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If you are thinking of building or buying a three phase power converter, you should check out this website first!

      Do you like to make things, love to learn something new, want to save a bunch of money?  Spend some time here and see what I have to offer.  I have produced a set of videos that will teach you how to build a couple of different three phase converters. My converters and the way I approach the subject are really where the Unique comes from. I show how to build a Transformer converter. Never heard of it? Well keep reading. It is a way to run three phase motors on single phase power that uses a transformer instead of an idler motor. It is quieter, provides more starting and running torque, and building one yourself is a lot cheaper than buying a rotary converter. Plus you will save on your electric bill every day you use it, because, it is more electrically efficient than a rotary converter.  Don't know anything about transformers? Don't worry you will learn. Can't find a transformer? Don't worry I show you how to make one. 

Check out the Movies page. These clips tell the whole story. Don't take my word for it. View the clips, and see what this style of converter is capable of. All clips are hosted by Google.

Check out the Testimonies page and see the results other eBayers have had using my unique transformer method.

      Ok, so you are here because you are interested in running three phase motors on single phase power? I don't have to sell you on the advantages of that. I don't need to remind you that when you are dealing with industrial equipment, you are going to be running across lots of new and used equipment that is three phase powered. You don't have to pass up good deals on used equipment, you can use it at home, or in your small shop. As a matter of fact, most of the time in a small setup, it is way cheaper not to have three phase commercial power brought into the premises.

     At this point I am probably talking to two different groups of people. One group has heard that there are ways to do this, but have not tried it. The other group consists of people who have done it all ready. They might have tried a static converter or better yet made a rotary converter. To the first group I want to say; 'yes this is possible and yes you can build a converter at home'. To the second group I want to say; 'there is another way, besides the static or the rotary'. So that brings up the question of ?  Why would you be interested in my way of doing this?

     I'm glad you asked! First, forget the static converter. They are horribly imbalanced and not practical for any serious work. This leaves the rotary converter as the traditional tool for three phase generation. Up until now and Unique3phase. You see there was a method of generating three phase power that was popular in the 1940's. It was called the transformer method. It worked great but fell out of favor because of economic factors. Unique3phase has overcome the economic factors and now the question is: Does the transformer method offer any advantages? I believe it does. And if you watch the video clips you will too!

     Let me explain, both to the user of the rotary, and also to the new person who has never used one. In the rotary converter method a three phase motor is used to generate the third leg. The rotary uses a motor, a non work-producing motor, an idler, to generate, the voltage/current for that third leg. This means that you really have two motors in your shop, the one you want to run and the other motor, the idler motor.  And the second motor has to be bigger then the first.

     Here's what happens: A motor takes a lot of current to start. Usually six times what is uses running. So to start the motor on your machine, you unfortunately need an idler motor bigger then 10hp. How big you ask? Well, would you believe that there is a rule of thumb for this? You are going to need a motor two to three times as big as the one you all ready paid for. Two times bigger if your machine is an easy to start machine and three times bigger if it is hard to start. What is hard to start? Well rotary converter makers leave that up to you. There are some guide lines, but it is ultimately up to you to decide. And if you are going to pay for shipping, or can not easily exchange your new converter, you better make sure before you buy.

     It seems that all rotary converter makers agree that air compressors are hard to start. They also say: Any machine that takes over 3 seconds to start is classified hard to start. Machines that start up against any load or are loaded to the full horse power of the motor come under this hard to start classification. (It is easier to think of motors that are easy to start; drill press, band saw, table saw, anything where they start unloaded and the operator feeds in the work, so he or she can hear/feel the strain the motor is under.) So now you have to buy a motor three times the size of the one you paid for. And then, where do you put it? It will vibrate and make noise. Now, remember when you were shopping for your new machine? Remember how you thought 10hp was big? Well 30 hp is a lot bigger. Do you think that the 30 hp might cause a small 'brown out' in your neighborhood every time you start it...?   But let's get beyond that and assume you have the rotary, it is in a sound proof dog house, ready to be used.

     Let's say you have a ten horse invincible vacuum cleaner, a five horse compressor, and a quarter horse water pump. To run the vacuum cleaner you need at least a thirty horse rotary. (When I first started with this I tried to start the vacuum with a 25 horse rotary and it would not do it. It just wasn't big enough. So until you actually do it, it would be anyone's guess with a 30 horse.) Let's say we vacuum twice a week, and use the air compressor off and on all day, and the water pump is in the heating/cooling system, and runs when it's called for. You come in at 8 am and turn on the rotary. The shop comes alive and you turn on the heat and the air compressor. The air compressor fills the tank and shuts off. Guess what is still running? That's right the rotary. Does it use electricity when it idles with no load? You bet is does. How much? Well some manufactures publish the figures, some don't. Some claim that the losses are the kind of losses the power company can't measure. In any event for a thirty horse idler I would say at the minimum you are wasting 8 to 12 amps. This is 8 to 12 amps at 240 volts. That is 1920 to 2880 WATTS. Do you think the power company meter misses all that? Do you think the new digital meters miss it?

     So here are a couple of draw backs inherent in the operation of the rotary.  

1. The rotary has to be running before you can start a machine. The air compressor has to have the rotary running before it will work. This means leaving it on all day. 
2. The sizing problem due to the motor starting current. This means ramping up to a 30 hp motor when you are only going to run a 10hp. 
3. What about the 1/4 horse water pump? The problems are two fold here.The amps will not be balanced when you run the 1/4 motor from the 30 hp rotary. Why? Because it is such a light load, the rotary has to be balanced for heavy loads and would need a different set of capacitors to run so lightly loaded. Will the small motor be damaged? Probably not, but it is not balanced and may heat up. Also, you are now wasting massive amounts of power to run such a small motor. With a 30 hp rotary you are probably drawing 8 to 10 amps to run a motor that needs only 2.5 amps.

     So is there a better way? Yes! That is Unique3phase and the transformer method. Here we use a power transformer that is modified to help generate the third leg. Now when you drive down the highway do you see lots of power transformers hanging from poles and sitting in enclosures? Sure you do. Do you see 30hp motors with the shafts cut off hanging from poles or in power substations? No! Because the power company can not afford to waste energy. Transformers waste very little. They are like 99% efficient under load. So now I want you to take a look at this with an open mind. The transformer is quiet. The transformer can be hooked up to a motor and turned on and off thereby starting that motor, no waste. The transformer will provide full starting torque to the motor. The transformer will run the motor at full power. (Check the videos Movies) A transformer large enough to run the vacuum cleaner, thereby equivalent to the 30 hp rotary, will run the water pump, fully balanced, with such a small waste of current, that it is a non issue. 

     Let's take a look at that scenario again. You come in and turn on the transformer and it uses about 2.5 amps at idle. The air compressor does not have to be modified like some in the rotary converter industry tell you to do. "Turn the air pressure down! Change pulley sizes so the compressor turns slower." No! You leave the compressor as is. play clip 003 When the compressor runs it uses, or really the whole system transformer included, uses the exact energy that it would from commercial three phase. The water pump runs and only uses 2.5 amps of electricity total. The vacuum cleaner can be started and run. All this from a 15 kva transformer. play clip 005 If you were only going to run the air compressor you could hook it up so when the air compressor calls for air, the power contactor starts the transformer, which then starts the compressor, and there is no idle losses at all.

     Well I hope that you take a look at some of the videos we have on the website. These are actual motor runs that we filmed here in the shop. We try to show the capabilities of the transformer method. We show that it has more power to start loads then the rotary. play clip 006  We show the 15kva transformer running the 1/4 horse water pump. We show amp draws and voltages. play clip 007
 We show the bonus feature of the welder that you can make for a small amount of money over the cost of the motor converter. We weld at 180 amps and we could do that 8 hours a day with no duty cycle! play welder clip  All in all this is a good way to go for running three phase motors.

      Are there times or situations where the transformer system doesn't work well?  Yes, to run a welder or resistance load you need a rotary converter.  If you have a machine with electronic controls and also speed controls or multiple motors it is better, for a number of reasons, to setup a rotary converter to feed power to the entire machine rather than having to separate out individual motor leads.  For this reason I have included one entire two hour dvd in the set just devoted to setting up and running a rotary converter. As a side note I found that the rotary would actually perform better when used in conjunction with the transformer setup. play clip 008 So check out the  Videos  and get started on your way to running three phase motors. Also for people in countries that need to run motors at higher voltage see my high voltage page. High Voltage   Doug