- Joined
- Sep 13, 2016
- Messages
- 137
Hi everybody! Here's the link to my thread in the beginner's section in which I purchased a lathe. This should provide some reference as to what's gone on to date. To start, I guess I should state what my shop's electrical status is. Years ago, when we moved to our property, there was nothing more than a water meter out at the edge of the right-of-way. Everything we needed, we would have to build/buy. We threw a no frills double-wide on the property, and to hook it up to electric, it was going to require Oncor to install three poles across my pasture. That was going to cost, but one pole was "free" because they had to hop the highway, so that was covered, and then the second one was covered by the new service account(they were willing to add one "free" with a new account.) Since that would mean I'd have to buy a pole, and since we were leveraged to the hilt at the time, (still owning our old home, which we shortly thereafter sold,) and since we had poured so much into building fences, putting in thousands of feet of water line, to service the house and the horse pastures, I had to come up with an idea. The thing was, I said: "We want two service accounts. One for the house, and one for the barn we're going to build." That got us the "entitlement" in their system to get that third pole "free." For a long while, it powered a yard security light. Then, sick of paying the service fee for the second account, my wife discontinued service. When we built the barn, we got to that point where we were out of money to go further, which included things like enclosing my workshop, and a storage area. I had installed a load center, wired it up to the little service pole in the barnyard with a safety disconnect and a meter base. Unfortunately, the limitations will always be single phase. I can't get 3 phase, any flavor, so this has created a problem.
I'm going to need to buy a phase converter. I've read all sorts of opinions on the issue, and I have at least a grasp of the issues involved. Here's the deal: The lathe I just purchased has a 15HP motor. Whether the motor turns out to be bad and a replacement is necessitated, I'd just as soon anticipate the 15HP-class electrical load. Eventually, I expect there will be a 3 phase air compressor, and a 3 phase milling machine, in addition to this. I can't think of anything else (at least for the moment) for which I'll need 3 phase. Maybe someday, a surface grinder???
I have another problem, which is back when I installed the load center, and etc, I basically went with the cheapest thing I could get away with. 100amp meter base, 100amp safety switch, and 100amp load center.
That was a mistake. I should have just spent the extra dough at the time and bought 200amp equipment. Since I knew I wouldn't be wiring anything up immediately anyway, I went with the cheapest I could to get what I needed.
Enter the 3 phase discussion. I've been looking at Rotary Phase Converters. Based on what I have to spend, and what I have to power, I'm thinking this is my best bet. For the class I'm looking at, a 60 amp single phase requirement is needed. So you see my dilemma: That will already suck up 60% of the capacity of my load center, etc. So what I'm thinking about is changing out to 200amp gear, now, before it gets harder to do...
Thoughts?
Thanks!
I'm going to need to buy a phase converter. I've read all sorts of opinions on the issue, and I have at least a grasp of the issues involved. Here's the deal: The lathe I just purchased has a 15HP motor. Whether the motor turns out to be bad and a replacement is necessitated, I'd just as soon anticipate the 15HP-class electrical load. Eventually, I expect there will be a 3 phase air compressor, and a 3 phase milling machine, in addition to this. I can't think of anything else (at least for the moment) for which I'll need 3 phase. Maybe someday, a surface grinder???
I have another problem, which is back when I installed the load center, and etc, I basically went with the cheapest thing I could get away with. 100amp meter base, 100amp safety switch, and 100amp load center.
That was a mistake. I should have just spent the extra dough at the time and bought 200amp equipment. Since I knew I wouldn't be wiring anything up immediately anyway, I went with the cheapest I could to get what I needed.
Enter the 3 phase discussion. I've been looking at Rotary Phase Converters. Based on what I have to spend, and what I have to power, I'm thinking this is my best bet. For the class I'm looking at, a 60 amp single phase requirement is needed. So you see my dilemma: That will already suck up 60% of the capacity of my load center, etc. So what I'm thinking about is changing out to 200amp gear, now, before it gets harder to do...
Thoughts?
Thanks!