I have an old delta 3 phase motor, 1hp, 220v, 1725 rpm. I have to give it a spin with my hand in order for it to start, whereupon it will speed up to a nice hum after a second or so. It will run in whatever initial direction I initially spin it in.. Any Ideas?
How many power wires? Black and red? Sounds more like single phase, to me. Though, I could be mistaken. I thought most 220 volt power supplies were single phase.
It's been my understanding (though learning all the time) that electric motors (including, but not {necessarily} limited to HVAC applications {residential, light commercial [which is pretty close to residential] and heavy commeercial} and other devices a HO would service) tend to be single phase. Except for some commercial three phase equipment which I've not had the pleasure to service. Phase being defined as when the sine is going pos and neg. So, the 220 volts provided to homes around here is single phase. Though, I may be mistaken and there may well be new things to learn.
How many wires you have coming out of that motor and what color are they, as is been said it sound like single phase motor and it needs running cap. or it has centrifugal start switch which is not working
3 phase motor will always start in same direction to reverse direction it needs reverse power two wires (phases) on input. From Dido
Jake: I have question for you since you are Electrician I have customer that I recently work for he have unit that has two 25 HP compressors and uses 440/3/60 which more or less is standard power, when I measure the supply source across the phases the supply I found 440 plus and minus couple volts which was some what reasonable then I measured it to ground and found surprise two legs (phases) are 440 to ground and one at ground potential: what kind system is this? Transformer is next to the unit From Dido
Probably one of the variations of the 'open delta' design. It's a cheapo way of getting three phase for smaller loads.
Ground potential on one leg will 'wander' all over the place depending on the circuit load.
As an aside, particularly for Sam... I've seen several service bulletins recently describing repeated failures of VFD's on systems like this. At the very least, the drives 'nuisance trip' due to detected ground faults... and at the most the power sections fail because the internal control systems depend on a ground reference for proper phase symmetry.
I know Baldor was looking at this problem... so are Reliance, ABB, AB and others.
OT Question... Is there a electrical text book you would recommend as a one or two book reference library? I have a few HVAC texts I use for reference (Modern Refrgeration, Tech Method, etc...) Is there a electricians bible or 101 text that you would recommend as up to date, accurate and detailed??? (I do have access to the 2005 NEC and some of the NFPA)
Depending on your interest and current understanding, ALL of the books by Mike Holt are strongly recommended.
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His electrical theory series (I think it's 4-5 books) is excellent from beginner through advanced. Based on what I've seen here... there's one on AC, motors and transformers that would be helpful to a lot of posters.
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