On Fri, 29 Jul 2005 10:45:25 +0000, Ignoramus27279 wrote:


That's great! I am sure that with your welding machines etc, you can
build a much better looking enclosure than what I did.

My RPC went through several enclosure schemes before I was happy with it.
This is a 2 HP RPC. I started out trying to build the whole thing inside
of an old Heathkit DX-100 Ham Radio cabinet, thinking that keeping everything
self-contained was a smart idea. It turned out to be too big a bulky for
my tiny workshop. I finally found a smallish metal utility box, like the
kind you might have on a desk to keep paperwork or keys and other odds and
ends in. It was kind of cramped but I mounted all of the components for
the RPC in it -- relays, balancing and start caps, start/run and on/off
switches, and fuses. I bolted this guts box to a plank and using EMT
connectors to run the wiring through I attached it to the idler motor
(which was bolted to the plank as well). On top of this guts box I mounted
two outlet boxes with a 4-wire twist lock outlet in each. This is 3-phase
output. Rather than cutting the shaft off of the idler motor, I decided
to make a shield for it out of aluminum wire mesh (stucco screen).

This arrangement has worked out great. Its much more compact and expandable
in the future. The only thing I'd like to change is to replace the
wooden plank with a frame made of welded angle stock and some rubber feet.
I'll get around to that one day.