Need help I.D. Capacitors on Phase Converter

[Walkers]

I had a start capacitor on my 40 year old Phase converter blow up. I do not know how to ID the capacitor for a replacement. The other half a dozen capacitors look okay, but I wonder if they are due for replacement. There are no numbers on the start capacitor. There is a part number on the others of 200362-3 but no other info.

Any ideas how to figure out which capacitors to buy?

 

[walta]

If you are unable to read the labels and they have failed you are left with wild guessing.

Is this a home-made phase converter or something factory made?

Is it a rotary or static converter?

How many machines does it power?

If it is a static converter powering one small machine, now seems like a great time to upgrade to a VFD.



Walta

 

[RPH]

Labels or your dead. Only way.

 

[Max]

Do you have a schematic? Or a manufacturer and model number to get a schematic?

 

[Walkers]

This is a rotary phase converter. I currently run 3 machines on it, just never all at once. It was made by a company here in Phoenix, but due to its age, none are readable. I will go search the motor for a tag. No tag on the motor, but the unit was made by Pemco.
The start capacitor, going by dimensions, 2 x 4 3/8, is roughly 130-158 mfd.
The others are 2 x 4 3/4, the labels were all sanded off by the manufacturer so you couldn’t duplicate it.

 

[larry_g]

https://www.scribd.com/document/130375826/Building-a-Phase-Converter

If you can get a copy of the Hanrahan phase converter build plans he tells you what cap size that you should for the converter HP range you have. The link above blurs out the document after a few seconds so I assume that they want you to buy the copy. It used to be open on the metalweb group but that is gone.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[American Locomotive]

It's a start cap for a phase converter - it really doesn't matter that much. Just finding something with the right voltage range, in about the same can size, and it will almost certainly be fine.

 

[Walkers]

I was looking a little closer at what I thought was a bleed resistor, but it appears it was a diode and not a resistor. It may be time to remove the box from the motor and update the electronics portion of the equation.

 

[Walkers]

Is there any way of making a determination of the horsepower of this motor without the rating plate?

 

[wyliesdiesels]

wow what a ****** company. crazy they removed all the labels from the caps and motor. someone needs to take them out back and

 

[Norcal]

wow what a ****** company. crazy they removed all the labels from the caps and motor. someone needs to take them out back and

There is a company in Arkansas that removes the data plate on furnaces so you do not have the model or serial number & have to go through them, as far as I am concerned as soon as that is done you have a unlisted,unapproved appliance.

 

[RPH]

It was not uncommon in the industrial electronics to remove oem part numbers from critical components. You only sold the machinery once. Service and spare parts become cash stream quickly. Keeps tight knowledge in their people and wrong parts by guessing increases the service cash stream. Been there too many times as the factory representative.

 

[mm08822]

If you have a VOM that can measure capacitance, I would measure all other caps before they fail. Then you are prepared for when they fail.

 

[nadogail]

I agree that many times the manufacturer has not provided the relevant information to repair equipment and has withheld circuit diagrams from the consumer.
Consumers have been known to dissemble working equipment and reverse engineer modules so that they can order parts and troubleshoot them as desired.

 

[Walkers]

wow what a ****** company. crazy they removed all the labels from the caps and motor. someone needs to take them out back and

I think someone did, as they are no longer around.



Right now I need to figure out which motor I have. This is not as easy as usual for me, as there is no shaft to measure to give a good idea as to what it is. Perhaps it was originally a shafted motor and I can pull off one end to Find a cut shaft end. I will try to get some other measurements to narrow it down.
Does anyone have a good motor measurement reference?

 

[Jim greengo]

There is a company in Arkansas that removes the data plate on furnaces so you do not have the model or serial number & have to go through them, as far as I am concerned as soon as that is done you have a unlisted,unapproved appliance.

Do you have a picture of 1 of their furnaces?

 

[OccupantRJ]

Usually a rotary phase converter needs to be a minimum of two times the horsepower of a motor it runs, if this helps you narrow it down any. An ohm reading through the motor windings might help a motor shop help you identify the hp, then a start cap could be selected from that. The run caps are normally used on a rotary phase converter to equal out the voltage output of the three output leads, and are selected as needed to do that. I would do as suggested above and read all the run caps, then mark them as to values. If you do not have a meter that will do this, a devoted one is about $30, as I recently ordered one for myself from Amazon.

 

[Norcal]

Do you have a picture of 1 of their furnaces?

No.

 

[Jim greengo]

No.

I think rhuud/Rheem is still made in Arkansas anyway.

 

[Norcal]

I think rhuud/Rheem is still made in Arkansas anyway.

The reason it was done to force customers to come to them, which I think is pretty shifty.

 

[walta]

There is a company in Arkansas that removes the data plate on furnaces so you do not have the model or serial number & have to go through them,

In almost every state it is illegal to posses or sell items that have had their serial numbers removed, altered or defaced.

Walta

 

[Walkers]

I ended up talking to the tech guy at https://www.northamericaphaseconverters.com/
I checked all my motors and am glad I did, I have one 2hp and tow 5hp motors. I bought a spankin new control panel, their CP10. It was right at $400 with a wired remote switch. It is going to take some rewiring, but nothing too extreme.