I just thought I'd let people know of the fun I've just had getting a Hydrovane 502 3 phase compressor working on a single phase supply. There's another post relating to the inlet valve problem I found, but that's all fixed.
Anyhow - I picked up an un-tested 502 in bits via that well known auction site, and set about a regular service (oil and filter etc), but the difficult part was running the 2.2kW 3 phase motor from my single phase incoming supply at home.
At one time, many moons ago, I was an electrical engineer - how hard could it be?
The solution, and a very fine one at that, was to use a solid state motor drive that gives full control over the motor and if you pick the right one will drive 3 phase from single.
I ended up choosing a very high spec drive from Danfoss (http://goo.gl/4daWaK). You can look around to get the best deal.
The motor had to be re-wired from star to delta, and I initially had the phases reversed so everything ran backwards (Thanks Justin at Compair!), but now everything works really well.
The drive has a way of figuring out motor temperature, and shutting down if it detects overheat.
The compressor temperature sensor is connected to the drive and everything shuts down on overheat.
The pressure switch is connected to one of the drive digital inputs and controls motor on/off.
Starts and stops are smooth and ramped so there's no dimming of the lights and everything is much less stressed.
So now I have a very efficient 2.2kW 3 phase motor driving a fantastic 502 compressor! Win!!
If you don't understand any of the above think carefully before trying this at home, but that said, this isn't rocket science. There is some programming of the drive, and we are of course working with high voltages.
The same principle works for running any 3 phase motor such as those found on lathes, mills etc, but you need to ensure the motor drive and single phase incoming supply are correctly rated.
If anyone would like to know more, or I can provide any advice, feel free to continue the thread or PM me.
Regards
Jim
Anyhow - I picked up an un-tested 502 in bits via that well known auction site, and set about a regular service (oil and filter etc), but the difficult part was running the 2.2kW 3 phase motor from my single phase incoming supply at home.
At one time, many moons ago, I was an electrical engineer - how hard could it be?
The solution, and a very fine one at that, was to use a solid state motor drive that gives full control over the motor and if you pick the right one will drive 3 phase from single.
I ended up choosing a very high spec drive from Danfoss (http://goo.gl/4daWaK). You can look around to get the best deal.
The motor had to be re-wired from star to delta, and I initially had the phases reversed so everything ran backwards (Thanks Justin at Compair!), but now everything works really well.
The drive has a way of figuring out motor temperature, and shutting down if it detects overheat.
The compressor temperature sensor is connected to the drive and everything shuts down on overheat.
The pressure switch is connected to one of the drive digital inputs and controls motor on/off.
Starts and stops are smooth and ramped so there's no dimming of the lights and everything is much less stressed.
So now I have a very efficient 2.2kW 3 phase motor driving a fantastic 502 compressor! Win!!
If you don't understand any of the above think carefully before trying this at home, but that said, this isn't rocket science. There is some programming of the drive, and we are of course working with high voltages.
The same principle works for running any 3 phase motor such as those found on lathes, mills etc, but you need to ensure the motor drive and single phase incoming supply are correctly rated.
If anyone would like to know more, or I can provide any advice, feel free to continue the thread or PM me.
Regards
Jim
