This page aims to help intelligent selection of a 3 phase converter. Specifically, which model might work best for your machines, and some things to look for as you compare models. We will try to make you as well informed as possible in a short time. But please feel free to contact us with any technical questions before you make your final selection.
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The magnetic field that causes a motor to rotate is produced from the electricity supplied by the power company, called the utility in many countries. Electricity is measured in terms of voltage and current. Using the analogy of water supply, voltage is analogous to pressure, and current is analogous to flow. Voltage is measured in Volts (V). Current is measured in Amperes (A). Power is Voltage multiplied by current, measured in Watts (W) or thousands of watts, kilowatts (kW). One kW is equivalent to 1.34 horsepower.
Electricity is distributed as Alternating Current (AC). Whereas a battery has two terminals, one that is always positive (+), and one that is always negative (-), AC changes, or alternates, from positive (+) to negative (-) at a set frequency, usually 50 times a second (50 cycles per second or Hertz or Hz).
At the power company's local distribution transformer, voltage is reduced from 11,000V to either 230V and Neutral (Ground) or to 3 phases, red, yellow and blue, each 230V to neutral. The voltage measured between each pair of phases will then be 400V.
There are still some variations found in different countries, e.g. 220V (380V between phases) and 240V (415V between phases). USA, Canada and some South American countries distribute single phase 110-127 V, i.e. 190-220V between phases.
In an electric motor, as the electrical polarity on the AC line changes (from + to -), the magnetic poles in the motor change from north to south in relation to the rotor poles, causing the motor to rotate.
With each change in polarity the voltage rises and falls as a wave, passing through zero voltage, called a zero crossing. Each time the voltage rises, either above or below zero crossing, the motor receives power, much as a motor vehicle receives power each time the engine fires.
Using the motor vehicle analogy, the pulsing power from an internal combustion engine needs to be smoothed by a heavy flywheel. Single-phase AC has somewhat similar characteristics, although less marked. The zero crossings produce a subtle but persistent power interruption. Single-phase motors are not usually produced above 5 hp.
Two power peaks (positive and negative) every 1/50th second seems smooth enough. A motor running at 3000 rpm, i.e. 50 revs/s receives only 2 power strokes per revolution. This is analogous to the crank in a 4-cylinder, 4-stroke internal combustion engine. With three phase electrical power a motor running at 3000 rpm receives 6 power strokes per revolution, analogous to a 12-cylinder internal combustion engine. This is only an approximate analogy because the electrical power peaks are more gently rounded than the sharp pulses from exploding fuel but it serves to illustrate the point.
Users in rural or remote locations (or anywhere in the UK and Ireland) will find that a 3-phase supply is not easily obtained from their local power company. Installation costs in the UK range from 3000 to 72000 pounds. Unless you are in an urban area within a country where a 3-phase service is shared among many customers, installation costs will be prohibitive.
Even in such a fortunate situation, there are many cases where it is inconvenient to extend the 3-phase supply to the point where it is needed. For example, a large building might well have 3-phase supplied to the basement for the building services. If a motor or a computer installation is on an upper floor and work to extend the supply to it has to be undertaken out of normal working hours, this can produce an unacceptable lead time and cost. The situation is worse if the unit to be supplied is moved around the building frequently.
Users have also been surprised to learn that even if the power company has already installed 3 phases, many extra costs, in the form of daily or monthly line charges, "demand" billing based on peak use and higher kilowatt-hour rates, serve to drive up the price of three-phase supplies far higher than the investment required for a 1ph to 3ph converter.
Because such converters work from the secondary side of the power grid (after the utility-supplier's street or pole transformer), installation is simple. Only three-phase loads are applied to the converter. All existing lighting and other wiring to single-phase loads remains unchanged.
As for converter costs, a 4kW model can cost less than 700 GBP plus VAT (1000 euro or $US 1200). It can be installed in a few minutes and its operating cost is virtually zero.
A Booster™ D or E can be connected to your three-phase loads in about 30 minutes. It can operate any combination of motors, heaters, welders, or 3-phase rectifiers (AC to DC).
This you buy once, and may expect it to last 30 years and more with virtually no maintenance and repairs ! With an operating cost of only about 5% of the operated load it is easy to see that phase conversion is one of the best industrial bargains available.
The next step is to determine the model that is best suited to your needs.
Isomatic is not the only company producing single to three-phase converters. To the best of our knowledge, most manufacturers still use timers and mechanical contactors. As this method is not free from maintenance and cannot provide hard-start capabilities without oversizing the converter and/or use of a manual boost button, we have developed the solid state converter based on modern capacitor-switching technologies. These products are being used in remote parts of Australia and New Zealand !
A capacitor can be viewed as temporary electrical storage. Alternating Voltage is delayed as the capacitor is charged. Capacitors have been used to operate three-phase motors on single-phase power for decades. In this method, the two single-phase wires are connected to two of the inputs of a three-phase motor. A capacitor is then
connected between one of the single-phase inputs and the third terminal of the motor.
A motor requires about 5 times as much current to start as it does to run, so a capacitor-type single to three-phase converter must have some means of switching a large group of capacitors in and out during motor starting.
This solid-state switch is a high-voltage high-current semiconductor, tested at 2200V and, in the smallest converter, withstanding short circuit currents of 2300 A. Switching is precisely triggered at zero voltage and zero current transitions in order to minimise stress on components, to the motor and to the supply line.
The trigger and switch circuitry, using state-of-the-art CMOS logic, is protected against any kind of moisture, dust, electric noise, magnetic and electrostatic fields, overvoltage and undervoltage.
The Booster™ D or E generates all three phases internally. Such a device distributes three-phase power to multiple motors and to many machines.
Electric power is injected into a running motor-generator, resulting in three useful sine wave phases separated by 120 degrees as with utility power. The equipment may then be started and stopped in any combination up to the Booster´s total load capacity. Any type of three-phase load may be operated with a Booster™.
Motors starting under heavy load should only be connected to a Booster™. This unique single to three-phase converter will produce up to 600% of maximum continuous power. For how many minutes ? Don´t worry, if the start-up time of a motor is too long, the motor rated fuse in your fuse box will blow or the overload protection in your machine will trip. A Booster™ is a very tough device, not easily overloaded.
The output of a Booster™ is nearly as high as utility power, as long as the single phase supply is stable enough to provide short high power bursts required by the Booster™, i.e. when starting motors or when motors are under excessive load. When output currents rise to 600%, the input current will momentarily go up to 600% of the maximum input current as well.
If your supply cable is not rated sufficiently, severe voltage drop may occur at the input side. The same relative voltage drop will be found at the converter output. Motors will then not accelerate as fast as they should and will not cope with excessive loads as well as they would with stable voltages. When connecting a Booster™, always use a heavier single-phase supply cable than actually needed. In case of extreme hard-starts found with applications like refrigeration systems, metal lathes, hydraulic systems or wheel balancers, install very good wires and cables or compensate for input wire losses by selecting a Booster™ with about 30% more power.
The internal motor-generator shares many characteristics
with the three-phase motors it operates. There is a set of stationary
field coils, or stator, that determines the magnetic poles in
the electrical steel of the rotary. These coils and their poles
have 120° spacing to produce a uniform three-phase wave form.
A squirrel-cage type rotor produces the poles of the rotating
magnetic field. Very much like a rotating transformer. The rotor
has a good bearing support in aluminium end-bells. The rotor-to-stator
air gap is smaller than in many motors, since a magnetic "flux"
that produces three-phase voltages must pass this air gap.
The phase-shifted current from the capacitors is absorbed by the electrical steel of the rotary motor-generator, then distributed in a three-phase waveform that is usable by any type of equipment. The type of motor-generator used in a Booster™ A has the highest efficiency found on the market. It is free of maintenance and it is of the type used as generators in wind turbines.
Capacitors in the internal capacitor bank are switched when needed. Switching is performed at zero crossing transitions of each sine wave. Using this method, there is no stress to any part. Polypropylene capacitors are the guarantee for long life expectation (10000 hours at normal temperatures).
Due to the zero crossing switching, EMC, or electromagnetic radiation, is kept low and always within limits in all countries. The Booster™ A complies with EMC regulations in all European countries.
The compact and smart switch-controller is the key to the Booster™ performance. Inputs and outputs are filtered against incoming spikes, noises and other disturbances. The controller measures output conditions and senses the need for high currents to accelerate external motors. It also contains the high voltage and high current power switches activating capacitors in the Booster´s capacitor bank. They are designed to withstand at least 2300 A (Booster™ 4E) and 2200 Volts (all versions), well above the highest peaks found in urban or rural areas.
The CMOS logic is completely embedded in Epoxy resin giving lifetime protection against dust and moisture.
Life expectancy is practically unlimited.
Compared with three phase supply from your local power company, a Booster™ is a viable compromise, even coping with motor hard-starts.
This is stated to prevent unwarranted expectations of the equipment.
Converters have weaknesses and strengths which should be considered
before a purchase is made.
As mentioned earlier, Boosters™ also have a low purchase cost, far lower than the cost to bring three-phase to your premises via power lines. Operating cost is very low, about five percent of the electrical cost of the operated load.
A Booster™ A in a standard, multi-motor installation will not quite balance each line's power as well as a utility-supplied, three-wire, three-phase system. A Booster™ D will achieve better balance than the utility supply, within 5% for phase-to-phase voltages. The quality of the Booster´s three-phase output depends a lot on the quality and stability of the single phase input line. Since output currents sometimes increase to 600% of the maximum continuous currents, the input lines are also loaded with higher currents.
A Booster™ D4 or E4 draws about 18A continuous input current operating at rated power. During motor starting it can increase to about 110A peak current for a fraction of a second. This could be a longer period of time if the starting motor has to accelerate a heavy mass. These currents can be scaled pro-rata for other models. Motor rated fuses accept high currents during the start-up time of a motor.
High input currents may result in input voltage drops. When motors are starting under load, we have seen voltage drops from 230V down to 170V. Because the nature of a Booster™ is a transformer, this will result in a voltage drop at the three phase output from 3 x 400V to about 3 x 280V. Under these conditions, motors will not accelerate as fast as they should.
If the time period of excessive input currents is extended, either the input fuse will blow, or the protective overload switch in your equipment will trip.
To overcome these problems, it pays to install oversized cables between your fuse box and the Booster´s input. If the voltage drop of the supply side is reduced, motors on the output side will accelerate faster.
Low input or output voltages will not do any harm to the converter. They only reduce the overall efficiency.
Compared with the power company's grid, a Booster™ A might not maintain close voltage balance over a wide range of operation. Line-to-line three-phase voltages may vary somewhat with changing loads. If you have voltage-sensitive equipment such as some computerised machine tools (CNC), best results will be obtained by using a Booster™ D or else a separate Booster™ for the CNC, and another one for general workshop machines.
By analysing the strengths and weaknesses of each option, utility three-phase or a converter, you minimise your disappointments with either. Utility supplied three-phase power brings higher electrical costs than single to three-phase converter power because someone has to pay the purchase and maintenance cost of the extra lines and extra street-transformers, out in all weathers.
A Booster™ is owned by you: when you don't need three-phase, you turn it off and you're not paying any line charges. It is 100 percent tax deductible for your business, and you can take it to a new location.
Balancing a three-phase load is important to avoid one phase being overloaded while the other two are not contributing their share. Excessive unbalanced power will harm a motor if the imbalance is so great as to overheat the windings.
A Booster™ operated on a multi-motor system is very efficient, although not quite 100 %. As with a motor vehicle engine, it has a typical load at which it operates at highest efficiency.
The ideal load for a Booster™ is about 20-90% of it´s maximum load. Since most machines are designed to utilise less than 100% of the motor's power, a Booster™ will probably run most efficiently when the power range of a Booster™ matches the input power range of a machine or motor.
In case of hard-start conditions, some manufacturers suggest using a single to three-phase converter about 2-3 times the size of the operated motor. This is not necessary with a Booster™.
between the three output connectors will be about 1.73 times (square
root of 3) higher than the 230 V input, i.e. about 400 volts. Boosters™ 4 to 64 produce a "delta voltage". If voltages
are measured between one of the phases and ground, different values
are found. This is because of the step-up input transformer configuration.
All large motors and machines use the voltage between the three phases. Therefore, if you have a 4 to 64kW Booster™, do not connect a load between a phase and Neutral. Should output voltage at light load be needed between one of the phases and Neutral, use L3 only. L3 is directly connected to the single phase input line and may be used for any kind of external control circuitry or other general purpose.
Boosters™ 1.1 to 3 produce a "star voltage" as is normal for small motors and machines. The star point is connected to neutral so single phase control circuits or other light loads can be connected between any phase and neutral. If there are three such circuits then it is advisable to connect one between each phase and neutral to balance the load.
is always the secondary current from an internal transformer, possibly rectified from alternating current (AC) to direct current (DC) as for Isomatic's MIT series. Weld voltage is low for resistance welding but (momentarily) high for arc welding. The three-phase welder nameplate will need to be interpreted to determine the power consumption in kW.
If no power rating is shown then multiply the current by 50 for a Booster™ A or 30 for a Booster™ D and the result will be the converter power rating in Watts for 100 % duty factor, often misnamed duty cycle.
Some rural power companies do not supply three-phase electricity
to farms. The cost-efficient and dependable way to operate the
irrigation system is with a large Booster™. 400V two-phase or 460V
split-phase is normally available from your local power company,
and is easily processed into 400V three-phase power through the
To size your Booster™, add the total horsepower of pivot, pump, and end gun motors you wish to operate. When windshield-wiper type (reversing) pivots are operated, install a Booster™ with a heavier supply cable.
If your pivot operation is a "windshield wiper" configuration,
that is, a pivot that runs a partial circle and then reverses
direction, then you should choose a Booster™. Under normal pivot
operation, only one-half the motors will start at once. However,
when a pivot is reversed, all the motors that were "off"
when stopped will now start. Thus, a 10 tower pivot may reverse,
restarting 7 or 8 motors, and exceed a normal converter's capacity.
The Booster™ should be mounted as close to the single phase service as possible to minimise the heavier single-phase wiring required. 32, 48 and 64 kW Boosters™ are equipped with a soft-starting feature that reduces the starting inrush of the Booster™ to approximately half of normal on start-up to prevent line disturbance.
All Boosters™ are high-efficiency models. Power consumed by a Booster™ itself will amount to approximately 5% of the operated load.
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