Air Compressor / 3 phase
 

Whatta a beast! I bought this Air compressor from a local add. The shop never used it and it was collecting dust. BUT! its has a 230 V 3phase starter and 10 HP motor. Two options: chage the motor and starter to single phase or how hard would it to put a 230 3 phase circuit in the geerage? I hope this doesn't cost alot!!! But its a killer set up. My sons friends came over and walk through the garage; stopped and staired. One tells my son " your dad has a time machine, yep!". Now, we are the only family in tiwn that owns a time machine. Maybe I can go back in time and get my money back... Need some advice! :confused:

I know in my area the power company does'nt offer three phase in a residential neighborhood. Only available in industrial areas. Give them a call. It might be different where you live.

things could be very different there of course,but here (if it's even possible to get it in residential) it costs thousands.

I would just get a single phase 240v motor and put on it.

Ahh I had a older used bigger beast once....had no place to put it...mine was 100 gallon and a 5 horse 3 phase. Never even used it..bought it, stored it three months, sold it.

Look at the motor tag for the frame mount type, but there fairly easy to get an adapter for. I would say find a 240 single phase also....they ain't cheap though. The cost for 3 phase hook up or even switches to make 3 phase off on single phase will probably cost more than a single phase motor.

Residental area dont usually get three phase... typically industrial or farm areas got 3 phase.

Check the shaft size...might be 1 1/8 and the rpm (1750) and try to match those up too to set yourself up. That way you can use the same pullies.

We actually bought 2 compressors at once and both were 3 phase. A 3hp and a 5 hp. Things for me got out of sorts and I let the 5hp go to a friend of the guy who got the 3 hp. I keep bugging him for his 3 hp. He wont give it up. I regret selling my 5hp, but had no room for it.

I work for the power company here in Nebraska. As said above three phase is generally industrial sites. Even if you have the three phase at the pole to build the transfomer mounting which would be a large cost contribution based on your small connected horsepower, your new monthly "commercial rate" would pay for your single phase motor change in a very short period. Go to a IR dealer and they may make you a deal on trading out your new motor and starter for a single phase motor. Or sell it to a autobody shop located in an industrial park and buy a new one.
Mark

A rotory phase converter will cost about $1700+ electrician to install it. A 5-7hp elctric motor will run about $500-800. Ingersol did have a gas motor for those big things for mobil service trucks, But that will run up into big bucks also.
Hope you didn't spend to much on it.

D.PASSMORE I was in the same boat your in. The best advice I can give you is to talk to an electrician. I have a friend that is an electrician that helped get me a good deal on a converter, installed. I'll check to see what brand I have when I get home.

:lol:

Daubs has the best sulution. Get the wife up there when you need air! I'd grab a phone book & make a few calls to electricians, like Bram said. Or contact a compressor dealer ( look for a tire shop "supplier / distributor" eg: a "Tech" tire repair dealer. You might be able to swap for something that better meets your needs, if that's more capacity than you need. If your not set up for 3 phase already, that's a road you don't want to go down.

I purchased a five horse single phase motor from a shop in Tyler , Texas last week for $275. Direct bolt on for the old A/C motor.

They do make a variable fequency drive (VFD) that is single phase powered and produce a three phase output. You don't need the variable part of it, but it is an option. Just run it at 60 HZ and you'd get the rated horspower out of the motor. Check out ebay for some used ones. You will need a single 230 volt AC input with a 3 phase 220 V output rated for the 10 HP. These are expensive new but I've seen used ones go for cheap. :)

If that compressor has a 10 hp motor on it now, you will need to stick with a 10 hp motor if you go single phase. If you drop the hp it is going to stall the motor before it builds full pressure. That is a really big single phase motor. 50 amps full load at 230V single phase vs. 28 amps for 230V 3 phase.

One of the guys I work with was helping a buddy do something similar thing to a big compressor with three phase. He got an old big single phase motor in the 10HP range. He said the old ones were good because they overbuilt them. They cut corners as much as possible now. We have some amish types around here that work on motors. I know, it's very strange to me also. They are very good at fixing electrical stuff like motors and generators. If you have a place who deals in repairing like this they may have an extra old single phase big motor that you can get for a reasonable price.

Thanks for the advice, I'll start calling a few shops to get prices on both options. I'll mke it work one way or the other. Cool picture...

Looking cherry as that compressor does, look up you local electric motor builder and work out a trade/buy for a single phase 10-12 horse motor. About 1/2 hour down the road from there is a builder that does the generation plant motors those things are friggin huge!

all i know is that a 3 stage braker goes for ~$100 :thud:

nice make-air-pressure device :)

You can build your own 3 phase converter

http://www.team.net/www/shop-talk/hm3phase.html

The type I have is a Ronk add a phase. Works awesome.