in elctronics by any means. Yes Les' plans, and he's given me some advice via email which is helpful but It's quite daunting for me. It's for one machine currently, which uses 2 motors (one coolant motor feeds off the main supply) and would be useful for future machines. It's my day job and likely I'll be gaining more 3-phase machines in the future. I have seen some cheap 220v single to 380v 3phase inverters but the main reason Im hesitent is due to my duel-winding/duel speed motor. It'd work, but It would mean stopping the vfd between speed changes and as its a capstan/turret lathe the quick change/stop/rev is quite important. Hence a RPC would be the most suitable option. At the moment the RPC build will cost pretty much the same amount I paid for the lathe, Which wouldn't be too bad if I was confident in the wiring and components. Thanks for the reply.
Thanks for sharing the project just what I need to get my 3phase wood lathe working.
Cheers, glad I could be of some help.
it works really well i tried as you said in the video and its absolutely amazing
ive heard about rotary converters but i didn´t imagine that they would be so simple
now i just need to get some contactors to finish the project because i dont have none laying around (and yeah im starting the motor by hand)
I'm glad it worked out for you. I will pretend I didn't read that bit about you starting it by hand...
Handmade Extreme its the lack of of contactors hahahaha
And ive simplified the circuit and i just need 2 contactors and for the starting caps i just unconnect 1 of those used to balance the voltages values
Id be temped to look at that again. You generally find the starting capacitance is much higher than the running capacitance. I think I put the values of my caps in the video description for reference. Sounds like you are getting on with it, good luck and be careful, make sure you always discharge your caps before touching them!!
Handmade Extreme yes you are absolutely right about starting caps, the motor i have needs around 150uF to start and have a decent ammount of torque, but the fact the motor is running in idle makes possible to decrease the capacitance but of course that exist some minimum values, ive tried and the motor starts fairly well just with the running caps (that are the same used to balance the voltage)
also a great example of how to have neat cabling.
Excellent work. Great looking cabinet, and craftsmanship was top notch!
Thank you very much, glad you enjoyed it. 👍👍
I was your 100th subscriber recommended by made in poland. Glad to see you growing fast.
Hi there, I was watching my channel stats as I hit 100 subs and was wondering "who is that" so nice it nice to meet you. Thank you, glad you are enjoying it.👍
As Adil said below, I don’t have to know by what arcane magick you used. To produce 3 phase, But it was a pleasure to behold. Your build was “neat “. Even tho many comments from experts are critical, you are aiming at a totally different demographic.
I for one will will follow future vids and view your back catalogue
Thanks very much, really glad you enjoyed it. You are correct, this system is for my home shop. It is not designed to run a factory where multiple machine are running at once with multiple people working. It's just me in my shed.. Cheers. 👍👍👍
@@Handmadeextreme I too thoroughly enjoyed the video. And I like that you're encouraging and taking on-board critical feedback! Subscribed.
Excellent video and tidy work
Thanks 👍
bloody brilliant! thank you so much for this, i will be researching all the links below. cheers
Glad it was of help to you. I found the links to be very informative in terms of the 'details'. Cheers and glad you enjoyed it. 👍👍
Damn you are a proper smart guy, i was lost when ya started talking about electric stuff :D love the videos.
Thank you, you are very kind. Glad you are enjoying the videos. 👍👍👍
Have absolutely no idea what you have just done but it looks impressive. If I was to hazard a guess I would say that you took a single phase motor, and through some tricky wiring turned it into a three phase generator. Or maybe it was three phase motor that you started on a single phase.
Your on the right lines with your second guess. Its a three phase multi voltage motor. You start the motor in delta then switch it over to star (opposite way round to how you normally run three phase motors) so you can generate the missing two phases and step up the voltage. I'm going to do a detailed video on how it works in a few weeks time.
Beautifully done. Nice workmanship.
Thanks very much. Glad you enjoyed it. 👍👍
Technology At another level
Thank you very much, Glad you enjoyed it. 👍👍
Thing of beauty.
Thank you, glad you liked it. 👍
I subscribed, because, that wiring management was pretty damn nice.
Cheers, glad you enjoyed it.
Хорошее исполнение, у нас называют фазосместитель, а так красавчик!
Большое вам спасибо, я рад, что вам понравилось.
Thank you very much I am glad you enjoyed it. 😀👍
I like the idea of putting it in a rolling cart
Cheers James, I have just replied to your comment Re: Crane max load condition as well. Glad you are enjoying the videos! 👍
Sir it's really new to me. Excellent
Super neat build, love the tidy wiring, but after watching such a lot of fabrication it would be great to see a wiring schematic for it all. I off to build my one now, just need to find that wiring diagram...☺
Thanks
Cheers, glad you enjoyed it. There are some useful links in the video description that contain some more technical information about the circuitry. Cheers.
Great knowledge and great cart with professional engineering and install...super awesome thank you for sharing
It was my please, thank you very much. 😊
Nice cable management
Thank you.
Me again, 10 months since I bought the plans from Les and started collecting parts and putting things together. Tried starting the circuit for the first time last night and... nothing! Well, the first relay clicked but that's about it. Troubleshooting is no fun when you don't really understand what's going on ha-ha. I did notice that your timer has a little light on it, whereas mine is the same part but doesn't illuminate. That's something for me to look at in detail among a sea of possible problems. Les has been guiding me via email with some of my questions but I'm at that point in which I don't think anyone else can really assist without being here poking around in the rats nest of wires I've created.
Nice job and something i have wanted to make for sometime as i have a workshop full of vfd's. It would be nice if you shared your wiring diagram and this may explain some of the thumbs down. It should also be noted that vfd's in your defence do not like shock loads and require you use their own start/stop which is not always convenient. What you have created leaves the machine/controls untouched and gives the workshop at near true 3 phase supply which can be tapped into as a ring and yes vfd's give more control but can not easily and quickly switched between machines. To have both drives and rotary phase would be ideal. All the best with your channel.
Thanks very much, glad you enjoyed it and you have summed up nicely some of the pros and cons of VFDs. If you have a look in the description there are links to a couple of other videos that do include some diagrams. The ones by Galvinizedgary are quite good. Sadly I don't think he has done part 3 in his series but if you take your time you can get all of the information from parts 1 and 2. The main reason I didn't include any schematics is purely because I don't have any. Cheers. 👍👍👍
@@Handmadeextreme He has now. Both parts 3 and 4 are up and well worth looking at. He has a circuit diagram as well as good explanations for anyone wishing to build a RPC.
That's one elegant phase converter. Since I don't have the parts around I'd go with a VFD for that lathe, but they're plastic and ugly. This is electrical art.
Thanks very much, glad you enjoyed it. Main reason for the RPC was that I have a couple of machines and buying VFDs for all of them would be very expensive. Cheers. 👍
What an excellent project build, I liked the hinge pin idea. Very simple but clever.
If you don't mind me asking what is your profession as nothing seems to phase you, having found your channel via your workshop build video. Bricklaying, metalwork, woodwork, electrical and automotive you're a one stop shop.
Keep up the excellent work.
Thanks very much.
I'm a self employed engineer. I do a bit of all sorts really. Started out in fabrication and machining for aero then went into factory automation and control. Did a bit of time as an automotive design engineer.
Thanks for the support. Much appreciated. 👍
This is freaking awesome. I had no idea you could do this. Seems i have a lot to learn about electrical engineering.
Nice work, and the sound of that motor kicking in!!! ;)
Cheers, glad you enjoyed it. It does go with a woosh. If the lights are on they do dim a bit for a second. 👍
Super clean build, great job!
Thank you, Glad you enjoyed it. 👍
i can see this channel explode in no time...
Thank you and I hope you are right. Fingers crossed.👍😀
Nice work! I might just have to build one of these for my shop! Subscribed!
Cheers. Glad you enjoyed it. 👍
Neat and clean setup. Well done mate. 👍👍
Thank you. Glad you liked it. 😀
Good project, very detailed contrsution.
Thank you very much, glad you enjoyed it. 👍👍
Good job mate.
Thanks!
Awesome job and video!! Congratulations and keep up the excellent work!
Thanks, glad you enjoyed it.