Rotary phase convertor ...

[1953mercury]

Looking at a three phase plasma cutter that will require 60 amp/230 volt input for full capacity cutting (1"). Will my 5hp rotary phase converter be adequate for this? Thanks, Mike

 

[A_Pmech]

Looking at a three phase plasma cutter that will require 60 amp/230 volt input for full capacity cutting (1"). Will my 5hp rotary phase converter be adequate for this? Thanks, Mike

60A three-phase is about a 25 HP phase converter.

 

[nehog]

Looking at a three phase plasma cutter that will require 60 amp/230 volt input for full capacity cutting (1"). Will my 5hp rotary phase converter be adequate for this? Thanks, Mike

That will be a massive amount of power to draw from a 240 volt line... One of the reasons that the cutter was designed as three phase.

It will be interesting to see how well this works out. BTW, you're looking at about 20 KW in power there, perhaps a bit more.

One question I'd ask (I don't know the answer) is will a rotary phase converter deliver balanced power to each phase under load? I'm guessing yes, but I'm not 100% sure.

 

[HTGTS350]

I would imagine a 3 phase plasma is really only 2 phase with the fan and other addenda run off the third phase, however running something of that size from a rotary converter can't be a good idea especially seeing as a rotary converter can't efficiently make up more than 1 phase.

 

[Norcal]

I would imagine a 3 phase plasma is really only 2 phase with the fan and other addenda run off the third phase, however running something of that size from a rotary converter can't be a good idea especially seeing as a rotary converter can't efficiently make up more than 1 phase.

2 phase is a obsolete system dating back to the early days of electric power, there are some remnants of 2 phase in Philadelphia & other cities.

I have not seen welding equipment run off a RPC, but for motors a RPC is a time proven method when 3Ø is not avail.

 

[bob_mp]

I run my TIG welder (Miller Aerowave) off of my rotary phase converter; I have been doing it for more than a decade. The reason I do so is that it can produce higher currents on 3 phase (375A versus 250A for single phase). I do have a pretty good sized RPC (GWM Digi 286, which is based on a 30 HP motor).

As A_Pmech said, you will need a RPC that is much bigger than 5A to do this, but a properly sized RPC works fine for welders.

Bob