Rotary phase Converter brands

[rust buster]

Going the RPC route for my 1959 DoAll 16-3 bandsaw. I’ve narrowed it down to American Rotary and North American Phase Converters. Has anyone had good/bad experiences with either? Both are American made. American rotary is a couple hundred dollars more expensive. 7HP models.

 

[jar944]

Going the RPC route for my 1959 DoAll 16-3 bandsaw. I’ve narrowed it down to American Rotary and North American Phase Converters. Has anyone had good/bad experiences with either? Both are American made. American rotary is a couple hundred dollars more expensive. 7HP models.

Both are Baldor idlers, so imho not a huge difference.

 

[mark-NJ]

Are you trying to create 3-phase from a single-phase source? if so, Why not use a small VFD?

 

[OldCarGuy]

My shop is set up with three 3-phase rotary converters,, Plus two VFD's. In my humble opinion the advantages of a rotary phase converter far outweighs the lesser priced VFD. I use the VFD for single motor control,, normally for speed control. Like my paint booth fan motor or my band saw.. I have a Kearney Trecker rotary head mill with five motors that would need five VFD's.. No issues with a single RPC. Plus I can even instantly reverse spindle rotation without stopping the motor.. And I can run six of my machines at a time with a single RFC.

All the input power is located on one wall. The 200 Amp main breaker 32-space Single Phase Load Center is to the right of the picture. The (3) Three-Phase Rotary Phase Converters are fed from the main panel. Into a relay box that allows any single and or up to three RPC to power up the 100 Amp 3-Phase Load center with eight 3-Phase breakers. All the 3-Phase machines are wired from that panel overhead or under the floor through conduit. There is one 5 HP GWM, one 10 HP DES-CO, and one 15 HP American Rotary RFC.



After owning three different brands RFC,, I say hands down purchase the American Rotary. Besides having the USA made Baldor motors, the company has great service technicians that actually answer calls... My other two RPC use cheap Chinese motors. That make more noise, and one needed bearings replaced after a few years..

The best choice for a VFD is a Phase-Perfect. But they're two to three times the price of an American Rotary...

Paint booth VFC


VFD band saw,, I had it built into the saw...


Kearny Trecker Rotary Head Mill..


I ran 240 Volt 3-phase power under floor to this transformer with a 480 Volt output. All five motors run of 480 Volts. And didn't care to rewind all the motor. On these motors it's not simply change two wires. Each needs to re re-round... .

 

[isb cornbinder]

After calling Keith Rucker, I bought an American Rotary 10 UL. I is sold in
Canada by https://toewspower.com/collections/phase-converters. The price was very competitive and customer follow-up was the best.
I am mounting my RPC on a recycled pressure washer cart. It will act as a 220V welder extension cord and a RPC that can be rolled to the machine.

 

[rust buster]

Thanks everyone! I chose the North American Phase Converters, since it was $200 cheaper and uses the same Baldor idler motor. Starting a separate thread for the design. I went RPC vs VFD for the bandsaw since I wanted to retain all the controls built into the saw.

 

[beltfeed]

My shop is set up with three 3-phase rotary converters,, Plus two VFD's. In my humble opinion the advantages of a rotary phase converter far outweighs the lesser priced VFD. I use the VFD for single motor control,, normally for speed control. Like my paint booth fan motor or my band saw.. I have a Kearney Trecker rotary head mill with five motors that would need five VFD's.. No issues with a single RPC. Plus I can even instantly reverse spindle rotation without stopping the motor.. And I can run six of my machines at a time with a single RFC.

All the input power is located on one wall. The 200 Amp main breaker 32-space Single Phase Load Center is to the right of the picture. The (3) Three-Phase Rotary Phase Converters are fed from the main panel. Into a relay box that allows any single and or up to three RPC to power up the 100 Amp 3-Phase Load center with eight 3-Phase breakers. All the 3-Phase machines are wired from that panel overhead or under the floor through conduit. There is one 5 HP GWM, one 10 HP DES-CO, and one 15 HP American Rotary RFC.



After owning three different brands RFC,, I say hands down purchase the American Rotary. Besides having the USA made Baldor motors, the company has great service technicians that actually answer calls... My other two RPC use cheap Chinese motors. That make more noise, and one needed bearings replaced after a few years..

The best choice for a VFD is a Phase-Perfect. But they're two to three times the price of an American Rotary...

Paint booth VFC


VFD band saw,, I had it built into the saw...


Kearny Trecker Rotary Head Mill..


I ran 240 Volt 3-phase power under floor to this transformer with a 480 Volt output. All five motors run of 480 Volts. And didn't care to rewind all the motor. On these motors it's not simply change two wires. Each needs to re re-round... .

Seeing that old Kearney Trecker brings back memories. I worked at one injection mold tool shop in the early 80's that had ten of those. While they could do a lot boy were they slow. Thank God for the CNC machining centers. For home use the Kearney Trecker offers a lot of machining flexibility.

 

[OldCarGuy]

I'd love to see ten 2D's in a row.. Most I came across was four in my early days.

Being slow, at least in today's world, is the reason they are no longer made. But in their day's, they could not be beat. And Advance rotary cross slide table was the next best way to machine complex parts in one setup with far less investment than the K&T... Either one took a very talented machinist to operate at its' total abilities. I have worked on both. And it's a huge learning curve to switch between the two.. No doubt a CNC is king today...

I have a three axis bed-type CNC that sits opposite my Kearney Trecker 2D. For a one off part, I choose it over the CNC. But today's machinist would be lost trying to run the old gal...

 

[American Locomotive]

Thanks everyone! I chose the Nortg American Phase Converters since it was $200 cheaper and uses the same Baldir idler motor. Starting a separate thread for the design. I went ROC vs VFD for the bandsaw since I wanted to retain an the controls built into the saw.

It is completely possible to retain the saw's controls and use a VFD.

IMO RPCs really only make sense these days if you literally have a shop full of 3 phase equipment or have a machine that can't run off a VFD like a CNC mill.

Either way good luck, hopefully the RPC works out!

 

[Gokart]

Did you look at Ronk units? I am trying to decide what I want to do in my shop.

 

[rust buster]

It is completely possible to retain the saw's controls and use a VFD.

IMO RPCs really only make sense these days if you literally have a shop full of 3 phase equipment or have a machine that can't run off a VFD like a CNC mill.

Either way good luck, hopefully the RPC works out!

More work and no need when the RPC is a one and done (no programming and no rewiring of anything on the bandsaw). The bandsaw has a ton of electrical controls and sub systems built into it that I didn't want to mess with. VFDs have their place and are in operation on my pedestal grinder and drill press.