Frequency Converter Question
 

I need to convert 115 vac 60 hz to 115 vac 400 hz 1 and 3 phase, 12 -
15 amps and 26 vac 400 hz single phase at a couple of amps. I want to
simplify the mess I spread around on my bench when I need 400 hz. I'd
like a single unit that gives me what I want. Is there a fairly simple
way to do this?

Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired

Frequency Converter Question
 

Used to be, we'd use a cobbled up dynamotor. Perhaps you could use your
connections to find a surplus ground support power supply. (Most of us know
that 400 Hz is used in airborne systems.)

"Dan" wrote in message
...

I need to convert 115 vac 60 hz to 115 vac 400 hz 1 and 3 phase, 12 - 15
amps and 26 vac 400 hz single phase at a couple of amps. I want to
simplify the mess I spread around on my bench when I need 400 hz. I'd like
a single unit that gives me what I want. Is there a fairly simple way to
do this?

Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired

Frequency Converter Question
 

On Tue, 21 Sep 2010 08:34:40 -0400 "Oppie" wrote
in Message id: :


"Dan" wrote in message
m...

I need to convert 115 vac 60 hz to 115 vac 400 hz 1 and 3 phase, 12 - 15
amps and 26 vac 400 hz single phase at a couple of amps. I want to
simplify the mess I spread around on my bench when I need 400 hz. I'd like
a single unit that gives me what I want. Is there a fairly simple way to
do this?

Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired

Used to be, we'd use a cobbled up dynamotor. Perhaps you could use your
connections to find a surplus ground support power supply. (Most of us know
that 400 Hz is used in airborne systems.)

I believe ships use 400Hz as well.

Frequency Converter Question
 

On 9/21/2010 8:34 AM, JW wrote:
On Tue, 21 Sep 2010 08:34:40 -0400 wrote
in Message :


wrote in message
...

I need to convert 115 vac 60 hz to 115 vac 400 hz 1 and 3 phase, 12 - 15
amps and 26 vac 400 hz single phase at a couple of amps. I want to
simplify the mess I spread around on my bench when I need 400 hz. I'd like
a single unit that gives me what I want. Is there a fairly simple way to
do this?

Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired

Used to be, we'd use a cobbled up dynamotor. Perhaps you could use your
connections to find a surplus ground support power supply. (Most of us know
that 400 Hz is used in airborne systems.)

I believe ships use 400Hz as well.

The mess to which I refer uses a dynamotor for single phase 115 vac,
a solid state 3 phase 115 vac and a solid state 26 vac. The 115 power
supplies require 24 vdc and the 26 vac requires 12 vdc. The dynamotor
handles the current required for test equipment, the 3 phase inverter is
good for a couple instruments and the 26 vac is for synchro excitation.
I rarely need the 26 vac as a stand alone. I have seen bench supplies
that provide what I require, but I'd rather not spend the kilobucks.

Normally the mess isn't a major problem, but my 3 phase inverter just
isn't giving me what I need.

As for ships, I have no idea, but I do have some U.S. Navy synchros
that use 60 hz. The reason aircraft use 400 hz is to save weight,
something Navy boats shouldn't be as picky about.

Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired

Frequency Converter Question
 

On Tue, 21 Sep 2010 07:10:00 -0500, Dan wrote:

I need to convert 115 vac 60 hz to 115 vac 400 hz 1 and 3 phase, 12 -
15 amps and 26 vac 400 hz single phase at a couple of amps. I want to
simplify the mess I spread around on my bench when I need 400 hz. I'd
like a single unit that gives me what I want. Is there a fairly simple
way to do this?


A VFD? (Variable Frequency Drive)

Good Luck!
Rich

Frequency Converter Question
 

"Dan" wrote in message
...

I need to convert 115 vac 60 hz to 115 vac 400 hz 1 and 3 phase, 12 - 15
amps and 26 vac 400 hz single phase at a couple of amps. I want to
simplify the mess I spread around on my bench when I need 400 hz. I'd like
a single unit that gives me what I want. Is there a fairly simple way to
do this?

Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired


I think Elektor magazine did a 3-ph generator in one of their summer
circuits, you should be able to get contact info from their website.

If you want crystal controlled accuracy, DDS is the way to go.

Frequency Converter Question
 

On Tue, 21 Sep 2010 07:10:00 -0500, Dan wrote:


I need to convert 115 vac 60 hz to 115 vac 400 hz 1 and 3 phase, 12 -
15 amps and 26 vac 400 hz single phase at a couple of amps. I want to
simplify the mess I spread around on my bench when I need 400 hz. I'd
like a single unit that gives me what I want. Is there a fairly simple
way to do this?

Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired

I'd look around for a surplus 400 Hz generator set that doesn't run.
Odds are you can find one, and the price will be next to give-away as
400 Hz is not useful for any backup power needs. Then replace the
generator's gas/diesel engine with an electric motor that (with the
right pulleys) will spin the generator head at the right RPMs.

You can probably do it for under 200 dollars. Check SteelSoldiers and
Smokstack for leads on generators.

Frequency Converter Question
 

On Tue, 21 Sep 2010 18:53:49 -0400, PeterD wrote:

On Tue, 21 Sep 2010 07:10:00 -0500, Dan wrote:


I need to convert 115 vac 60 hz to 115 vac 400 hz 1 and 3 phase, 12 -
15 amps and 26 vac 400 hz single phase at a couple of amps. I want to
simplify the mess I spread around on my bench when I need 400 hz. I'd
like a single unit that gives me what I want. Is there a fairly simple
way to do this?

Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired

I'd look around for a surplus 400 Hz generator set that doesn't run.
Odds are you can find one, and the price will be next to give-away as
400 Hz is not useful for any backup power needs. Then replace the
generator's gas/diesel engine with an electric motor that (with the
right pulleys) will spin the generator head at the right RPMs.

You can probably do it for under 200 dollars. Check SteelSoldiers and
Smokstack for leads on generators.

Good advice! Most people try to do this sort of thing the hard way...
hung up on "solid state" ;-)

...Jim Thompson
--
| James E.Thompson, CTO | mens |
| Analog Innovations, Inc. | et |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus |
| Phoenix, Arizona 85048 Skype: Contacts Only | |
| Voice:(480)460-2350 Fax: Available upon request | Brass Rat |
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 |

The Ground Zero Mosque IS Appropriate When Renamed...
The Obama Monument to American Impotence

Frequency Converter Question
 

On 9/21/2010 6:01 PM, Jim Thompson wrote:
On Tue, 21 Sep 2010 18:53:49 -0400, wrote:

On Tue, 21 Sep 2010 07:10:00 -0500, wrote:


I need to convert 115 vac 60 hz to 115 vac 400 hz 1 and 3 phase, 12 -
15 amps and 26 vac 400 hz single phase at a couple of amps. I want to
simplify the mess I spread around on my bench when I need 400 hz. I'd
like a single unit that gives me what I want. Is there a fairly simple
way to do this?

Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired

I'd look around for a surplus 400 Hz generator set that doesn't run.
Odds are you can find one, and the price will be next to give-away as
400 Hz is not useful for any backup power needs. Then replace the
generator's gas/diesel engine with an electric motor that (with the
right pulleys) will spin the generator head at the right RPMs.

You can probably do it for under 200 dollars. Check SteelSoldiers and
Smokstack for leads on generators.

Good advice! Most people try to do this sort of thing the hard way...
hung up on "solid state" ;-)

...Jim Thompson


I had thought of that. I wouldn't use it enough to justify a
generator and I simply don't have the space. I also thought of driving a
generator head with an electric motor, I may go back to that idea.

Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired

Frequency Converter Question
 

Dan wrote:
I need to convert 115 vac 60 hz to 115 vac 400 hz 1 and 3 phase, 12 -
15 amps and 26 vac 400 hz single phase at a couple of amps. I want to
simplify the mess I spread around on my bench when I need 400 hz. I'd
like a single unit that gives me what I want. Is there a fairly simple
way to do this?

Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired
Motor(60hz), coupled to a generator(400hz) from to airplane
industry.

Frequency Converter Question
 

Sjouke Burry wrote:

Dan wrote:
I need to convert 115 vac 60 hz to 115 vac 400 hz 1 and 3 phase, 12 -
15 amps and 26 vac 400 hz single phase at a couple of amps. I want to
simplify the mess I spread around on my bench when I need 400 hz. I'd
like a single unit that gives me what I want. Is there a fairly simple
way to do this?

Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired
Motor(60hz), coupled to a generator(400hz) from to airplane
industry.


Surplus VFD from Ebay. They come in dozens of sizes.


--
Politicians should only get paid if the budget is balanced, and there is
enough left over to pay them.

Frequency Converter Question
 

"Dan" wrote in message news:2-
I'd look around for a surplus 400 Hz generator set that doesn't run.
Odds are you can find one, and the price will be next to give-away as
400 Hz is not useful for any backup power needs. Then replace the
generator's gas/diesel engine with an electric motor that (with the
right pulleys) will spin the generator head at the right RPMs.

I had thought of that. I wouldn't use it enough to justify a
generator and I simply don't have the space. I also thought of driving a
generator head with an electric motor, I may go back to that idea.

Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired

Hmmm... a NEWfangled dynamotor

Frequency Converter Question
 

On Tue, 21 Sep 2010 08:53:30 -0500, Dan wrote:

On 9/21/2010 8:34 AM, JW wrote:
On Tue, 21 Sep 2010 08:34:40 -0400 wrote
in Message :


wrote in message
...

I need to convert 115 vac 60 hz to 115 vac 400 hz 1 and 3 phase, 12 - 15
amps and 26 vac 400 hz single phase at a couple of amps. I want to
simplify the mess I spread around on my bench when I need 400 hz. I'd like
a single unit that gives me what I want. Is there a fairly simple way to
do this?

Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired

Used to be, we'd use a cobbled up dynamotor. Perhaps you could use your
connections to find a surplus ground support power supply. (Most of us know
that 400 Hz is used in airborne systems.)

I believe ships use 400Hz as well.

The mess to which I refer uses a dynamotor for single phase 115 vac,
a solid state 3 phase 115 vac and a solid state 26 vac. The 115 power
supplies require 24 vdc and the 26 vac requires 12 vdc. The dynamotor
handles the current required for test equipment, the 3 phase inverter is
good for a couple instruments and the 26 vac is for synchro excitation.
I rarely need the 26 vac as a stand alone. I have seen bench supplies
that provide what I require, but I'd rather not spend the kilobucks.

Normally the mess isn't a major problem, but my 3 phase inverter just
isn't giving me what I need.

As for ships, I have no idea, but I do have some U.S. Navy synchros
that use 60 hz. The reason aircraft use 400 hz is to save weight,
something Navy boats shouldn't be as picky about.

Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired

Back in the early 1970s the desteoyer i was on used some 400 Hz but it
was less than 5% of the total power distribution. A lot for synchros
at the entennas and such, some more for fancy electronics where it
provided a size advantage for the power transformers (to pack more
in).

Frequency Converter Question
 

On Tue, 21 Sep 2010 08:12:33 -0700, Rich Grise
wrote:

On Tue, 21 Sep 2010 07:10:00 -0500, Dan wrote:

I need to convert 115 vac 60 hz to 115 vac 400 hz 1 and 3 phase, 12 -
15 amps and 26 vac 400 hz single phase at a couple of amps. I want to
simplify the mess I spread around on my bench when I need 400 hz. I'd
like a single unit that gives me what I want. Is there a fairly simple
way to do this?


A VFD? (Variable Frequency Drive)

Good Luck!
Rich

By the time you add in the hairy big inductors and capacitors you are
looking at over $4000 for the 115 Vac 3-phase. Of course you can use
a transformer then to get the 26 Vac.

Frequency Converter Question
 

JosephKK wrote:
On Tue, 21 Sep 2010 08:12:33 -0700, Rich Grise
wrote:

On Tue, 21 Sep 2010 07:10:00 -0500, Dan wrote:
I need to convert 115 vac 60 hz to 115 vac 400 hz 1 and 3 phase, 12 -
15 amps and 26 vac 400 hz single phase at a couple of amps. I want to
simplify the mess I spread around on my bench when I need 400 hz. I'd
like a single unit that gives me what I want. Is there a fairly simple
way to do this?

A VFD? (Variable Frequency Drive)

Good Luck!
Rich

By the time you add in the hairy big inductors and capacitors you are
looking at over $4000 for the 115 Vac 3-phase. Of course you can use
a transformer then to get the 26 Vac.

Start with DC, and put a set of high power automotive audioamps to work?
They come in quite compact blocks of up to 400 watts .
One for single phase, and 3 for the 3phase supply?
Then you only need to build a small board producing 3 outputs of the
correct phase.

Frequency Converter Question
 

On 9/28/2010 9:10 AM, JosephKK wrote:
On Tue, 21 Sep 2010 08:53:30 -0500, wrote:

On 9/21/2010 8:34 AM, JW wrote:
On Tue, 21 Sep 2010 08:34:40 -0400 wrote
in Message :


wrote in message
...

I need to convert 115 vac 60 hz to 115 vac 400 hz 1 and 3 phase, 12 - 15
amps and 26 vac 400 hz single phase at a couple of amps. I want to
simplify the mess I spread around on my bench when I need 400 hz. I'd like
a single unit that gives me what I want. Is there a fairly simple way to
do this?

Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired

Used to be, we'd use a cobbled up dynamotor. Perhaps you could use your
connections to find a surplus ground support power supply. (Most of us know
that 400 Hz is used in airborne systems.)

I believe ships use 400Hz as well.

The mess to which I refer uses a dynamotor for single phase 115 vac,
a solid state 3 phase 115 vac and a solid state 26 vac. The 115 power
supplies require 24 vdc and the 26 vac requires 12 vdc. The dynamotor
handles the current required for test equipment, the 3 phase inverter is
good for a couple instruments and the 26 vac is for synchro excitation.
I rarely need the 26 vac as a stand alone. I have seen bench supplies
that provide what I require, but I'd rather not spend the kilobucks.

Normally the mess isn't a major problem, but my 3 phase inverter just
isn't giving me what I need.

As for ships, I have no idea, but I do have some U.S. Navy synchros
that use 60 hz. The reason aircraft use 400 hz is to save weight,
something Navy boats shouldn't be as picky about.

Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired

Back in the early 1970s the desteoyer i was on used some 400 Hz but it
was less than 5% of the total power distribution. A lot for synchros
at the entennas and such, some more for fancy electronics where it
provided a size advantage for the power transformers (to pack more
in).

I have no idea what the Navy 115 vac 60 hz synchros I have were
intended for. I just use them for demonstration purposes.

I was in special ops and spent some time at sea on Navy helicopter
assault boats. I have a feeling the natives would have taken a dim view
of me poking around.

Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired

Frequency Converter Question
 

"Sjouke Burry" wrote in message
...
Start with DC, and put a set of high power automotive audioamps to work?
They come in quite compact blocks of up to 400 watts .
One for single phase, and 3 for the 3phase supply?
Then you only need to build a small board producing 3 outputs of the
correct phase.


Ah, that takes me back. Forgot about that design till you jogged my memory.
In the '70s, we had to run a military (Navy?) 115V data recorder from 28Vdc.
Made a 60Hz oscillator that had 90 deg phase shift outputs. Ran them to a
pair of RCA hybrid 'can' amplifier to drive step-up transformers. This gave
us 60Hz, 115V in quadrature, which we used to run the PSC (permanent split
capacitor) drive motors.

You can get some decent class D audio amplifiers that with a bit of
filtering do rather well