Robert Swinney wrote:
Wow, Dan! Nine posts.

I am very sorry for the multiple posts. I kept getting messages that
said " Server Error try again in 30 minutes " or it would seem to
accept the message but would not show up when I would read the thread.
Apparently the messages were buffered somewhere and all of them
eventually got posted.

Bob, the first reply was before your post that clarified what you meant
to say.


It seems to me you may be describing an idler driven by a pony motor,
similar to systems in which the pony is disconnected after the idler has
come up to speed. Could this be the case you're describing, except that the
pony motor is not disconnected after the starting interval?

Bob (easily confused) Swinney



I am more or less describing exactly what you said above. Except when
you use a pony motor you may have the pony motor only bring the three
phase motor to say 80 % of its rated speed. If you apply power to the
three phase motor while leaving power on the pony motor, the pony motor
will be driven faster than is synchronous speed until you disconnect
it. I think this is how Jim Rozens RPC is done, where his sytem throws
the belt when you apply power to the idler.

You might have the pony motor directly connected to the three phase
motor. In that case there would be little or no mechanical power
transferred between the two motor when power is applied to both.

So I am describing a subset of an idler driven by a pony motor, where
the drive is adjusted so that the pony motor turns the idler at a speed
which is faster than the idler would run by itself. The pony motor may
or may not be large enough to drive the idler above its synchronous
speed but mechanical power is still going to the idler ( actually not
an idler anymore, but a driven motor ).

Again I apologize for the multiple posts. None of my posts showed up
here until today.


Dan