Thanks for a very apt explanation, Bruce. Sometimes, I forget how "pros"
are held to higher standards. Yep, that job hunting is something to be
avoided, alright - esp. in today's economy. Regards,

Bob Swinney

"Bruce L. Bergman" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 12 Mar 2004 09:42:27 -0600, "Bob Swinney"
wrote:

Bruce sez:
I will not touch a homemade converter. Too many different ways to
blow something up or burn down a shop...

Not a very "professional" reply, I'm afraid. As a "pro" you should be in
position to understand, and advise, the safe way to handle various
contrivances you may come into contact with, even if they are homemade.
IMO, you would be the better for offering your professional advice rather
than dismissing out of hand that which may be homemade. There are a lot
of
folks on RCM that build and operate homemade phase converters without
disaster. Some of those converters are very nearly exact duplicates of
commercial models and AFAIK, they have been the cause of very few
explosions
or fires.

I have to be careful with stuff like that - because if I (the 'last
licensed contractor') work on someone's cobbled together converter and
it "blows up" next week and burns down the house, our company will
probably get sued by the customer's Homeowners Insurance company over
it. The liability insurer caves in without a fight and pays out, we
develop a bad loss history, our rates go way up, we have to raise our
prices too high...

This could affect my continued professional employment, even if I had
nothing to do with it, and I hate job hunting. So I tend to be a
little conservative when dealing with stuff that looks obviously
unsafe. Call the boss, and let him make an Executive Decision. :-P

At the minimum, when a device is rated by a testing laboratory like
UL, and meets all applicable National Electrical Code specs, it has
been designed and tested to fail /safely/. Fuses will blow or
breakers trip, but nothing unusual happens.

A homemade rotary converter with a pull-rope start or a manual pony
motor (that is designed and built properly - all live parts in an
enclosed cabinet, all moving parts guarded, properly fused, output
monitored, etc.) may be perfectly safe to operate, and I would work on
it - but it still requires constant attention by a trained operator
who knows how it works, probably because they're the builder.

I wouldn't set one up to operate unattended, or suggest you let your
8-year-old kid go out to the shop alone and fire up the converter to
play on the lathe. (14+ and properly trained, maybe.)

-- Bruce --
--
Bruce L. Bergman, Woodland Hills (Los Angeles) CA - Desktop
Electrician for Westend Electric - CA726700
5737 Kanan Rd. #359, Agoura CA 91301 (818) 889-9545
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