[Waynno]

I have a 25HP rotary phase converter that runs my entire shop, 2 Fadal mills and 3 Mori sieki lathes,

10+ years the only issues is the Phase converter itself has melted a couple of its own power switches and a blown fuse on rare occasion

But in hind sight, At the time of purchase, The converter was about $4500.00 and the power company updated my transformer for a larger single phase service

Visit CNC Machine shop Mojave CA and you can see, It can be done in a very rural area in the middle of no-ware, But I dont pay shop rent, My commute
is about 40 steps from were I reside.

I would not give it up for the world, Im pretty happy

Waynno

[jbeech]

Thanks for the advice Waynno. Here's what I did. First, I got my power company to upgrade my transformer (25kVA to 75kVA). Yesterday I picked up a 20hp American Rotary rotary phase converter off Craigslist for $600 (nearly brand new) but I've no clue if these are decent units, or not but the guy's shop was well equipped with decent tools so I suspect it's not junk - but I really don't know - thoughts?

Anyway, since I have them I'm planning on continuing to use the existing VFDs (15HP and a 3HP) just as I have been (to vary the spindle speed of my lathe and Bridgeport). The difference is this time around I'll be feeding them 3-phase off the rotary converter instead of single-phase. And of course, Fadal will be fed off the rotary converter as well.

Now the trick is to install this converter properly - and - balance it. More questions will surely follow but in the meantime, I've been reading up, e.g. this thread - phase converter power use

Advice welcome.