On Sun, 29 Aug 2010 06:05:35 -0500, Karl Townsend
wrote:

On Sat, 28 Aug 2010 22:56:56 -0500, Jon Elson
wrote:

Karl Townsend wrote:
Karl, your plan should work very well, it is easy to do also if you
have the electrical gear necessary, such as contactors.


You have more confidence than I. My RPC is essentially the same and
the lathe can't be started in the top four gears without blowing a
fuse. The idea of bringing in more caps during extreme load has me
intrigued.

You can't switch additional capacitors into an existing cap bank without
massive
explosions.

??? I'm doing it now. My existing converter starts a 15 with run
caps, drops the start caps, then engages a 25 and a second bank of run
caps. hard to believe its impossible to switch in say 500 MFD of
additional capacitance on a running converter. But, I'm not the expert
here.

The system I'm planning is for an entire shop of three phase
equipment. I'm wanting to build the best possible system for many
years of use. A vfd might bve the best solution for the large lathe
but they are very expensive and the lathe works now, it just could be
better. Surely some incremental improvements are possible over the one
that's running today.

Karl

I happen to have an 80 hp..yes...80 horsepower VFD at my disposal..if
anyone needs one.

It will be cheap too.

Gunner


I am the Sword of my Family
and the Shield of my Nation.
If sent, I will crush everything you have built,
burn everything you love,
and kill every one of you.
(Hebrew quote)