rotary Phase converter and plasma

[tmks]

I have purchased a Rotary Phase converter from American rotary the ADX 10hp

I bought it for my mill, band saw and surface grinder, and plan on adding a larger lathe (my current lathe is single phase)

one thing I did not think of when ordering the RPC is my plasma table setup, I currently have the Powermax1000gs which is hooked up to single phase, but I want to upgrade that machine soon
has anyone run a plasma with a RPC? and what have your results been

thank you

[jimcolt]

To use a rotary phase converter (which does not produce perfect output power, you generally have to figure that electric motors powered by the converter will only produce 2/3 of their nameplate HP) with a plasma the converter must be sized at almost double the wattage requirement for the plasma cutter.

A 10 HP phase converter can produce around 7500 watts of power. Divide that in 1/2, so figure for plasma cutting you can use a plasma that produces up to 3250 watts of power. A Hypertherm Powermax1000 (60 amps output) at full output cutting the thickest rated material draws over 8000 watts, so a 10HP rotary phase converter can not provide enough power to run the Plasma that you already have.....certainly not a larger one.

Best bet is to look for a single phase plasma (like the one you have) that has more power. A Hypertherm Powermax1250 produces 80 amps, a Hypertherm Powermax85 produces 85 amps, both will operate on single phase. The 85 can pierce 3/4" steel all day long, and can edge start and cut 1-1/2" steel.

Phase converters are innefficient, producing less energy than they take to operate (just as everything does). All they do is convert single phase power into a form of 3 phase power (that is not a perfectly phased sine way like 3 phase power from the power company). They are great to power equipment like lathes, milling machines and other equipment that uses electric motors and were built for commercial industrial 3 phase operation. Unfortunately these rotary converters do not work well with plasma systems that have high inrush current and inverter power supply designs.

We do have quite a few customers in rural areas that need industrial power that use these for plasma. The ones they use are usually very large, and use lots of power to provide a little power!

Jim Colt Hypertherm

[tmks]

To use a rotary phase converter (which does not produce perfect output power, you generally have to figure that electric motors powered by the converter will only produce 2/3 of their nameplate HP) with a plasma the converter must be sized at almost double the wattage requirement for the plasma cutter.

A 10 HP phase converter can produce around 7500 watts of power. Divide that in 1/2, so figure for plasma cutting you can use a plasma that produces up to 3250 watts of power. A Hypertherm Powermax1000 (60 amps output) at full output cutting the thickest rated material draws over 8000 watts, so a 10HP rotary phase converter can not provide enough power to run the Plasma that you already have.....certainly not a larger one.

Best bet is to look for a single phase plasma (like the one you have) that has more power. A Hypertherm Powermax1250 produces 80 amps, a Hypertherm Powermax85 produces 85 amps, both will operate on single phase. The 85 can pierce 3/4" steel all day long, and can edge start and cut 1-1/2" steel.

Phase converters are innefficient, producing less energy than they take to operate (just as everything does). All they do is convert single phase power into a form of 3 phase power (that is not a perfectly phased sine way like 3 phase power from the power company). They are great to power equipment like lathes, milling machines and other equipment that uses electric motors and were built for commercial industrial 3 phase operation. Unfortunately these rotary converters do not work well with plasma systems that have high inrush current and inverter power supply designs.

We do have quite a few customers in rural areas that need industrial power that use these for plasma. The ones they use are usually very large, and use lots of power to provide a little power!

Jim Colt Hypertherm

thank you Jim, basically if I wanted to go into the 3 phase cutter I would need 30-40 hp rotary phase converter, I understand how the sine waves work somewhat, supposedly this company has a pretty darn good setup using an induction generator made by baldor for them. - the ADX which is supposed to be their best at hard loads and best at a even sine wave is about 2300- I checked with the power company and it would be very cost prohibitive to get 3 phase here, they came out and checked and the closest place for them to tap into is over a mile away , the 30hp Digital (adx) RPC has a max load of 80 amps - the 40hp adx has max load of 104 amps, I want the new torch etup pretty bad, but I dont want to buy it for my pm1000, I want the newer larger cutter when I buy a new machine torch. still looking for a commercial/industrial machine though...

again thank you for your help

thank you for your help once again!
Tom

[_Ogre]

the powermax 85 can be run on 240v single phase power. run on 3 phase 240v power the powermax 85 requires 60 amp supply vs single phase 240v 100 amp supply. the powermax 65 run on 3 phase 240v power requires 50 amps vs single phase 240v 80 amps. i can't see where buying any equipment to make it 3 phase would save you anything. the cost savings of running 3 phase power is in the installation of the lower amperage wiring and fixtures. this cost is minimized when only hooking up 1 plasma cutter.

either way the equipment uses the same amount of energy. buying 100 amps of single phase electricity should be close to the same cost as buying 60 amps of 3 phase electricity.

[abmetal]

3 phase lines are above my driveway entrance not more than 50 feet from my shop but I can't afford it. They're pricey!

Allen

[tmks]

3 phase lines are above my driveway entrance not more than 50 feet from my shop but I can't afford it. They're pricey!

Allen

they didn't even give me a price to come out this far, he said they probably would not approve it anyway where I am, kind of a subdivsion, but we are out in the sticks (about 12 miles out of town and a small town at that)

[kncmachine]

I'm running a phase convertor. Its a phase perfect, digital phase converter. Very pricey but top notch in my book. Here is a link to their website:

http://www.phaseperfect.com/

I'm new to the cnc plasma world, however I make my living machining aerospace parts in my shop. I'm running a Haas VF2 and VF4 cnc vertical mills, along with a Kaiser SX-6 rotary compressor all on DP-20 phase perfect converter. Its rated for 100amps, but figure 65 to 70 amps without any issues.

Just wanted to give you another option, although a rather expensive one. My biggest concern with single phase is how much more amps are required. It may never be an issue but some people may not have much more then 100 amps available to use.

[Stout]

I've been running my 30 hp converter for over 10 years now on both my Esab PCM1000 and the new Hypertherm PM1250. No issues. I'd rather have standard 3 phase service but the quote from the power company was $15K to run it up the 3/4 mile from the road. Bastards!

The shop is fully plumbed for 3 phase and if I ever get the opportunity and money, I'll get the standard 3 phase installed and pull out the rotary phase converter. I have been told to expect better cut quality with real 3 phase power.

[tmks]

I've been running my 30 hp converter for over 10 years now on both my Esab PCM1000 and the new Hypertherm PM1250. No issues. I'd rather have standard 3 phase service but the quote from the power company was $15K to run it up the 3/4 mile from the road. Bastards!

The shop is fully plumbed for 3 phase and if I ever get the opportunity and money, I'll get the standard 3 phase installed and pull out the rotary phase converter. I have been told to expect better cut quality with real 3 phase power.

so to get 3phase power to you it is 3.78 a foot, I guess really it is not too bad considering the cost of power lines, transformers, and labor, heck I think my 100 amp 100 ft long cable (forget now what size it was 1/0 possibly) was just under 3 bucks a ft for aluminum

still 15k it really makes you think, is it worth it? and how much would it really save in power, you would have to know your kilowatt per hour charges for single phase and 3 phase in your area,