On 5/5/21 8:37 AM, Paul Koning via cctalk wrote:
Incidentally, a way to get three phase power at a
frequency of your
choice is to use a "variable frequency drive". That's basically a
high power solid state inverter intended to drive three-phase motors
with a chosen frequency resulting in the RPM of your choice.
Depending on the model, those can go up to 120 Hz or so, or all the
way to somewhere around 400 Hz. I have a very cheap one at home that
runs on single phase 220 volt power, producing up to 3 kW or so at
anywhere up to 120 Hz. (Made by a company named Teco, amusingly.)
Most of these and especially the larger ones want three phase mains
input, though I'm told that even for those you can typically just
connect them to single phase power (between two of the three inputs,
leaving the third unconnected) at reduced power ratings. These
devices are surprisingly cheap, in particular they tend to be cheaper
than "rotary phase converters" which is how machine shops
traditionally produce three phase power when their mains is just
single phase.
Please forgive the null message--too fast with the mouse.
A simple single-to-three phase converter used by many home shops is
simply a 3-phase motor fed single-phase power to one pair and a large
capacitor connected between the remaining lead and the "hot" side of the
power line. Such a motor is an "idler", run no-load--basically a
rotary transformer. Of course, you don't get a precise 120 degree
phase relationship but it's adequate for powering a lathe or mill.
--Chuck