Ignoramus23077 wrote:
thanks to everyone for your thoughts!

Many pictures and the story in several chapters:

http://igor.chudov.com/projects/Phase-Converter/

Wow, you certainly work fast! Glad it's working so far. It looks like
you got some nice equipment at good prices, too. Your induction motors
look quite different from the ones we usually get in the UK. The
majority of our three phase motors are either the standard aluminium
TEFC motors or the older cast iron type, of which there are still many
around. Yours look somewhere in between these.

For the experts on phase convertors, I've got a couple of questions. I'm
thinking of building the kind of convertor Dan Caster was talking about,
where a small single phase motor permanently drives a larger three phase
motor through a variable belt drive. The three phase motor has two
terminals connected to the single phase supply and generates on the
third terminal, and the belt drive ratio is adjusted so that the single
phase motor draws its rated current when the phase convertor is working
at maximum output.

Now my questions. Firstly, will the quality of the three phase output be
improved if the single phase motor is larger than a typical pony motor
(e.g., 3/4 hp single phase motor and 2 1/2 hp three phase motor)? This
seems logical to me, as there is more torque applied to the shaft of the
three phase motor which can assist in generating the current which flows
from the third terminal, but it's such a complicated situation - what do
other people think? (It also happens that I can get the 3/4 hp and 2 1/2
hp motors cheaply and easily.) Secondly, would the addition of a
flywheel to the idler motor shaft (not necessarily together with the
permanent drive from the single phase motor) help balance the output?
Again, I intuitively think it would, but I'd be interested to hear the
views of others.

Best wishes,

Chris